GRADO - SR80x - Prestige Series - Open Wired Stereo Headphones

Product Information

Including our flagship headphone, this family is assembled from mahogany tone-wood, clad with powder-coated or chrome plated aluminum. The Grado Labs SR80x is a niche product with a sort of studio style frequency response, intended for casual listening in quiet environments. The Helm Audio Bolt is my daily driver with my iPhone and both headphones really liked the control and midrange warmth that the tiny Dongle DAC can deliver. Adding material to dampen resonances to the rear of the metal center of the driver (anything from Dynamat to Blu-Tack or Sugru) is a safe (and a light-handed) tweak.

With the Grado Labs SR80x, you get an unusual frequency response tailored to a specific taste, not suitable for everyone. One idea you came up with that I respect is the idea of damping any part of the rear chamber that might add resonance.I’ve owned 3 pairs of Grado headphones and while they may not offer the resolution or detail of the best planar headphones, they are decidedly fun to listen to. This is a pretty good way to get certain instruments that get lost in a mix to stand out, but ideally it happens during the production stage of a song, not with your headphones! Mit dem SR80 begründete Grado die Prestige-Serie, die seitdem die Einstiegsklasse der New Yorker darstellt.

A big reason the 325 never got you to the HP1 or the PS1 was the absurdity of using aluminum as a cap on a plastic shell (with unvented drivers). Just had now in my hands South Afrika’s Noord drivers that I should solder in my old Senns hd 420 – already without original drivers; as for foams, I possess someones I might consider. Now that smartphones generally don’t have headphone jacks, more people use Grado headphones indoors, and that’s probably a good thing.

If Grado was to open its own museum, the original SR80 headphones would have a strong chance of being selected as the collection’s most-treasured, feature item; the Crown Jewels of the Tower of London’s trove. Listening to Unnecessary Drama by Belle and Sebastian I have no trouble hearing all the musical parts of the track. I have only listened to the 325 at shows, but I dare say they offer enhanced range and subtlety in the right system.