Grado SR325is Headphones

Introduction:

I listen to a lot of music.  Whether I’m working or relaxing I usually have some sort of music in the background.  It relaxes me before bed or keeps me pumped up while working.  It is essentially my mind altering drug of choice.  Different headphones with different presentations an affect my mood in different ways and I though a ‘phone with pumped up treble like the SR325is would be good to keep my energy up when I was stuck with boring tasks at work.  I was correct, but other drawbacks kept me from holding on to my pair.

Style and Build:

I love the look of the SR325is.  They’re slightly retro looking but the important parts are built very well.  The outer half of the cups or “air chambers” as Grado calls them are milled from solid aluminum and look very sharp but the inner half, hidden under the foam ear pad, where the driver is attached is made of the same plastic the lower end models are constructed from.  The simple sliders and gimbals which are shared among all Grado models connect the cups to the headband.  Its headband is a simple steel spring covered with small but nicely finished leather cover.  Cheaper Grado models use plastic or pleather.  The headband can also easily be bent looser or tighter to adjust the fit.  The Y cable is very thick and a bit unwieldy.  Since the ear cups can rotate freely it is prone to twisting if you aren’t careful in donning and removing them.

Overall, many aspects of the build quality may not inspire confidence but they make the headphone very easy to repair.  Parts are held together by friction fit and hot melt glue.  Some people may be taken aback by this at such a price point, though this construction makes it likely that any failure can easily be repaired.   I speak from experience as I have previously fixed up a pair of used SR80s for my brother.

Comfort:

This is another weakness for the Grados.  As supraural ‘phones they press on to your ear instead of around it and are inevitably less comfortable than circumaural ‘phones that rest around your ear.  Careful adjustment can drastically improve the comfort however.  I found them most comfortable with the cups worn slightly forward of the ear so the rear edge of the pads are even with the rear edge of your outer ear.  This also has the effect of improving the soundstage by slightly widening it at pushing it a bit forward.

In addition to the ‘bowl’ or “L-Cush” pads the SR325is come with there are others available from Grado which you can try as well as the pads for the Sennheiser 414 which happen to fit Grados too.  I didn’t get the chance to try out all the available options myself though.

Sound:

Since sound is the primary purpose of a pair of headphones I think its generally fair to forgive a ‘phones other sins if it sounds good.  In general the SR325is deliver in this area.  Grados have a distinct sound which is quite different from anything else on the market.  If you want it, you’ll have to get past their other shortcomings.  I think they make it worth the trade if you like the Grado ‘house sound’.

The SR325is, and Grados in general, are a strange balancing act of brightness and warmth with a small-ish soundstage which put you ‘on stage’ with the band.  The certainly aren’t closed in sounding as typical of ‘phones with smaller soundstages but they put everything relatively close together and put you in the middle of the action in a small and intimate setting.  Instruments are well separated but not as sharply imaged as some other ‘phones like my Sennheiser HD650s or Beyerdynamic DT770/600 ohm.

The treble is very emphasized and relatively clear, making these bright headphones.  It’s well extended and fairly detailed, but not the most accurate in its price bracket.  It has a ‘fun’ coloration which is hard to describe.  Cymbals and high-hats stand out from the mix and have an extra shimmer.  This can pleasing in rock or metal but becomes overactive in pop mixes which are already very bright.  This brightness synergizes especially well with heavy and dark doom, sludge, or thrash metal.

The mids are what make these both warm and bright at the same time.  They are slightly forward, with an almost magical coloration that enhances vocals and guitars.  Its not the most accurate, but once again its very fun.  The mids are also the most detailed part of these ‘phones spectrum.  They lend a slight advantage in intelligibility of death metal growls that my HD650s and DT770/600s lack.

There is a slight hump in the mid to upper bass which emphasizes higher tuned bass drums and bass guitars.  The bass response trails off after this hump and only goes moderately deep.  For most rock and metal it goes deep enough and the particular emphasis is often quite pleasing.  If you listen to electronic music with very deep synthesized bass you may want to look elsewhere.  I found it lacking with my trance/electronic/techno collection.  The bass is also a bit loose as well.  Not to a large degree, but the deeper it goes the less controlled it is.

Conclusion:

As you may have guessed, I think the ‘phones work best with various types of rock and metal.  I especially enjoyed them on my death/black metal Pandora station.  I think that’s their preferred genre.  Of course I could be biased since that’s my preferred genre, but I listen to just about everything but country and rap.  The bass doesn’t go low enough for electronic (and probably rap and hip-hop),  they’re too bright for most modern pop, and I find the soundstage too small for classical.  They do pretty well for jazz though.

The Grados specialize in rock and metal though.  This prowess also extends to most anything with guitars as well.  Acoustic singer/songwriter, bluegrass, and probably a good deal of country too.  If you like a forward presentation and primarily listen to any of those genres, then the SR325is are worth a look.

I need to say a word of caution about the treble though.  Though Grados as a whole are bright headphones, the SR325is are regarded as among the brightest and if you can’t try before you buy or aren’t the kind of listener who’s always cranking the treble dial you may find them to be too much.  I loved the sound of my SR325is but my ears just couldn’t take them for more than an hour or so.  If you’re unsure about the SR325is you may want to try the less expensive and less bright SR225i or the simillaly priced Grado/Alessandro MS2i.

A great set of 'phones for general music listening. Not terribly portable without a case, and can cause fatigue when listening to treble-heavy music due to very crisp reproduction.

You could use the cable on these babies to tow a car. Kind of impossible to deal with for on-the-go use, very oriented to seated listening.

I love my 325s!

These were my first pair of good headphones, having previously only had Shure E2C in-ear phones that were anything better than the usual iPod earbuds that (I guess) most of us start with.

It was a nice surprise to listen to music with them at first - going through that process of re-discovering music again - now I can't listen to music on anything less, certainly can't bring myself to listen on the iPod ear-buds again.

I drive these from an Aune MKii which in turn is fed via digital coax from a RealTek 888 running iTunes with lossless AAC or 320kbps MP3 files. I also have occasionally used them with an iPhone 4 and a 4S, both seem to drive them well, though the volume can be a little lacking the quality of audio is nearly on-par with the Aune.

My frame of reference is the Shure E2C's and a pair of Beyerdynamic DT1350's I recently acquired. The Grado's are nicer to listen to than the Beyerdynamics. This is very subjective I think, but the Grado's sound is warmer with more bass and I can pick out the detail more crisply.

The downside to the Grado's is the ergonomics - I have a small head and they just about fit, they feel very old fashioned in their design and manufacture. Being open they're not the sort of cans you'd wear outside of the house anyway (I'm sat at my desk when listening with them, so this isn't an issue).

Buy them for their sound quality and their retro looks. The sound won't disappoint and they feel like they'll last forever.