Best grados under 300$

Take a look through this thread. It should be very helpful.

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/515803/take-a-look-at-this-grado-graph

Aren't you looking for the "best" Grado's under $300 like your title states? Well, there is no "best" unfortunately -- especially when it comes to Grado. (When it comes to "Grado" and "Price" -- it would be best to just ignore, as it's skewed)

Why? Well, the thread explains. All of the Grados under the "Reference Series" sound too similar to pick one and classify it as an all out "best". In fact, many say that cannot hear a difference between them. So you might be perfectly content with "just" the SR80i.

Sigh. I give up.

Did you even read the thread?

White Crow,

I'm a big fan of 325is with the big G-Cushions.  I think it would be interesting for you to try 225i with the G-Cush.  Soundstage would be more like the Senns but have the Grado punch.  2 cents.

The SR 225i is popular and btw the Alessandros are built from the ground up, not repackaged Grados. I haven't tried any myself but I'm interested in trying some one day. . . 

Actually, all the current Grado headphones can use the giant G-Cush pads.

So you can mix and match S-Cush, G-Cush, or L-Cush with any of the Grados.

I was going to do that exact same thing -- buy an SR80i with the $45 G-Cush pads. I needed to transform them into something other than "earpad". Like you, I absolutely cannot stand earpad headphones -- even super soft XB300.

Although, I ended up buying the SR80i without them -- as I had a feeling I wouldn't like Grados. Turns out, I was right, I didn't like them. But, I did learn that the stock pads are really not that bad. Perfectly fine for shorter sessions.

You might want to read up a bit on that transformation though. Some say they really cannot stand the G-Cush on the lower end models. But it may just be preference... (Then again, some really approve of the transformation)

You're close to Portland.  I would suggest a trip to 32 Ohm Audio and listen to the Grados yourself.  That's the best way to find out and the best way to find out if the sound difference between the SR80 and SR225 and SR325 is worth the increase in price.  I would also suggest trying each of the SR series headphones with both the comfies and the bowls.  The models below the SR225 now come standard with comfies but you can buy the bowls separate if you prefer the sound with the bowls.  I personally like the bowls and use some EQ to tame the treble that the bowls accentuate.