[Chronos29]

First post on these fine boards!
 
Been lurking around for a few weeks and have since auditioned a set of SR80's and RS-2's at my local shop.
Love them both but unfortunately the 80's are the only set within my price-range at the moment.
 
That being said...
 
The SR125's are also in my price range! I'll be trying those out at my local shop really soon.
My question to you can-junkies is which would be a better fit for my application? 

 
 
Some info for ya:
 
1. My primary plug-in on the go is going to be straight into my ipod since the SR80's sounded great as is.
(don't worry I have great source files!)
 
2. I'd also like to invest in an amp for home use to bring out more details and such.
 
3. In the future I think I'll be making some Mahogany cups and re-cabling as well.
 
Here in Canada the SR80's retail 148$ and the SR125's for 188$
 
 
Anyway, I'm leaning toward the SR125's because the price difference is so small and I've heard good things. 
Can they be adequately powered by an ipod though? 
 
 
All thoughts welcome!
Thanks

 

[hi-fiber]

i think theres not much difference between the 125 and 80, but if you can extend your budget go for the 225 there i know youll hear big improvements... 
 
when i was shopping for cans, i tried both the sr80 - 225 demo units... i bought the 80.
 
 
im very happy with my modified sr80... im buying bowl pads (~$20) because the quarter modding seemed to have gone over and my ears are now clamped by the driver grill.

 

[b0wl1ng]

Quote:

First post on these fine boards!
 
Been lurking around for a few weeks and have since auditioned a set of SR80's and RS-2's at my local shop.
Love them both but unfortunately the 80's are the only set within my price-range at the moment.
 
That being said...
 
The SR125's are also in my price range! I'll be trying those out at my local shop really soon.
My question to you can-junkies is which would be a better fit for my application? 

 
 
Some info for ya:
 
1. My primary plug-in on the go is going to be straight into my ipod since the SR80's sounded great as is.
(don't worry I have great source files!)
 
2. I'd also like to invest in an amp for home use to bring out more details and such.
 
3. In the future I think I'll be making some Mahogany cups and re-cabling as well.
 
Here in Canada the SR80's retail 148$ and the SR125's for 188$
 
 
Anyway, I'm leaning toward the SR125's because the price difference is so small and I've heard good things. 
Can they be adequately powered by an ipod though? 
 
 
All thoughts welcome!
Thanks

You will enjoy your SR125s, a cheap amp and LOD would be advisable though, these are nice bright headphones but will be very sharp straight out of the headphone jack of an ipod.
I have owned (at some point) all of the Grado Range, and I love my 325s, enjoy them far more than the higher end cans.
 
 

 

[Chronos29]

 
[size=medium]

Thanks for the helpful stuff so far b0wl and hi-fiber.
 
I'd be interested to hear some more opinions as well =) 
 
 
And forgive the noob question but an LOD connects as a line out from the charging port of an apple device?
That's gotta improve the quality some right?
 
Regards,
Alex
 
​

[/size]

 

[bangengeman]

I own the SR80i, but I've also tried the SR125i. At the time, I couldn't notice much difference (coming out of a Nokia 5800XM; I don't think an ipod would have made much difference), but I sure could have sworn that it wasn't worth the difference back then. But I'll still lean towards the SR80i and use the savings for an amp and future mods.

 

[hi-fiber]

it does not necessarily *improve* the sound quality but the LOD bypasses the built-in headphone amp that are retards the sound quality thus preserving the very good quality coming from the digital-to-analog converter...
 
oh i didnt read this "Anyway, I'm leaning toward the SR125's because the price difference is so small and I've heard good things." i envy you for considering the $40 difference "so small"
 

 

[b0wl1ng]

Quote:

 

Thanks for the helpful stuff so far b0wl and hi-fiber.
 
I'd be interested to hear some more opinions as well =) 
 
 
And forgive the noob question but an LOD connects as a line out from the charging port of an apple device?
That's gotta improve the quality some right?
 
Regards,
Alex
 
​

Correct Alex, it is a night and day scenario compared to directly out of the ipod headphone jack, particularly with a good set of cans such as the Grados, you do not need to spend too much money to hear major gains.
 
Enjoy your journey
 

 

[Chronos29]

Quote:

oh i didnt read this "Anyway, I'm leaning toward the SR125's because the price difference is so small and I've heard good things." i envy you for considering the $40 difference "so small"
 

Haha, yeah mostly because the 225i's are $248.99 So it's a big jump in price from the 125i's for me anyway.
My wallet will still be a little sore either way. It will be worth it no matter which I end up choosing though!
 

 

[Chronos29]

And don't get me wrong, I know these things are cheaper online most places.
 
I'd like to give my local guy some business though because he's let me sit down and listen as much as I like!
Rare when I'm the young guy in the hi-fi shop. I find I get looks in most places like I'm there to steal haha

 

[tyoung8]

There are discounts here on Grado.  Might want to take a look:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/548130/dxc-store-is-no-longer-grado-dealer-so-we-are-having-clearance-sale

 

[peskypesky]

i say go for the SR80s now....and somewhere down the line, go for a wood cup upgrade!

 

[Kevin Brown]

I say, go for the SR125i's, I used a pair of these for a solid year, before rapidly upgrading through the SR225i's, SR325i's, MS2i's, and then finally settling on the HF2's and RS2i's at work, and keeping the SR225i's and MS2i's for home.
 
Incidentally, I actually initially bought the SR80i's, but then swapped them back to the dealer for the SR125i's within a week.
 
Get the SR125i's, and then if you want 90% of what the SR225i's are all about, get a set of bowl pads.  With the same set of pads, I think all of the SR80i, SR125i, and SR225i are very similar sounding.  But you do get the better cable with the 125 & 225.  Note that the SR125i's come with a 1/4" jack, so you'd need an adapter to go into an iPod.  I'd recommend the Grado adapter (or something like it) with the 6" cord that provides for strain relief, vs just an adapter jack.  The SR80i comes with an 1/8" jack I believe.
 
 

 

[Chronos29]

Quote:

Get the SR125i's, and then if you want 90% of what the SR225i's are all about, get a set of bowl pads.  With the same set of pads, I think all of the SR80i, SR125i, and SR225i are very similar sounding.  But you do get the better cable with the 125 & 225.  Note that the SR125i's come with a 1/4" jack, so you'd need an adapter to go into an iPod.  I'd recommend the Grado adapter (or something like it) with the 6" cord that provides for strain relief, vs just an adapter jack.  The SR80i comes with an 1/8" jack I believe.
 
 

 
That's another question I had. How do the Grado Bowl pads stack up to the stock flats? I hear lots about the yellow senn doughnuts and softer foam flats too.
 
If I were to quarter mod the stock pads I'm afraid they'd be overly bright for my tastes so I think I'll invest in a set of pads.
 
 

 

[tyoung8]

Quote:

I say, go for the SR125i's, I used a pair of these for a solid year, before rapidly upgrading through the SR225i's, SR325i's, MS2i's, and then finally settling on the HF2's and RS2i's at work, and keeping the SR225i's and MS2i's for home.
 
Incidentally, I actually initially bought the SR80i's, but then swapped them back to the dealer for the SR125i's within a week.
 
Get the SR125i's, and then if you want 90% of what the SR225i's are all about, get a set of bowl pads.  With the same set of pads, I think all of the SR80i, SR125i, and SR225i are very similar sounding.  But you do get the better cable with the 125 & 225.  Note that the SR125i's come with a 1/4" jack, so you'd need an adapter to go into an iPod.  I'd recommend the Grado adapter (or something like it) with the 6" cord that provides for strain relief, vs just an adapter jack.  The SR80i comes with an 1/8" jack I believe.
 
 

How comes people always suggest that the 225 are the best value for money in the Grado range?  From what you are saying, wouldn't it be the SR80 then?
 

 

[Megalomaniac]

Double!