[PointyFox]

Every review I read says the SR-80 has more bass than the SR-60. According to Headroom's graphs, the SR-60 should have louder bass and more extension. Why is that?

http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=393&graphID[]=353

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Dunno about the graphs, but I've tried them both and SR80 is more dark and indeed i can hear more bass in quantity. they are similar tho, but i bet I, or someone else, could tell the difference between both with eyes closed.

 

[Currawong]

Headroom tested them with a top-of-the-line amp, hardly something someone buying either of those Grados would actually use them with. It is also possible that there is considerable variance in the drivers and that either bought now would measure differently.

 

[Chris_Himself]

The SR-80's use a 4 connector cable. That means the right and left channel both have their own ground I think which makes a difference in audio fidelity. There is a large belief here on head-fi that all the Grado SR drivers are the same and they're just tweaked with small modifications to their environment and cabling to get that higher quality sound.
 
I own recabled SR-60's and recabled SR-225's and aside from the buttons being removed from my SR-60's the sound signature is basically the same. I just refuse to punch holes in my 60's to vent them the same way the 225's are. The 225's have a noticeable increase in bass.
 
Also the donut pads add to perceived bass since they're a little stiffer and when worn correctly where they touch the outside of your ears and tilt the drivers into your ear, the bass is going to be much better than the comfies. But this was my experience before they upgraded the housings to the SR-i models.
 
Are you considering Grados in your future? DO IT!

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

The SR-80's use a 4 connector cable. That means the right and left channel both have their own ground I think which makes a difference in audio fidelity. There is a large belief here on head-fi that all the Grado SR drivers are the same and they're just tweaked with small modifications to their environment and cabling to get that higher quality sound.
 
I own recabled SR-60's and recabled SR-225's and aside from the buttons being removed from my SR-60's the sound signature is basically the same. I just refuse to punch holes in my 60's to vent them the same way the 225's are. The 225's have a noticeable increase in bass.
 
Also the donut pads add to perceived bass since they're a little stiffer and when worn correctly where they touch the outside of your ears and tilt the drivers into your ear, the bass is going to be much better than the comfies. But this was my experience before they upgraded the housings to the SR-i models.
 
Are you considering Grados in your future? DO IT!

Hm, would you recommend just starting at the SR-60 instead of bumping up a level for the SR-80 then?  I was thinking of getting a pair of Grados and I'm not afraid to mod them.

 

[Chris_Himself]

For a second I'm not saying Grado is ripping anybody off with their models. All their models honestly sound better than headphones in their price range to me and thats all that really concerns me.
 
Don't take my opinion as an absolute, there are people far better versed than I with Grados, but yes. I recently bought an SR-60 after running away from head-fi for 2 years and the day I came back and saw that there was an SR-60 modding thread, I immediately bought a pair to recable.
 
If you're not afraid to mod, a recable and some venting go a long way.
 
I don't really rant about this too much but my SR-225 used to be an ALO cabled one and I compared it to an RS-2 I bought just for that purpose and I'm telling you with heart and soul that I liked the ALO one better. I then bought another 225 to recable myself and here I am today 2 years, and not a single purchase from the market since then! Technically the 60's I got off craigslist for 40 bucks.
 
The SR-60 is not crappy just because it's the cheapest one. In fact I liked the brighter highs it had than the SR-80 for entertainment value. For a slightly more neutral sound I convinced myself to abandon the stock cable. But yeah I'm a huge Grado fanboy and my views on the brand are rather biased if you're considering other cans. Don't let me hype these up for you. PM me if you have any questions with my experience with them. I've owned every model from the 60 to the 225... and technically the RS-2 if you count my weekend with them. I run them all unamped.

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

 
 
If you're not afraid to mod, a recable and some venting go a long way.

 
Good stuff Chris. I've been tinkering with my 60's for a while now. Most recently I had some new wood cups lathed and some wooden driver housings as well to replace the plastic. My first foray into modding them was recabling them with some silver wire I got from Homegrown Audio, venting some of the holes, and just sliding the plastic driver housing into another set of wood cups I received.
 
Definite improvements over the stock 60. I replaced the silver cable with the stock cable when I replaced the plastic driver housing with a wood one (African Mahogany). I replaced the Cocobolo cups with African Blackwood. I plan on doing the same thing to a 225 that I bought for comparison. Theoretically the 225 should sound better because of the stock 4 connector cable, we'll see.
 
My latest tinkering though has given me a phone with bass as good as my HF2, only more crisp. Same great Grado mids with a little more in the upper mid range and better treble extension than my HF2. I listen to a lot of guitar oriented music and the tone of guitars on the latest incarnation of my 60 is quite nice.
 
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

I'd rather buy the best Grado I could afford really just becuase they're more and more attractive as you move up! If I had to buy any Grado, it'd be the SR-60's with those donut pads time and time again though! 79 bucks is already quite expensive for a lot of people and the sound difference between the 60 and 80 is worth about 10 bucks to me if you gave me donut padded 60's. It's there, but I honestly wouldn't hear it if I was doing homework and listening at the same time versus laying in bed blasting through all the Star Wars soundtracks.
 
A lot of people shy from silver because in the case of my HD-580s which run off of significantly more power it made the treble a little harsh before burn-in of like 100 hours.

 

[PointyFox]

I don't believe the cables change the sound.  Look at highly sensitive meters and oscilloscopes.  They often use very cheap wire for their probes.  Now if these wires were degrading or changing the signal in any way, we wouldn't be able to get accurate readings from them, which isn't the case.
 
The foam earpads on the SR-60 will attenuate high frequency signal more than lower, which may partially explain the relative level of bass on the SR-60, but it doesn't explain the bass extension.

 

[Chris_Himself]

If you're anywhere in the San Jose area, I'd honestly invite you to listen to my recabled HD580 to compare to your 600. The 600's are the 580 drivers with a new cable and new grills. That alone was enough of an upgrade to justify Sennheiser making a new model apparently.

 

[PointyFox]

I'm not, thanks for the offer.  I've never heard the 580s, though a lot of people say they sound very similar.

 

[DaBomb77766]

Hm, what about the Alessandro MS1?  Over the SR60i, SR80i or MS1, which would be the best to start out with?

 

[Chris_Himself]

On paper, I personally as a fan of the bright Grados, I don't like how they proclaim these to be more neutral.
 
From a technical standpoint these are constructed fabulously and it's essentially a poor man's SR-125 with all the upgrades. I don't own an MS1 and don't have the money to buy one new. Hell, maybe it's just an SR-125 availible to Europe? There are countless threads on the topic but you still have that Grado sound otherwise they wouldn't slap the badge on there.
 
I still am quite surprised that nobody else wants to step up and educate us fools about these headphones! I've only got a track record of 4 years with these guys,
 
Just buy the Grado you can afford, if you can afford multiple Grados but are also trying to save money, buy the one that is the best deal. They're all the best deal to me since I don't need an amp to play any of them therefore I saved 200+ dollars. I run all my cans out of my computers sound card which I converted into a decent DAC/amp with opamp rolling and a new power capacitor.
 
I found 3 grado SR-80's just by Craiglisting. (I just bought one today to recable so it's not showing right now)
 
 
http://imgur.com/TAKA4
 
The SR-80i in Monterrey is a pretty sick deal. I don't have any of the "i" series but it looks like they've resolved the comfort issue with pads that are a hybrid between a bowl and a comfy from the looks of it.
 
Not a bad price on the RA-1 either if you're into that.
 
These things are more popular than you think among non Head-Fiers! I see them constantly at school.