[Yanksrox94]

Hey head-fi community I'm new here. So I've been looking into a headphone amp combo. I was interested in a pair of grado headphones. Possibly grado sr125i or 225i with a total bit head amp. I was interested in a portable amp. My budget is around 300$. My source is my Samsung galaxy s2 and I'm currently working on my flac collection. So my music as of know is around 320 Kbps. Also I mainly listen to hip hop/rap. The old school rap(good kind) the music that's not pure bass heavy. Thanks if anyone has any opinions on what to add or remove I'll appreciate it.

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

Those Grados are very easy to drive. No amp is necessary. 
 
Edit: The only thing I can think of that would ensure that you get the full Grado experience would be to get a Fiio E6 portable amp because it has a very low output impedance, which will tighten up the bass IF your phone has a high output impedance. That's about it, though. 

 

[Yanksrox94]

Ok thanks I'll look into that. What is your opinion on which grados to get within my budget.

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

Have you heard a Grado before? They're a very love them or hate them headphone. I'm personally of the opinion that the first few Grados are pretty close to the rest of the line. I'd suggest starting with either the SR60i or the SR80i. If you absolutely love the Grado sound, then you can go further down the line, but I don't think there is anything ground-breaking between the rest of the SR series.

 

[markkr]

I would suggest going up the Grado line as far as you can afford... rather than lesser Grados + amplifier.
 
 

 

[Yanksrox94]

I've heard that of grados but unfortunately I can't try them out because there is nowhere to try them on.like I've heard it only gets better by keep on going up in the line. I might go sr225i with fiio e6.

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

Between those two choices, I would do that.
 
When I compared the SR80i to the SR325i, my experience was that the overall sound was very similar. The SR325i had a bit cleaner sound with more detail retrieval, but overall it sounded like a Grado and was clean like a Grado. It wasn't enough for me personally to justify the cost difference. 
 
Quote:

I would suggest going up the Grado line as far as you can afford... rather than lesser Grados + amplifier.
 
 

 

 

[LuNaTiiK]

Grados are excellent for rock/metal (just got an MS2i today), but for the genres you listed something from Ultrasone might be better suiting.
 
As for comfort, I find the MS2i to be very comfortable for an on-ear headphone but can see how others would disagree.

 

[NinjaSquirt]

For me the difference between a SR80i and like SR225 was minimal. The former just costs less.