My first pair of real headphones were SR60s. I guess there are now a couple of competitors in the $80 price range but I find it hard to believe that the SR60(i) isn't still on top.
There's a few headphones around their price that I would consider "as good" that have come about since the early 1990s, but if isolation isn't a concern I think they very much are still on top.
One thing that i've noticed, and that i find a bit annoying, is peoples steering other member who seek advice away from Grados, often making refference to the Grado house sound (bright and no bass), now, not only don't i agree with this statement, but i wonder if the peoples who keep reffering the Grado house sound, ever heard the GS1000is, the PS500s, or the PS1000s.
By and large the majority of those users, when questioned (IME) will just blast you with HeadRoom Build-A-Graph and a bunch of hot air about how they don't need to listen to anything to know everything and so on. Most of them will usually go on to talk about how Grado are an "old design" and that "new technology and advances in audio in the last 10 years have made them obsolete" usually citing buzz-word laden (and in some cases downright deceptive) marketing campaigns from a few popular audiophile manufacturers in recent years as "proof" (it's always "proven" it's never "in principle" or "data supported" it's always "shut up here is irrefutable PROOF that cannot be questioned or challenged!") of the inferiority of whatever Grado product. And when that fails they usually just cup their hands over their ears and start singing the Smurf's work song.
I don't mean this directed at any particular member, but I've had this encounter a number of times in the past, usually with members that've never touched an American made headphone immediately steering people away from Grados for a variety of reasons, and I think (and yes this part is my opinion) that a lot of it has to do with the "Euro/Japanese is better" anti-domestic mindset that has become somewhat prevalent in the US. Personally I will tell you that I don't care where a product is made, as long as it's well made; I have examples of Chinese, American, Japanese, Taiwanese, German, etc made things that are all very well made, and I recognize that every people is capable of producing quality. Grado is a prime example here - very well made, well performing equipment. But I think there's too much politics and mythology that steers people away from them. There's also the "wow" expectation that a lot of new users have when they're asked to spend a lot of money on a product, and while Grado's house-sound is certainly unique and does grab you, it isn't "wow" in the bloated, super-bass sense (which is what I see most new users expect when they spend some coin - it's all about "base" :rolleyes
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Sure, they're somewhat bright headphones, and they are truly not for everyone (but no headphone is), but I think the "don't get those you might not like them" reasoning that has been blanketly applied to them in an echo chamber is entirely unearned. Especially for a company that is so consistently devoted to customer satisfaction and quality, in an era when such a thing is quite rare.
Hey all. Bought my first pair of sr-80's and am very impressed with their stock capabilities. I am, however, unaccustomed to to such a clear high frequency range and of course the slightly perceived lack of low end. My question. Do the mods make enough of a difference in these areas to justify opening up a new set of phones. I'm not nervous of doing the job, but will the results justify voiding the warranty? Any help would be appreciated.
My advice would be to give yourself time to get used to them before you start chopping on them. I know there's a lot of whizbang claims about "well I can tell if a can is good or not within 5 minutes" (I've heard it as low as 5 seconds, which is truly unbelievable) and so on - honestly it takes time to get to know what you're dealing with, what kinds of changes you'd like to make, and to have enough of an understanding of what you're working on to be able to make changes and say "yes this helps" or "no this doesn't help at all."
That said, what mods are you considering for them? If it's a simple pad swap, I'd say go for it, and that's where I'd honestly suggest you to start. But if we're talking about "oh I had these for two days and I'm gonna completely chop them apart, get new cups, custom pads, custom headband, recable them, punch holes in the drivers, etc etc" - I'd say take a step back and give them some time to grow on you.
I'm skeptical about it but if it's for aesthetical reason that's ok. I'm thiking about getting vibros for my sr80i. On the other hand I'm getting into tube amps that can be cheaper than some mods and might bring more consistent results without changing the original design.
Aesthetic is already an adjective.
Changing the cups on Grados will influence the sound, now to what degree and whether or not it's good or bad is up to you and the degree to which you chop them up (e.g. if you do a full Vixen they're gonna be considerably changed, but if you took them apart and repainted them it shouldn't change the sound at all unless you put A LOT of paint on them). Changing amplification and source components will, in my experience, do less for you in terms of bona fide changes to the headphones, and as always I'm going to tell you that dumping money into a new amp or new DAC as a means of transfiguring your cans is generally a snipe hunt. Sure, it makes *some* difference, but upgrading the cans will do more for you. I think we're probably in agreement that spending $300-$600 on "bling" mods for an SR-60 or even SR-225 is kind of ridiculous though - sure they look pretty afterwords, but if its nothing but a looker, what's the point when you could've had an RS-1?
