Acoustic/folk/singer songwriter genres sound amazing on all my Grados, and the 80s are what started it all for me. Play just about anything from Jack Johnson on the 80s and you'll be very impressed.
And they sound anything but closed in...one of the first comments I ever posted about them was how it was like they just energized the air around me with music as opposed to feeling like I had headphones on. I still use my 80s all the time. As stacker said, they are a no-brainer.
Correction Buddy, I didn't say that they're a no brainer, I said that they're a MAJOR no brainer.
To answer slmckay73's question, I think that the SR80e will sound a bit more open with the L-cushions, than they would with the stock s-cushions, but SR models in general, and even the RS serie, doesn't sound as open as the GS/PS1000 do with their big G-cushions.
Notice that I often use terms like ''slightly'', ''a bit more'' ''a little less'', this is because I hate exagerations, so I try to ''weight'' my words as best I can in order to give you the most accurate answers possible.
In my opinion, the L-cushions take the SR80e, to the next level. Wit that I can.h these pads, the SR80e get a slight increase in treble extension, and they also sound a bit more detailed. The L-pads will also increase the size of their soundstage. You will experience a slight loss of bass, but since the e serie headphones have good bass extension to begin with, it's not too bad.
And for future consideration, I just want to mention to slmckay73, that I think that all of the SR models have benefited from the changes that the e serie has brought, with the SR325e being the model that has benefited the most .