[pudim]

Hey,

Sorry to bother, I hope you can help me. I'm buying a pair of open headphones.

Budget: around 80€. I don't mind buying used. If anyone in Europe has something interesting to sell that fits my budget, feel free to contact me by PM.

Use: with my laptop, mainly. Music (mp3) and tv shows/movies. I want something comfortable that allows me to use them for 2 or 3 hours.

Amp: I don't want one.

Music styles: jazz, funk and soul. Some Bowie/Radiohead/Dylan/Morphine once in a while.


I've been looking at Grado SR60 and Sennheiser HD555 (I can get them for around 80€ here). I'm shure you know them.

Sennheiser pros: their retail price is generally more than 80€, I think; seem very comfortable; everyone says good things about Senn's.
They're neutral, they say: is that good for jazz, funk and soul music?

Grado pros: they have so many positive reviews, everyone seems to like them.

About Grado's, they don't seem as comfortable as the Sennheiser. It's also said they have a more aggressive sound. Is that good?


I'm really confused, I hope you can help me decide. Thank you very much.

 

[cavedave]

I have had the HD555 nice headphone.
But for what you are looking for I would say go with the Grados.
I am listening to a pair of Grados right now out of a laptop great combo.

 

[Ilovebeef]

You can't go wrong with either really.
If you listen to a lot of jazz, I'd say the 555.

 

[| Scorpio |]

I'd personally say go for the Grados. I've never really been a fan of the laid back, boring sound of Sennheisers. The only ones I've really liked were the HD800's.

 

[boomy3555]

The Senns are NOT "right out of the laptop" headphones. Although the 555's are not as hard to drive as the Big boy 650's they still need an amp. Futhermore, the Grados are much more neutral and inline with the Genre you have expressed an interest in.
One more choice in the spectrum would be the Audio Technica's ATH A or AD700 or the 900's

 

[wallace]

If you only use them for a couple of hours at a time ,i would go for the Grado's. I found all my senns to be comfy ,but a bit boring ,on reflection.

 

[Galesden]

I'd say go with the grados and do the quarter mod (to add a little more clarity) on them.They are really not that uncomfortable to me, I can wear them for hours.

 

[paaj]

consider the Alessandro MS1, it's $100 shipped WW and the most interesting low-end Grado for non-US citizens because it ships internationally for US price. Other Grado's are much more expensive outside the US. It's a great entry headphone and you can mod it to MS1000 with the Grado bagels.

 

[pudim]

Multi quotes are not working for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ilovebeef /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can't go wrong with either really. If you listen to a lot of jazz, I'd say the 555.

Why do you say that?



Looks like almost everyone points to Grado's. I'm just a bit afraid of the comfort. I never used any full-size heaphones. Can other Grado owners say something about that?

Is there a significant difference between the SRxxi models and the SRxx?

The ones I saw at 85€ were SR60.

Does anyone know about a nice deal on SR60 or 80 in Europe?


Thank you very much for all your opinions, you're helping a lot. I'm not a mod guy, but I'll take a look at that.

Those Audio Techinca seem out of my budget.

 

[pudim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paaj /img/forum/go_quote.gif consider the Alessandro MS1, it's $100 shipped WW and the most interesting low-end Grado for non-US citizens because it ships internationally for US price. Other Grado's are much more expensive outside the US. It's a great entry headphone and you can mod it to MS1000 with the Grado bagels.

I saw this now.

So, do you think they're better than SR60's? The price is approximately the same. I don't mind paying a few € extra if it's worth it.

 

[paaj]

Comfort of the Grado's is just fine, just needs some getting used to. Look here: Alessandro High-End Products: Music Series Headphones

 

[Halftrack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pudim /img/forum/go_quote.gif I saw this now. So, do you think they're better than SR60's? The price is approximately the same. I don't mind paying a few € extra if it's worth it.

The MS1 (actually, you should pay the extra $10 for the MS1i) is based off of the SR125, meaning that yes, it is worth it.

 

[pudim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paaj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Comfort of the Grado's is just fine, just needs some getting used to. Look here: Alessandro High-End Products: Music Series Headphones

Ok, that sounds good, thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halftrack /img/forum/go_quote.gif The MS1 (actually, you should pay the extra $10 for the MS1i) is based off of the SR125, meaning that yes, it is worth it.

110.00 USD = 73.6752 EUR

The USD-Euro rate is pretty good for we Europeans.


I don't understand. What's the purpose of MS1? Is it a Grado's sub-brand or something like that? Why would they sell better headphones cheaper?

And, btw, I didn't find that shipping was included on the Alessandro's website. Can someone tell where it is?

Thank you very much.

 

[Halftrack]

The MS1 is made by a collaboration between Grado and Alessandro. I don't know why, though.
Since Alessandro evidently doesn't do headphones, they appear to have borrowed heavily from Grado in this collaboration.

The price difference is due to the so-called "grado tax" for Grados shipped outside of the US - as you can see, it's pretty substantial.

And Alessandro is having a promotion right now where shipping worldwide is free.

 

[pudim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halftrack /img/forum/go_quote.gif The MS1 is made by a collaboration between Grado and Alessandro. I don't know why, though. Since Alessandro evidently doesn't do headphones, they appear to have borrowed heavily from Grado in this collaboration. The price difference is due to the so-called "grado tax" for Grados shipped outside of the US - as you can see, it's pretty substantial. And Alessandro is having a promotion right now where shipping worldwide is free.

Thank you for replying.

Oh, so they're basically Grado's. I'll search for some Alessandro's vs Grado's threads.

I'm sorry, what are the prices of Grados in the US?

That sounds nice.