[TiredNinja]

How do grados fare without an amp (I'm thinking SR60-80-125)? I have an amp, but I am thinking they would look like a better second pair of headphones, which are a bit more portable, but can they be driven by a portable mp3 player? Thanks!

 

[l_simon_l]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiredNinja How do grados fare without an amp (I'm thinking SR60-80-125)? I have an amp, but I am thinking they would look like a better second pair of headphones, which are a bit more portable, but can they be driven by a portable mp3 player? Thanks!

The grados should be fine with an mp3-player. Back when I had the Alessandro MS-1 i loved the way it sounded straight out of an ipod and I'm sure a lower end grado would have sounded awsome as well.

Grados is not something I would wear outside though due to the lack of isolation and the long thick chord.

 

[overlunge]

Hi TiredNinja,

I use my SR60 for portable listening, and it performs well un-amped straight from an iPod headphone jack. Like l_simon_l said, it's quite open therefore sound leakage is a concern for you (noise in) and others (music in quiet place). But sound wise, the entry level Grados don't lose significant quality when un amplified.


Overlunge

 

[iDesign]

The normal impedance of most Grado Labs headphones is 32ohms and will work sufficiently well with a portable audio player. Although the aforementioned view is shared by many users of the headfi community, I feel that the benefit of a headphone amplifier with Grado Labs products is quite underplayed and I would keep this in mind when paring high end models of the Prestige Series with portable players.

Best,
iDesign

 

[liquidicecube]

I'm by no means an expert, but I was deciding between the SR-60 and SR-80 a few weeks ago. I listened to both amped from a high-quality source and was almost set on getting the SR-80s because the bass sounded a little bit deeper.

I came back in to demo with my ipod and, unamped, the SR-60s sounded more engaging to me than the 80s. Fort what it's worth, I ended purchasing the 60s and have been very happy with them. We should have an SR-60 smiley.