Excellent sound! You feel like you are on the stage! Very clear and stable sound. Good tonal quality with natural sound.

Ear pads are scratchy.

For the price, it is probably the best sounding buy on the plant earth. Great affordable headphone for the beginner. One can understand why this headphone and its sister headphone (SR-60) has won so many awards over the years. John Grado knows how to engineer and make a headphone. It is amazing that a small business like Grado's can develope and manufacture a world class headphone that can complete against the best (e.g.-Stax, Sony, Sennheiser, and etc.). Sometimesw the largest is not always the best. The wwhole series of Grado's headphones have respectivley earned the right to be be consider by many as the best headphones ever made by man. One can only imagine what the audio world would be like if John Grado's had the research and development funding of Sony!

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Stax Omega 7

solid sound with great dynamics--dependent on your equipment since I experimented with other lower end systems

Comfort..not made for cranking loud

I've had these for close to 2 1/2 years and dont regret my purchase.I use them with an NAD C-540 CD and Luxman preamp.The Lux has an excellent headphone amp thank god plus I use the tone controls-gotta have'em ! They did not sound good when new and that was my ignorance for not burning them in long enough ! For less than $100 dollars these cans sound great supplying ample base,mids,and highs and are easy to drive(no need for a headphone amp).They are good enough to reveal whether a recording was engineered properly or not.Simply put: they offer solid quality sound at a very reasonable price. So much so..that I now wish I opted for the 225's(still wonder how much better they are).I have found that cd-r's can sound awesome as long as they are recorded well. For that..I run mp3's or store bought cd's thru some thru some equalizer software(Goldwave) to really improve the dynamics of poor recordings and at a higher bit rate.This helps immensly--especially, with headphones period.I'm listening to Joy Division as I type this and they sound better than any stereo I ever owned.I have no major complaints regarding the sr-80's.They can give the competiton a run for the money .I will say they need plenty of time to break in.Do not expect them to reveal their potential after 15-40 hours. I was a bit dissapointed at first and it took much longer for me to burn them in--I simply did not use them much for the first 6 months. Now,i'm in no rush to purchase anything else. Just wish they were more comfortable.Widen the headband some and you'll be good to go !

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Sony,Sennheiser

Light,like the retro look,detailed,many mods out there for them,open,inexpensive,easily powered by portables.

Can be uncomfortable at first until you stretch them out a bit and soften the ear pads,a bit delicately made but i think it makes them sorta classy,can be tinny on cheap equipment because they show everything and are not forgiving of poor equipment or recordings. Good sounds good,bad sounds bad.

I purchased these headphones June 1 2004. Today is June 26 2004. Ive listened to Sennheisers,Sonys,RadioShacks,Koss,Fostex. I own 7 pairs of headphones. When i first purchased the Grado SR80's,they were tinny out of the box,but very detailed. After 30-40 hours of break-in,they opened up and mellowed out. Although the Senn.600's sound better AT THREE TIMES THE PRICE,just given the fact that people continually compare these $85 headphones to them should tell you something! They're not the holy grail if youre a bass-head,poor recordings sound worse,poor equipment sounds worse,but use some decent stuff and these cans are great! And as far as the retro look? Ummmm,can anyone say,"CLASSY'? Theyre a bit delicate,but somehow they just have a certain class about them . There very detailed,open,sound real with acoustic music and classic jazz,sound detailed and natural on rock but dont totally rock your ears with bass(for all you bass-heads),but they present music very naturally. There are modifications you can do to them also to improve comfort. Turn the donut pads around and they feel better without degrading the sound,and look ok that way also. Heres some sites with more grado mods: http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php?fnum=3&tid=4981&fdays=9999 www.headwize.com www.head-fi.com Or just put the words "grado sr80 mods" in your search bar and search for more. I also love the fact that portables power them well,although a headphone amp helps alot. These are a "BEST BUY" set of cans for under $100! Youll either love them to death,or hate them! I love them!

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Auditioned other Grados,Sennheisers,RadioShacks,Bose. I own Grado SR80,,Fostex T-20RP,,Sony 310,,Koss KSC50,,RadioShack Pro35(same as Koss KTX Pro1),,various stock headphones,,sister has Sennheiser HD 457,which ive used sometimes also.

Accurate reproduction, detail, solid bass and suitable for most genres of music. Great performance considering price.

Retro styling that resembles the radio headsets of WWII P51 Mustang fighter aircraft is pretty much love em or leave em ! May seem a touch bright/harsh on certain components ( minor quibble ). It's accuracy and detail may highlight weakness in a recording.

I ordered a pair of these SR80's from Needle Doctor as the Australian distributor of Grado products is unreliable. I had a pair of Sony MDR's that died in the right channel and this promted me to look for a suitable replacement for use with my portable audio gear such as CD walkman and Minidisc. Well considering I already have Sennheiser HD565 Ovation and HD600 for my home hi-fi, I thought it was an opportunity to investigate other brands. To say I'm impressed with what these headphones can do is an understatement. I certainly didn't expect them to be anything close to my Sennie's, as long as they were at least as good as my old Sony MDR's. Well, there are better than my old Sony's and then some. What can I say ! Beautiful, Breezey, Bassy ! Great detail and very articulate with depth in the bass that is rarely found at for headphones of this price. I can surely understand the rave reviews that these SR80's have earnt. After listening to this on my CD walkman and Minidisc, I thought a good test would be to audition it on my Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 and handbuilt Mapletree Audio Design Ear + purist Headphone amplifiers. No surprises, but the Grado romped home like a charm when being powered by either of these dedicated headphone amplifiers. It's fast response/timing seemed to match well with the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 moreso and I guess probably due to the fact that the X-Cans is really using the valves as a pre-amp stage ( I've swapped the supplied JAN 6922 valves for JJ/Telsa ECC88 ). They worked very efficiently on the Ear + purist and also produced a wonderful sound and soundstage. Although they are a considerable cheaper than my HD600's I'm surprised how bloody well they perform and paint the musical landscape. I've thrown pop, rock, classical, jazz, rock a billy, acoustic at it and it hasn't once tripped up. In short, I'm no longer sorry my Sony MDR's died as I now have these wonderful Grado's ! IMHO, purchasing these headphones is a no brainer, just go and get yourself a pair right now !

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Sennheiser, Sony MDR series

Bass is unbelievable, mids and highs are very clear and clean. Exceptional built quality

non blocking of external sounds is not an issue for me, so, there are no complaints!

Definitly the best phones I have heard for under $100. I compared them side by side with a Sennheiser and despite my SR80 is less than half the price of the other, it sounds far away better. The only thing that bothered me at the begining was the pressure I felt on my ears after more than 1 hour of use, but then I carefully opened a little the metallic ribbon and that was it, no more hurt. Most of all I use them with my laptop which is a Compaq Evo, it drives them so good that I don´t think I will need an amp for them.

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Sennheiser, Sony, Kenwood, Technics

Great all around sound and are good for both walkman's and home stereo's.

Comfort not quite as good as the cheaper SR-60's and not quite sure they sound $25 better.

Wow is all I can say. These things sound really nice with great highs and midrange as well as good solid bass. The clarity of these things is just unreal. They aren't quite as comfortable as the SR-60's (due to the different ear pads) I had but make up for it in overall better sound quality.

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Seinheiser HD212, Koss KTXPro1, Sony MDR-CD60 and a few others.

These headphones sound very good. They do not add or take anything away from the signal. They sound better than my $1500 main speakers I own. The bass sounds very tight and accurate. The highs are also very clear. Even when used with my cheap pana

They do not block out outside sounds, and anyone standing next to you can here what you are listening to. However, I don't really consider these weeknesses, they are made for the best possible sound for the lowest amount of money.

Was looking for high quality headphones for about $100.

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Listen on a Myryad Z140 integrated with Cambridge D500SE cd player. Also used panasonic portable cd player and computer. Owned may low quality headphones.

Very open, clear, neutral and detailed sound. Bass is tight, fast and solid. Lightweight and comfortable on the ears. Simple, understated, utilitarian look.

Revealing of source components. You get what you put into them. Some may find the look to plain and flimsy.

After having these for quite some time now, I must say that these are one set of amazing cans! Bought them pre 2000 for $120 CDN. Used to listen with Sennheis. HD480II h'phones but after listening to these the 1st time, I was blown away by the sound reproduced. The Senns were fine ones but lacked the openness and clarity and the tight bass of the Grados. Some may find the look very retro (circa WWII) and flimsy looking but overall, this is overshadowed by its sound. I auditioned these cans for quite a long time before settling on the SR80. The SR60 is not too far behind; very similar in sound. I also tried the other Senns, Beyer D., and Grados but for the price and overall sound, it can't be touched.

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Sennheiser HD480, Rox, old Sony cans.

Best sounding speakers for under $100.

Design looks cheap. It didn't give an initial good first impression, but what counts is the sound.

Before I bought the SR80, I bought a pair of Senn 212 and 500. After reading the reviews at Audioreview, I told myself I have to try this cans. The next day, I went to Cambridge Soundworks. They didn't have the SR80 for demo, but they said they had the SR60. He took them out and my first impression was, this things are ugly. I was hoping the SR80 was a bit nicer. Nope. The salesman took the last box of the SR80 out and they look the same, except the padding is slightly different...better looking. I decided to buy them anyways to give them a try. I have 45 days to try them out and if I don't like them, I can return them. When I took them home and plugged them into my laptop...oh my god..they were amazing and they rocked. Even before the break in period of 30 hrs that everyone was talking about, this cans were better in every aspect to the Senn 500. Everything was way more balanced. It brought out sound that I didn't hear before...whispers from the singer, guitar cord detail, you name it...They were just absolutely fantastic IMO. Actaully as I am writing this, I'm still breaking them in...12 more hours to go. I can't really say too much about the comfort since I haven't worn them for more than 2 hrs. So far, I didn't experience any uncomfort. I would recommend this to anyone.

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hd500, hd212 and other cheapos

Quality of sound in all respects - I've heard nothing like it

Cord rather short (maybe this is required to keep the impedance down?); appearance a little unsightly

These headphones have simply knocked my socks off. I am an audio enthusiast who is a bit of a first timer with Hi-fi audio. I have used these headphones with my Roland HP737 Piano and am amazed at the clarity and tone I can generate, especially in the base. This is nothing, however, compared to the joy at plugging into my MP3 player and hearing my tracks completely reborn! The clarity of the percussions, guitars and techno, and warm, thick clean base sound has had me glued to these phones for the last two hours ... let me do some work....!