So I love my SR80e headphones and thought if I love them I'm sure I will enjoy the very big brothers.
After over a month of negotiating on price and availability I took the plunge.
They heavy, big and brutish. They come in a :cr@p: cardboard box wrapped in some thin foam. They have a massive cable (as thick as your average power cable) and huge extension cable included in the box.
The crappy packaging aside these are much nicer in person than what they look like in pictures. The shiny chrome is blemish free and very in your face. The mahogany inner core is smooth and high quality with the hand written serial number scrawled in pen on the wood.
The comfort of these is okay, they very heavy but you dont notice the weight until you move your head. The cheap feeling foam pads which are made up of different density foam are comfortable enough, though some alcantara on the part touching the ear wouldnt be a bad idea at this price point.
The sound is obviously Grado. You generally either love or hate them. They have a highly curved response that isnt very 'flagship' in nature, but they very entertaining at low volumes.
The stand out factors for me if you remove the sonic character for a moment is the sheer level of detail on offer. The whole cliche of hearing new details in your favorite songs is true with these, the most striking aspect of the detail is the way its presented. The finest details are clear as day without being forced into your face, an amazing trick really.
The next great aspect is the sound staging. Not as wide as my HD800, but arguably more natural and therefore more enjoyable.
So long story short, these are great headphones worthy of flagship status and their sickening price tag (which the likes of Abyss, Hifiman HE1000 and Stax all exceed by a large margin). They not perfect (far from it) but if you enjoy the house sound of Grado you will love these, and if you hate the house sound of Grado you will still need to respect the way they produce the finest details and present it in the most musical and natural manner with that lovely sound stage.
After over a month of negotiating on price and availability I took the plunge.
They heavy, big and brutish. They come in a :cr@p: cardboard box wrapped in some thin foam. They have a massive cable (as thick as your average power cable) and huge extension cable included in the box.
The crappy packaging aside these are much nicer in person than what they look like in pictures. The shiny chrome is blemish free and very in your face. The mahogany inner core is smooth and high quality with the hand written serial number scrawled in pen on the wood.
The comfort of these is okay, they very heavy but you dont notice the weight until you move your head. The cheap feeling foam pads which are made up of different density foam are comfortable enough, though some alcantara on the part touching the ear wouldnt be a bad idea at this price point.
The sound is obviously Grado. You generally either love or hate them. They have a highly curved response that isnt very 'flagship' in nature, but they very entertaining at low volumes.
The stand out factors for me if you remove the sonic character for a moment is the sheer level of detail on offer. The whole cliche of hearing new details in your favorite songs is true with these, the most striking aspect of the detail is the way its presented. The finest details are clear as day without being forced into your face, an amazing trick really.
The next great aspect is the sound staging. Not as wide as my HD800, but arguably more natural and therefore more enjoyable.
So long story short, these are great headphones worthy of flagship status and their sickening price tag (which the likes of Abyss, Hifiman HE1000 and Stax all exceed by a large margin). They not perfect (far from it) but if you enjoy the house sound of Grado you will love these, and if you hate the house sound of Grado you will still need to respect the way they produce the finest details and present it in the most musical and natural manner with that lovely sound stage.
