10 years ago, I bought a pair of SR 60 e's. I still remember the first thing I listened to with them (it was Some Nights by FUN. ). At the time, it was the best thing I'd ever heard. Now, 10 years later, they still work mostly fine. There's some crackling in the right speaker; that's the one I sent in for repair because my cat chewed through the wire on that side. The foam pads are also wearing out and becoming uncomfortable if I wore them for long periods. I decided it was time for an upgrade, and with a new series of headphones and myself having a new job with a pay bump, now seemed like the perfect time. Obviously the sound is fantastic, with the signature Grado warmth and soundstage, tight bass and easy highs, from room-filling sound that shakes the walls to minute details. They reproduce anything you throw at them accurately and effortlessly, with a feeling of "this is how it was meant to sound". They're easy to drive and work well with anything, though obviously a powerful amplifier will sound better than plugging directly into a device like a phone or computer. If you've never listened to your favorite music with a pair of these (or any high end headphone, open-backed or not), they may end up revealing details in the music you didn't notice before! What really impresses me is the updated, upgraded build quality. If there's one common complaint leveled against Grado's on-ear headphones, it's that they're not particularly comfortable for long listening sessions. This new model fixes that with firmer, bulkier foam pads, a padded headband, and being a noticeably lighter unit. The result is I barely feel them. The cord is also upgraded, being woven now instead of rubber. The rubber cord on the old model was bulky, stiff, and became twisted easily, often touching my face and neck at weird angles as they came down from the ear pieces. I just accepted this as one of the headphone's quirks, and never really thought much of it. But the new woven cord is a night-and-day difference. It's again lighter than the old model, and much more flexible. No more touching my face and neck! It's an upgrade I didn't know I needed, but man, what a difference. Overall, I can't think of any criticism for these. Maybe I will in the future, but they sound better and feel MUCH better than the old model, exceeding my expectations. They're an improvement in every way, and my one regret is I didn't spring the extra $50 for the 125 model! I'm looking forward to many hours of listening with these.

Enjoying my SR-80X, which were replacements for my 30-year-old SR-80s.

My old cans still sound fine, but thought would benefit from a newer pair now I’m streaming high resolution files. Really appreciate the heavy duty fabric covered cords that now come on this model.

Returned the old SR-80 to Brooklyn once for new cords and replaced the cushions three times so not bad for 30 years frequent use. So gratified that they’re made in the USA and repairable.

A highly rated value wireless headphone set had fair sound and noise canceling but the plastic headband didn’t have a metal core and snapped in half after a year of light use. Very deceptive as the part connecting the earpieces to the headband were metal rods. No more disposable overseas made junk for me. Grados all the way!

These open back headphones deserve every ounce of credit they are given! My boyfriend had mentioned how badly he wanted a pair a couples of months ago, and had even purchased one, but he has awful buyers remorse and immediately canceled the order after purchase. So after setting aside a couple of dollars every paycheck I was able to buy him a pair without breaking the bank, which I cannot say how rare that seems to be in the open-back headphone options online. The soundstage is incredible with these, they have obviously been crafted with a lot of thought and care, and have already shown to be a special pair of headphones. I also cannot get over how happy my boyfriend has been with them, I would absolutely recommend them to anyone who is looking for a reliable and affordable pair of open back headphones, these really are it!

Perfect soundstage.

They sound so good and so clean it makes me excited to listen to music.