Buying without listening....Grado SR80

[vr6ofpain]

Do you think this would be ridiculous?

I listened to my friends RS-1's and loved them. I think the donut style foam pad that comes on the SR80-RS-1 is very good(which goes against most).

The problem is I don't really have time during the week(work schedule) to go audtion them. At the same time, I could really use them at work. I was planning on listening to them last weekend, but ended up being preoccupied by a bunch of things. The coming weekend I will not be in the area.

I'm thinking of just stopping on the local shop that sells them on my way to work, and just buying them. Then I will "audition" them at work, but I can almost guarantee they will not have a satisfaction guarantee return policy.

[Geoffcin]

Do you think this would be ridiculous?

I listened to my friends RS-1's and loved them. I think the donut style foam pad that comes on the SR80-RS-1 is very good(which goes against most).

The problem is I don't really have time during the week(work schedule) to go audtion them. At the same time, I could really use them at work. I was planning on listening to them last weekend, but ended up being preoccupied by a bunch of things. The coming weekend I will not be in the area.

I'm thinking of just stopping on the local shop that sells them on my way to work, and just buying them. Then I will "audition" them at work, but I can almost guarantee they will not have a satisfaction guarantee return policy.

You don't have to worry about the sound quality/ likability issue. I'm not a headphone guy, but a buddy has a pair of the Grados, and they are superior headphones.

[Geoffcin]

Some of the things we've bought without even listening to.

Just recently I bought a pair of speaker STRICTLY off of the review. While I did get to listen to then briefly before I loaded them into my car, my mind was already set on getting them after reading the review. I was also considering to but another pair, the Von Schweikert VR4jr strictly by word on mouth.

I'm wondering how many other people here have also purchased items without auditioning?

[vr6ofpain]

well I have done that quite often in the past. and I dont want to anymore.

the funny thing was the most happy purchase I ever made was for my subwoofer, which I auditioned. I didn't even plan on purchasing it. I was considering another one, when the salesman told me I should listen to another one(the velodyne that I ended up buying). I was much more impressed by it, and ended up spending $100 more than I had planned.

So it worked out for both parties. I ended up with a sub I was really impressed with, and didn't regret spending more money on it. The salesman made a better sale, and more commission for his pocket.

If only all sales worked out this way.

[Geoffcin]

well I have done that quite often in the past. and I dont want to anymore.

the funny thing was the most happy purchase I ever made was for my subwoofer, which I auditioned. I didn't even plan on purchasing it. I was considering another one, when the salesman told me I should listen to another one(the velodyne that I ended up buying). I was much more impressed by it, and ended up spending $100 more than I had planned.

So it worked out for both parties. I ended up with a sub I was really impressed with, and didn't regret spending more money on it. The salesman made a better sale, and more commission for his pocket.

If only all sales worked out this way.

I could have told you to get the Velodyne and saved you the hassle.

[vr6ofpain]

So I finally realized that I would do much better with a more portable headphone. Considering my whole purpose in getting headphones was to listen at work, I figured it would make more sense to get something that would fit in a pocket.

After reading for a couple weeks about the Grado SR60, SR80, Shure E2c, Sennheiser PX100, and Koss portaPro, I ended up buying the portaPro's off amazon.com.

I am not disappointed at all. I just got them this morning, literally a minute before I left for work(I paid for ups 2 day air). Man do these little phones sound great. Also, WOW were they cheap. I paid $37.95 for them brand new from amazon.com, they didn't even charge me tax!! Got them today after ordering them ~36 hours ago.

Thumbs up to Koss for designing a great sounding affordable headphone.
These things cost twice as much as the last $20 set of Sony's I had, but they sound about 100x better. They actually sound like music, not muffled garbage(thank you cheap closed design). Considering that these Koss's are an open headphone, they don't even let that much sound out. I am listening at resonable listening levels(any louder and I would eventually have turn them down) and you can't even hear them 2 feet away.

The bass is incredible. Stronger than my friends RS-1's, and not boomy wow!(I am not trying to say these sound better than his RS-1's, just that they have more bass presence....the upright in the Dexter Gordon I'm listening too sounds sweet).

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00001P4ZH.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif

[brulaha]

well I have done that quite often in the past. and I dont want to anymore.

the funny thing was the most happy purchase I ever made was for my subwoofer, which I auditioned. I didn't even plan on purchasing it. I was considering another one, when the salesman told me I should listen to another one(the velodyne that I ended up buying). I was much more impressed by it, and ended up spending $100 more than I had planned.

So it worked out for both parties. I ended up with a sub I was really impressed with, and didn't regret spending more money on it. The salesman made a better sale, and more commission for his pocket.

If only all sales worked out this way.

I bought my velodyne (their at the time flagship HSG 18) without any audition. It was used and I knew I wanted it. Didn't even listen to it at the store. Absolutely no regrets. One of the best purchases I ever made.

[Mr Peabody]

Well, now that everyone feels better after confessing let's get serious. Buying hi fi gear by reading reviews and no audition is insane. In the original posters case I'd agree the risk is minimal because he heard a friend's and even though they are a higher model I'd think the characteristics would be similar. Personally, those who think Grado are high quality have never heard a Sennheiser. I realize you are anxious for them but even buying on line would give you a return policy. Those who would spend a significant amount of money on anything without first comparing the product to competitors is foolish.

Before I went with Dynaudio I listened to many brands of speakers, read no reviews, but I knew after comparing there was nothing out there, at least in my reach, that would satisfy me more. I did the same with most of my gear. My subwoofer for instance, I was intent on buying Dynaudio but I still checked out a couple other brands, one of which was the Velodyne I bought. I'm sure I would have been happy with the Dynaudio, it is a nice sub but the Velodyne did what I wanted better. I guess it is how much you care, you could say ignorance is bliss, grab anything and be happy because you don't know if there is anything out there you like better. Another big consideration is value, how do you know you are spending your money wisely without comparing? I brought a $700. phono stage home to audition that sucked compared to the $200. Creek I already had.

And reviews, they are bought and paid for. I know of a manufacturer who tried to get a private unfavorable review pulled off of this website, do you think a manufacturer will buy advertising in a rag that would give a bad review? Do you go and just pick the first size 10 off the shoe rack and go without trying it on? If Sports Illustrated says a shoe is comfortable would you just buy it without trying it on? Yet you would on a piece of hi fi gear? What an inigma.

[vr6ofpain]

Personally, those who think Grado are high quality have never heard a Sennheiser.

This is far from the truth. I only got interested in Grado, because I heard good things about them, and was disappointed in Sennheiser. I owned a pair some years ago and didn't think they were worth the money. ($89,HD-455). I ended up selling them to my brother.

My buddy who bought the RS-1's listened to the RS-2 back to back with the Senn HD-580 and 600's. He felt that the RS-2's sounded much better. He asked about the HD-650, but the saleman said they were not as good as the 600(opinion), which of course my friend didn't like compared to the RS-2. So he then asked about the RS-1's. The salesman said that he would have to order them, but he could listen to them when they got one in. So my friend went back when they got it in, listened and compared(to the RS-2, and both Senn's) and bought the RS-1.

So he went with Grado, because it sounded better than the Sennheiser HD-600(and 580).

Obviously he felt the Sennheiser's were more comfortable. But honestly if you are buying an audio product, the sound is more important. Just because you prefer Sennheiser's doesn't mean everyone will, and that everyone who doesn't like Sennheiser, "Hasn't listened to them."

Also, people might want to argue that the Sennheiser's are cheaper, but if you read most of the reviews, they say the Senn's(HD-580,600,650) all sound good when hooked up to an amp(thank you high impedence, ~600 ohms). So you might as well factor in buying a headphone amp($200+) into your purchase. So now you are looking at a phone in the $500 range. But you also need to remember your portable will not drive that impedence with any authority, so you might as well get a portable headphone amp too, more money.

In the end the Sennheisers will not be that cheap.

I don't like Sennheiser, because the 2 models I listened to(one I bought) ended up being disappointing. They weren't bad, but nothing worth the money. I'm much more satisfied with my $38 portaPro's than I was with the $90 Senn's I owned....end of story.

[Geoffcin]

Well, now that everyone feels better after confessing let's get serious. Buying hi fi gear by reading reviews and no audition is insane.

Insane is going to Best Buy or Circuit City and expecting to be able to audition gear. It's just impossible in that environment. Also, most upscale audio stores have demo rooms that are sonically unlike any home environment. You just can't get an idea of how the speaker are going to sound in your room from auditioning there.

I would not recommend anyone buy from an unknown company sight unseen. That being said, I see nothing wrong at all buying from one of the Internet speaker manufacturers. They have a proven track record, and a hundreds, if not thousands of happy customers.

I read professional reviews, and I have several reviewers that I trust. These people get to listen to ALL the gear, and they write about ones that I can't easily audition. Pro reviewers often get to live with a speaker for months, so they have much more insight into what it sounds like than a 1 or 2 hour demo at a store.

[vr6ofpain]

My mother has some HD-590's. I'm not sure how they compare to the 580, 600, and 650, but I'm gonna listen to them this weekend, while I'm visiting my parents. I'll do a head to head comparison with my portaPro's.

[brulaha]

Do you go and just pick the first size 10 off the shoe rack and go without trying it on? If Sports Illustrated says a shoe is comfortable would you just buy it without trying it on? Yet you would on a piece of hi fi gear? What an inigma.

There is a difference between buying blindly and buying informed. I listed to a lot of other subs out there. The one that caught my eye was the paradigm servo 15. However when the velodyne became available at the same price (due to its used condition) it was a no brainer. Bigger woofer. Bigger amp. Bigger everything. When I took it home and plugged it in, alas, I liked it better than the paradigm, hands down. Just one man's opinion, but I thought it was a wise purchase. As I said, I am extremely pleased to this day.

[Mr Peabody]

Grado and Sennheiser have very distinctively different types of sound and those who like either are loyal to the brand. Notice I prefaced my statement in my last post by saying, "personally". This is a prime example as to why audition is needed. When I listened to Grado I thought they were terrible and could not understand the buzz about them. To me the bass was extremely exaggerated, the soundstage is much smaller than Sennheiser and not even close in detail and resolution to the Senn's. I have found that many people are into the Grado sound and as loyal to it as I am Sennheiser. It's a matter of preference and I respect yours. You might find it interesting to know that therapists that do listening therapy use Sennheiser headphones. I suspect this is due to the Senn's better capability to reveal detail and have a more accurate frequency response to reproduce the modulated specially recorded music programming.

I agree that auditions are next to useless at stores like Best Buy, that's why I audition at home. These stores now offer a 30 return policy, I think it is to compete better with on line stores. Better shops will let you do some type of in home audition.

OK, I'll confess too. When I was looking to upgrade my phono stage selection was limited in my town. I found one that had a good rep and talked to others who were familiar with it. The clench is I found a way to buy one of them for several hundred dollars less than retail and jumped on it, I knew that if I didn't like it or I eventually found something better I could get my money back by reselling it. If this opportunity hadn't come along I probably would have ordered something off line with a return policy.

[JamezHill]

I recently sold my Grado SR80s and got Senn's new 595s. I bought the SR80s from hifi.com without trying them. My mistake was I didn't return them right away. I kept trying to convince myself they would sound better over time, or, "everyone else says these are great headphones". In the end, I HATED the foam pads around the ears, the build quality is cheap plastic crap. (I made better plastic molds in shop class back in my High School days), and I was never fond of the way they sounded overall. Now granted, that is just my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own. I also experienced fatigue while listening to the grados, the Sennheiser 595s (granted a litle more money) are comfortable, and most of the time I just enjoy the music and forget their even on.

Just my .02

[Geoffcin]

I recently sold my Grado SR80s and got Senn's new 595s. I bought the SR80s from hifi.com without trying them. My mistake was I didn't return them right away. I kept trying to convince myself they would sound better over time, or, "everyone else says these are great headphones". In the end, I HATED the foam pads around the ears, the build quality is cheap plastic crap. (I made better plastic molds in shop class back in my High School days), and I was never fond of the way they sounded overall. Now granted, that is just my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own. I also experienced fatigue while listening to the grados, the Sennheiser 595s (granted a litle more money) are comfortable, and most of the time I just enjoy the music and forget their even on.

Just my .02

You made molds in shop? Pretty advanced stuff guy.

My experiance with Grados was limited to using a buddies for a short time. They sounded pretty good, but I have a limited time with them. If your happy with your Sennheiser after owning Grados that's something to consider. How big a price difference between them?

[vr6ofpain]

I recently sold my Grado SR80s and got Senn's new 595s. I bought the SR80s from hifi.com without trying them. My mistake was I didn't return them right away. I kept trying to convince myself they would sound better over time, or, "everyone else says these are great headphones". In the end, I HATED the foam pads around the ears, the build quality is cheap plastic crap. (I made better plastic molds in shop class back in my High School days), and I was never fond of the way they sounded overall. Now granted, that is just my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own. I also experienced fatigue while listening to the grados, the Sennheiser 595s (granted a litle more money) are comfortable, and most of the time I just enjoy the music and forget their even on.

Just my .02

I have not heard the 595's, but I listened to the 590's for about an hour with several different types of music, connected to both a receiver and a portable. I was doing a comparison between these and the portaPro's I purchased.

I was impressed by the ability for these Senn's to actually be driven decently by a portable and a "standard(i.e. nothing special)" headphone output on a receiver. I am sure it is the impedence being responsible for this, considering the HD-590's are ~150ohms, whereas the HD-580,600,650 are all ~300ohms. Either way my portaPro's(~70ohms) had an advantage on both devices in the volume department. They also had like I previously mentioned, much stronger bass(again not exaggerated, just more authority). What the Senn's had were more detail, and much more pronounced highs. I for one did not care for this, because they were for the most part bright, and if you tried to turn them up to hear a little more bass presence, the brightness became painful. This is my preference though, and I am a fan of more neutral sound, with a lightly rolled off high end. Some people would say I like "duller" sounding systems, but to me it is more relaxed, and never fatiguing. My portaPro's pull this off quite nicely at a great price point($38).

Now the Senn's did impress me in one way, there were serveral points at which I realized that I had never heard an aspect of a song(which I was very familiar with), which did make it apparent to me that these 590's were very detailed. In that respect I was impressed. Also the Senn's were as always(with their around the ear velvet phones) EXTREMELY comfortable. I could wear them just to keep my ears warm and comfy(in the winter)!

[JamezHill]

Heh, yeah we made plastic football molds and made glow in the dark footballs (small ones). So, I can't see how much harder it was to make two circles for headphones! kidding... :)

[nick250]

I have not heard the 595's, but I listened to the 590's for about an hour with several different types of music, connected to both a receiver and a portable. I was doing a comparison between these and the portaPro's I purchased.

I was impressed by the ability for these Senn's to actually be driven decently by a portable and a "standard(i.e. nothing special)" headphone output on a receiver. I am sure it is the impedence being responsible for this, considering the HD-590's are ~150ohms, whereas the HD-580,600,650 are all ~300ohms. Either way my portaPro's(~70ohms) had an advantage on both devices in the volume department. They also had like I previously mentioned, much stronger bass(again not exaggerated, just more authority). What the Senn's had were more detail, and much more pronounced highs. I for one did not care for this, because they were for the most part bright, and if you tried to turn them up to hear a little more bass presence, the brightness became painful. This is my preference though, and I am a fan of more neutral sound, with a lightly rolled off high end. Some people would say I like "duller" sounding systems, but to me it is more relaxed, and never fatiguing. My portaPro's pull this off quite nicely at a great price point($38).

Now the Senn's did impress me in one way, there were serveral points at which I realized that I had never heard an aspect of a song(which I was very familiar with), which did make it apparent to me that these 590's were very detailed. In that respect I was impressed. Also the Senn's were as always(with their around the ear velvet phones) EXTREMELY comfortable. I could wear them just to keep my ears warm and comfy(in the winter)!

The Porta Pros are small easy to drive headphones with a pleasing sound, and a very good value. I own a pair to use with my portable CD player. However they are know for extenuated bass, not close to natural. If you do like lots of bass then this is a good thing. Neutral to me is the Senns 580 which is my favorite. They sound like crap on a portable, but wonderful plugged into a receiver. IMHO, YMMV yadda yadda.

Nick

[vr6ofpain]

I was looking at the portaPro2 at circuit city. It looks lower quality than the portaPro. Anyone know if it was an improvement model? The reviews of them don't seem as good as the originals.

[Erukian]

SR-80's are a very excellent choice. Easily driven and they are GREAT ROCK headphones.

Read on head-fi forums, grado lovers love rock. Their not bassy and super warm like Senn's, their definately leagues above sony.

I would recommend the highest grado set you can afford. EVERY model gives you your money's worth. Every time you try a higher model it sounds a lot better.

SR-60's > SR-80s is mostly a bass improvement. SR-80's to SR-120's is a bit more natural sounding a bit more clearer bass, but IMHO SR-80's are the sweet spot when it comes to entry level audiophile/high end headphones.

You will not regret the money you put into any Grado set, after the cans break and and you'll love em.

[vr6ofpain]

i think i'm gonna get some SR-125's for X-mas.

do they have the 3.5mm or 1/4" phono plug? neither grado's site, nor headroom, nor audioadvisor say. maybe I just didn't look hard enough?

[JamezHill]

Any idea where to get headphone cases? I have seen them for the Sennheiser 600's but don't know where to get em...

[nick250]

Someone correct if I am wrong, but I believe the HD 600's come with the case. You can probably buy one form Senns directly from the US importer. (I have bought replacement stuff from them online in the past).

[JamezHill]

Oh great. I'm going to look into this. Thanks very much!

[vr6ofpain]

I finally listened to some SR-80's. They sound superb. Much better than both my portaPro's(SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT HERE) and the Senn HD-590's I listened to. They had a good amount of bass, but clean and accurate bass...which I now realize my portaPro's don't have(more overblown bass...aka "clean" megabass). The SR-80's do everything the 590's do, but with a stronger bottom end.

Did I mention they were on sale at cambridge soundworks for $85, but since I waited in line for 15 minutes, the salesman gave them to me for $80! A STEAL!!!