Grado Prestige Series SR80e review

Great headphones for those who don’t mind sacrificing practicality for sound quality.

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These are lively headphones with excellent midrange and treble detail, as well as swift, deep bass for a pair of this size and style. They’re not the most relaxing listen and some won’t like the uncompromising nature of the midrange they present, but clarity relative to the price is excellent. 

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Thanks to its open-backed form factor and quality guts, these on-ears deliver truly excellent sound. They won't work for commutes or public places—open backs mean that outside noise gets in, and inside sound leaks out—but for a private space, the Grado SR80e is nothing short of an outstanding choice.

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The SR80e headphones keep a consistent and sharp sound, whether it be through acoustics of country, deep based hip hop or complete ranged rock. We did find that the bass provides a soothing experience that appropriately complements the music genre playing, but you might find that it will not be able to provide the immersive bass required for the classical genre. When listening, we found the treble and bass to accurately compliment the mid-range. As we know, the mid-range is where Grado has proven in the past to be exceptional.

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The bass puts down a good, firm bottom. It has enough body to make it feel substantial, and hits with good impact. It also goes down fairly deep. The treble has some sparkle to it, nice detail, and I didn’t find the treble to be fatiguing. The bass and the treble do their job, and their job is to compliment the midrange. It is this midrange that Grado Labs’ headphones are known for, those very special Grado mids that set their headphones apart from the others.

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We've long been fans of Grado headphones and are really impressed by the quality of sound you get from this new $100 model. If you don't need the isolation of a closed-back design or a built-in microphone for cell phone calls, it's a great headphone for the money.

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