This is a review for the original Grado SR80, not the new SR80i. But many of the comments will probably apply to the new version, too.
First, the construction of these headphones are horrible. The headband is a thin piece of curved metal covered with fake leather and no padding. The foam "bowls" that go on your ears are scratchy. John Grado admitted in an interview that even he thinks they are uncomfortable until they soften up by absorbing your body's "oils", i.e. sweat. Unfortunately, sweat also makes the pads break down into dust, so it's recommended that you wash the pads regularly with soap and water. The drivers are housed in plastic that looks very breakable. There's no stress relief where the wires enter the drivers, and this is a common area of failure. Where the wires come together as a "Y", the plastic insulation appears crimped, and this is also an area that commonly fails due to stress or wear. Fortunately, there's lot of instructions available on the internet on how to fix these headphones when they fall out of warranty.
Regarding comfort, I suffered from ear pain the first week I owned these, but then I learned the secret - you have to bend out the metal head band to the point where the ear pads just rest on your ears and don't apply any pressure. Now they're very comfortable, except that my ears still feel itchy after extended use.
So how can I rate the Grado SR80 4 stars? Because these headphones sound AMAZING. That is why Grado Labs has been successful in selling millions of these headphones, despite the cheap construction and lack of comfort.
A lot of people will tell you high-fi headphones need a dedicated headphone amplifier and expensive interconnects to sound good. Grado headphones don't need any of that extra gear. They are very "forgiving" of mediocre music sources and mediocre amplification because of the way they are designed. Just plug them directly into the headphone out of your portable digital player or stereo system. Do you know how your singing sounds better when you are in the shower? It's that way with Grado headphones. If you love music, give these a shot. You'll fall in love again.
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