MY PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Frontrunners in the field of budget wired headphones

I can’t look beyond Grado’s new headphones. They look at least 45 years old – but they sound excellent

Grado’s original SR80 were the Brooklyn-based company’s first headphones, built on the Grado family’s kitchen table in 1991 and the foundation on which it built its open-back headphones empire. They have spawned many variants within the company’s Prestige Series in the three decades since, and remain part of the all-new entry-level Prestige X Series, making them the longest-running Grado model.

At £129.95, the SR80X are by today’s standards billed as budget on-ear headphones, suitable mostly for home use due to their wired, open-back nature – meaning they inherently leak sound both in and out. Surrounding noise will be audible to you (unless you’re listening to heavy metal at high volumes), and the music you’re playing will be audible to others (especially if you’re listening to heavy metal at high volumes).

Industrial aesthetic

That open-back characteristic is flagged aesthetically by the distinctly holey ear cups through which sound leaks. While, unsurprisingly, Grado continues to stick diligently to the industrial aesthetic it is so well known for, simply looking at the previous SR80E model and new SR80X side by side provides some clues as to their different generational identities. The ‘e’ on the ear cup is now – you guessed it – an ‘x’; the 1.8m cable is a 4-conductor one, with a new, rugged and grippy braided jacket; and the cushioning on the underside of the pleather headband is notably thicker, with very slightly different stitching.

The circular foam earpads will physically cover most ears and rest against them firmly yet comfortably. Considering the same earpads on the SR80E, which we’ve used periodically for a number of years, have largely kept their shape and padding, we can vouch for their durability.

It’s what you can’t see that really warrants Grado ushering in a nextgeneration Prestige range, though. Inside the SR80X and their Prestige X siblings is a new, fourth-generation 44mm driver, which utilises both a more powerful magnetic circuit for improved efficiency and a newly designed, lower-mass voice coil and diaphragm to further reduce distortion. This, Grado says, makes for not only a superior-sounding pair of headphones but also one that is easier to drive by a variety of portable devices. Note that the Grados are 3.5mm-ended for such purpose, but they do come with a 6.3mm adapter should your system require it.

Sonic magic

During our fortnight with the SR80X, we plug them into a Samsung Galaxy S21 phone (via a Usb-c-to-3.5mm adapter), the ifi Zen DAC connected to an Apple Macbook Pro laptop, an Astell & Kern A&norma SR15 music player and Naim’s Uniti Atom streaming system; and the Grados never feel poorly driven or out of their depth with the more sophisticated electronics in that list. The SR80X might be considered budget headphones, but their class-leading transparency means they can satisfyingly participate in a more sophisticated set-up.

Having already experienced a Prestige ‘e’ to ‘x’ transformation in the pricier SR325X, we come into this review of the SR80X hoping – and expecting – to hear similar sonic magic brought by the new driver. And it’s a tick in the box for consistency, the SR80X also proving clearer, cleaner and more detailed than their predecessor. Play Billie Eilish’s Lost Cause through both and the simple drum and bass loop rhythm has more presence through the SR80X – extra kick and space around it, too. Her vocal isn’t just pulled closer into the headspace but is all the more palpable and, consequently, sensual for the extra texture the SR80X rustle up.

Everything we like about their predecessors – their nimble-footedness, expressive, rolling dynamics, and insight across well-defined frequencies – has been inherited. The punch and panache that have made the Prestige models such born entertainers are also very much part of the Sr80x’s sonic signature. These are far from rich or even warm in tone, but an extra generous sprinkling of refinement this time round has made their presentation less demanding and easier to listen to for longer sessions. This is the type of headphones experience that forces us to listen to whole albums during our testing, and before we know it we’re emotionally engrossed in Eilish’s Your Power and stomping along carefree to Therefore I Am.

The pay-off for their exceptionally open and dynamically fluid delivery is one that is pretty leaky, but if you can live with the fact these are headphones best suited for quiet environments and ‘me’ time, you won’t be disappointed.

Grado hasn’t torn up its own rulebook and revolutionised its legendary headphones, because it hasn’t needed to. But the tweaks made to the SR80X have added value in the right direction. At this money, the SR80 model remains the finest in the market, and such is their dominance in this niche that we wouldn’t be surprised if this were true for as long as wired headphones have their place in this world.