after heavy research, I concluded that these Grados are the best headphones
for under 200 bucks if you dont plan on buying a headphone amp. And im surely not buying one.
So you havent listened to any of the models and youve determined this? :-]
If youre looking for something under $100 that doesnt require a headphone amp, my top picks are Sony MDR-V6, Sennheiser 495, Grado SR60. I've tried tens of headphones in this price range and I can say these three stand out.
For build quality, I'd rank them: sennheiser, sony, grado
For comfort, I'd rank them: sennheiser, sony, grado
For accuracy, I'd rank them: sony, sennhesier, grado
For musicality, I'd rank them: grado, sennheiser, sony
If you plan on getting the grados, I suggest you go to a local audio shop and try them on, they usually have a loaner pair you can take home for a day. A lot of people complain that these are extremely uncomfortable. They tend to have rough/stiff foam pads. You can get softer replacement ones from grado (they come standard on the rest of the line). Ask to try them with those if you can. These are also the most fragile of the bunch, and replacement parts are hard to come by. They do have a wonderful sound though, it is best brought out with rock music (thats what my friends who own them say - i found them good throughout). These are open and sit on your ear.
If you plan on getting the sonys, you shoud do the velour pad mod. PM me for details. With this mod (not so much a mod as a pad replacement), they'll be more comfortable than the 495's. They'll be comparable with the higher end sennheisers (they sit around your ear and dont touch it). They come stock with pleather pads, which arent too bad, but cant compare to velour. The sound is brutally accurate out of these, so if you have crappy equipment, you'll get crappy sound. If you try these on and you dont like the sound, its more than likely the source that youre hearing. The bass is really incredible on these, you'd have to hear them. It's not boomy or overdone, its just accurate all they way down to the bottom (something very few other headphones can do). One downfall of these is that theyre not very "musical" These are closed (provides excellent isolation) and sit around your ear.
If you plan on getting the sennheisers, I dont have much to say. Theyre very well rounded, good sound, bass is a bit weak (but its subtle). This is the only one of these three with a detachable headphone cable. They are thr most comfortable of the bunch unless you do the velour pad mod on the sony's. These are open and sit on your ear.
I currently own the sony's. When purchasing, i was torn between them and the sennheisers. I ruled out the grados for their comfort (lack thereof) and design (I didnt like the cable on them).
If youre looking for one that you can move around, the sony is a very good choice. It folds up and provides excellent isolation
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