Grado Prestige Series SR-60i Padded Headphones

by Grado

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches ; 12.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0006DPMU4
• Item model number: SR 60
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (344 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 13, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Grado SR60 Headphones produce brilliant sound and offer outstanding listening comfort for a low cost. The SR60s have a flexible, soft vinyl headband. The headband and earpieces are connected by metal height adjusters, which adjust the height of your head with the center of your ear. These nifty adjusters also allow the earpiece to rotate a full 360 degrees, permitting them to lie flat on a surface perfect when packing in a suitcase. The SR60s come with earpads made of soft, porous, open-cell foam that covers the driver much more comfortably than standard foam earpads.

Product Description

The SR60s produce brilliant sound for a low cost. The SR60s have a flexible, soft vinyl headband. The headband and earpeices are connected by metal height adjusters, which adjust the height of your head with the center of your ear. These nifty adjusters also allow the earpiece to rotate a full 360 degrees, permitting them to lie flat on a surface--perfect when packing in a suitcase. The SR60s come with Grado's new earpads. The new pads are a soft, porous, open cell foam that covers the driver-- much more comfy. The SR60s offer good sound quality, plus are easily driven by the output of a portable player or inexpensive home equipment-- a nice combination. They come terminated to a mini with a 1/4 inch adapter and have a straight cord that attaches to both earpeices.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

145 of 153 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grado SR60 vs Sennheiser HD497, June 5, 2005

By 

InverseIQ (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grado Prestige Series SR-60i Padded Headphones (Electronics)

I don’t want to brag about how good the can is, coz' the whole world has hailed its performance over and over again. The very fact that this can is repeatedly compared to ones costing over $300 itself speaks of its astounding performance (... and unbelievable for its price). So I will give you the cons of the product that I have experienced.

CONS:

1. The headphone can be uncomfortable for extended wear. Many people have mentioned if you bend the headband backward or if you stretch the headband etc.... it gets more comfortable, but I haven't quite succeeded in achieving absolute comfort that Sennheiser HD497 provided.

2. Too much sound leakage. Since it is an open design, it leaks so much sound to the outside world, so I am forced to listen at low volumes at work. But then physics places a limitation that sealed headphones cannot achieve the quality of open headphone (resonance issue ... you can easily find info. as to why on the net...)

Conclusion:

1. When you listen to the can, its pure sound quality, imersive music melts all the cons away and makes you promise yourself that you will never give away this can.

2. If Bass is not much important to you, the Sennheiser HD497 provide a more crisp clear high. I have owned both the models, so I can vow on that. But overall, I would any day take the SR60 over the HD497.

Currently I have graduated to SR80 driven by a Headroom Total Bithead. But if you do not plan on getting an AMP, then I suggest you stick to SR60.

94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rigorous comparison by musician and music lover!, July 12, 2007

By 

Patrick D. Goonan "see profile for URL" (Livermore, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

I've been a musician all of my life and played piano and other instruments professionally for an 11 year period. I listen to many genres of music and have a discerning ear. However, I am not an expert audio technology and because of this my review is based entirely on my listening experience.

Physically, these headphones have a heavy guard that is apparently well-shielded judging by the sound. The signal to noise ration will low compared to SENNHEISER HD212 Pro, which is a closed ear type headphone that I purchased after listening to many models being made at the time. While the SENNHEISER HD212 were not the best at the time, they were a good value for the price point. The SR60s are a spectacular model at their price point, here is why.....

The first thing I listened were recording of Chopin Waltzes by Ashkenazy. The clarity of the sound and the subtle nuances, harmonics and other details stood out. Similarly, I listened to a 1989 digital recording of Bill Evans Consecration. Bill Evans is known for his tone and these recording were made with Marc Johnson a phenomenal bass player who uses the whole range of the bass. In this recording, the results were that the piano tones were truer, the bass was light years better on the SR60 and even the brushes being used on the high hat cymbals were crystal clear. Overall, the sound was warm, balanced and low, mid and high frequencies all rendered very well.

The last test that I did was to listen to the human voice with an orchestra, this is usually a very good test of what any sound system can do and these headphones didn't disappoint. I picked Viaggio Italiano / Andrea Bocelli as the test album, so there were lots of sections with more or less orchestra, soft and loud sounds, etc. Bocelli's voice was incredible and the orchestra sounded great. This particular model of SENNHEISER headphones couldn't even approximate the sound of the GS60 on voice, true to life violin and overall sound. In fact, it was apparent that lots of frequencies were lost or distorted.

While the test I did may not be apples to apples, it is always useful to listen to multiple recordings and have something to compare the device being tested. I also listened to recordings multiple times focusing on different elements and aspects of the sound. My conclusion is that the SR60s are incredible for the price and better than many more expensive headphones. For me, they are perfectly adequate.

In the past, I have used very high end headphones and usually visit this section of any electronics or audio stores I go to. I love to hear what one can get for their money at different points in time and I often bring my own music to do the listening when I'm serious about buying. While SENNHEISER and others may make some superior headphones, you will pay dearly for incremental differences in quality.

I give these headphones my highest rating for their combination of value and sound. Also, they are comfortable if you where them for an hour or two. I can even see wearing them longer, but there are more comfortable headphones out there for use for longer periods of time. If you are sensitive to having something on your head, you may want to check them out, but they were about as comfortable as the SENNHEISER's for me.

In general, I think you would have to pay at least TWICE the price to get something just as good. I don't have any reservations about these at all and they can be used with both 1/4" and smaller inputs. I also want to be clear that I used a high quality disc player for my listening and NOT an iPod or MP3 type device.

158 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Cans for the $$, February 26, 2005

By 

A. Stann (Earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grado Prestige Series SR-60i Padded Headphones (Electronics)

I recently bought these cans for my daughter to use with her iPod mini...I had read good things about these headphones even with the criticism(?) of antiquated styling, uncomfortable headband and open headphone style...Wow! I am so impressed with these headphones that I offered to swap my Bose Quiet Comfort 2 for these. She said NO! The response is so smooth with a dynamic range that allows you to hear every nuance recorded onto the track. Bass is true...not artificially enhanced or boosted...highs are razor crisp and midrange is full and "round." Don't look any further for your headphones...these are worth 4X the price...I know!