Grado

Why r/BuyItForLife recommends Grado

11 mentions from real owners

• #1Nov 4, 2025

  What are the best headphones with a great price-to-performance ratio?

  Im an audio guy and after many years of optimizing playback solutions imo there are two very clear answers: Sennheiser 6XX for full size, and Etymotic ER2XR for IEMs.  The sennies can be found new for around 200 and the Etymotics are around 130 new. I found them uncomfortable and the cables are definitely microphonic but you can get aftermarket tips. For pure $/sound i think they are the strongest I've ever personally heard.  Another outside option is Grado SRs, for under 100 I love the sound. Build quality and comfort is meh but they look cool and sound excellent. They aren't a great match for every genre though, read up if interested. 

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• #2Nov 4, 2025

  What are the best headphones with a great price-to-performance ratio?

  If you’re looking for quality v price, I would be investigating wired headphones. - Grado SR60 (open back) - Sennheiser HD280 (closed back) Those are gonna be your best bet for sound quality and price. If you are looking for wireless and ANC, your choices under $100 are gonna be notably worse, audio quality-wise. Thats just the nature of that price point. The Anker headphones are fine for the price. A couple other good options: - JBL tune 670nc - Sony WH-CH270n

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• #3Oct 2, 2025

  Searching for stable headphones

  I've had my Grado SR80s for over 15 years. They look ridiculous but they just keep working

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• #4Sep 8, 2025

  Do you think there are any headphones that are buy for life?

  Grado - pads are the only thing I can imagine needing to replace and that’s easy.

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• #5Jul 8, 2025

  Looking for wired earphones without noise cancelling

  Grado is good stuff.

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• #6Jan 1, 2025

  What are some BIFL brands that are manufactured cradle to grave in the USA?

  I’m fairly sure that Grado headphones are made in NYC, including the molding of the plastic. I’ve not heard them mentioned as BIFL, but they could be. Maybe with an ear pad replacement along the way.

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• #7Dec 4, 2015

  Best over the ear headphones for less than $150?

  If you're set on over the ear headphones, I'll second the Audiotechnica and Grado suggestions having owned and loved both. I prefer in-ear monitors when commuting as they're much more portable and unobtrusive. I can't recommend the [RHA MA-750i IEMs](http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone_review/rha-ma750-ma750i/) enough; best quality+utility/price out of all my audio equipment and I have quite a lot. Extra points for BIFL factor: comes with a set of 10 pairs of tips of varying sizes/types and a case.

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• #8Dec 4, 2015

  Best over the ear headphones for less than $150?

  Grados are a good suggestion. Headphones will eventually break-down in some way, so a good guarantee is a start. Grado will repair most broken parts for cheap or free. Note that Grado's are also an open design though. Don't be the idiot that gives them a bad review, because you thought they were closed. (For the curious, the design is set to open because it usually makes the headphone sound more natural letting air pass through). Also, for the curious, some amazing things are happening to modifying Grado's right now. It's an easy headphone to modify, but there's people building Senngrados for cheap (Vibro Labs). And you have Symphones started to release the Magnum V6 drivers, and making an open 3d printed earcup, made for the sound quality through Shapeways (in Beta). Grado's, and especially modified Grado are some of the easiest ways to get kickass sound quality on the dirt cheap, considering the hobby is getting stupid expensive. Koss is also a good suggestion and has a lifetime guarantee. If it breaks, and it will after a few years, send it in and get a new one, for life. Very cheap, open air design. Go with the Porta Pro or KSC75 (Latter has better highs, less bass, more neutral). Audio Technica is often recommended. Their M40x/M50x design is phenomenal, but they're a V shape, sucking out the midrange. Many realize their mediocrity after trying more neutral headphones (m50), the issue with the m40x is that it sounds too enclosed and slightly boomy. It is more neutral, the highs feels artificial. Supposedly there is a mod out there to fix some of these issues. My quintessential BIFL headphone is the Sennheiser HD-25. It's a 25 year old headphone, and only had a few updates. It's made to be used, the cable ports are well thought out, the parts can be bought if you break them, and are user replaceable. It sounds neutral, and this mod i've done has made them sound a lot better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZIt_3xfHwc Yes, it's usually more than $150. Also, a lot of people ignore on-ears. I think they're one of the cheapest ways to get a good seal though, whereas many over-ears have a harder time of making a seal and having the driver at the ideal spot to the ears. I was so ambivalent to the clamp of the HD-25's in the beginning, but they loosened up with use. One might place it around something to emulate a head. I agree with Unkle_Erik, a lot of the detachable cables - ESPECIALLY ON CHEAPER MODELS - are very weak. So many sell detachable cables at a selling point, even products like mechanical keyboards, and the input is the first thing to fail. Bose is decent. They make the best noise cancelling headphones, bar none. They are overpriced and not BIFL durable. Beats is overpriced too, although the Solo 2 is considered good. Still not BIFL. Beyerdynamic has too many quality control issues. Frequent drivers dying and imbalances. Not BIFL, although a step above the last few mentions. German Maestro 8.35 gets a mention, because they're bombproof. A videos on YouTube chucking them around. An over-ear, and could use a different set of earpads you can easily switch out yourself. 3 year warranty? Cable will eventually need replacing, but it's heavier than the headphone itself (I recommend the mobile version), since the normal length can put too much weight on the side of the headphone. I also do NOT recommend V-Moda. They are not military grade design. They have a good warranty, where they will give you 50% off your next purchase, when your current one breaks. Val Kolton is trying to balance style and function, and style trumps in the end. The headband frays, the plastic can chip easily (especially where they connect to the headband, the ports are a problem. They're not the worst, but priced around the warranty, i'd say. The sound is also as v-shaped as you can get. Mega bass, no midrange at all. The headband pads are bad, and the XL are not much better. Most would do better with the M50x if they want that V. I'm also not a huge fan of the Sony's 7506/v6. It's a great design, but the quality has dropped. There's a million imitators. They're neutralish though, and meant for monitors. This means, details revealed, bass lighter, and treble can be harsh, particularly on bad recordings. I'd recommend Senal SMH-1000 as an alternative. Headphone pads on both are meh. With the M40x/M50x, Sony 7506, German Maestro's, (and Fostex below) there's like a bajillion different headphone pads that are relatively interchangeable. The Mp4nation pads are generally recommended. They're a weak "memory foam". Also note that pads can change the sound signature in a significant way. I haven't tried the Monoprice more than at a meet. They're cheap, they're durable for their price. They're uncomfortable and put a lot of pressure on the top of the head. They're a headphone that could use some serious modding to make work, which for the price, i'd rather take a koss and flop on the hammock. Good sound signature, more neutral. Also, the T50RP and subsequent mods are a good recommendation. It's a different driver type, orthodynamic. It needs an amp, so can become more expensive and certainly cumbersome. I recommend the Fulla Schiit USB amp. The T50RP is semi-open design, so sound leaks, whereas the T40RP is closed. They've been modded to no end, but the mk3's sound pretty darn good. And ortho driver, to me, sounds more precise, while having a smaller sound stage. Some prefer one to another. While, to me, a dynamic sounds like its coming from a cone, within its soundstage, the Fostex and ortho drivers sound like they're coming from a wider area (not easy to explain). I still find dynamic drivers more fun, even though they're blending more. There's a major shift in the audio industry in the past 10 years. Many of the headphones i'm recommending have been "updated", but have been around the block a few times, and are 10+ years old. Recently, you have a ton of newer companies, typically made in China. Their drivers are fantastic. I can go on many ends of my web of how good the NAD Viso HP50 sounds. It's also horribly uncomfortable and fragile though. Many of these imports have really good drivers encapsulated in poor, weak designs. Take your pick, but it doesn't belong in BIFL. Also, for funsies, I will always recommend the Sennheiser HD600 and HD650. They're not duper durable. Sennheiser offers replaceable parts. Many will disagree with me, and I don't give damns for your downvotes, but with a decent amp, they're the best open, over ear headphones for the price. More people would like the HD650 ideally, but it's a pain to find the right amplifier (Bottlehead Crack). If you're not willing to build that, or invest in something like a Schiit Valhalla, the HD600 is way more amp forgiving. It's a headphone that always sounds, "just right". If you have any specific questions, ask me. This is too much shit for me to write a faq here.

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• #9Dec 3, 2015

  Best over the ear headphones for less than $150?

  If you want open ear, get Koss Porta Pros or the best Grados you can afford. If you want closed, get Audio Technicas.

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• #10Dec 3, 2015

  Best over the ear headphones for less than $150?

  **Grado Prestige Series SR80e Headphones** |||| --:|:--|:-- Current|$99.00|Amazon (3rd Party New) High|$274.89|Amazon (3rd Party New) Low|$94.09|Amazon (3rd Party New) [Price History Chart](http://i.imgur.com/sDPYaYn.png) | [FAQ](http://www.reddit.com/r/PriceZombie/wiki/index)

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• #11Dec 3, 2015

  Best over the ear headphones for less than $150?

  I love my [Grados](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L1LXOWS?keywords=grado%20sr80&qid=1449172317&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1). $100 and the sound quality is phenomenal. I can still remember the first time I listened to music through them.

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