Tom's Guide Verdict
The Grado SR80 are retro headphones in every sense of the word. They bring a satisfying texture to music, like the sonic equivalent of movies shot on 35mm film. While it might not be up everyone’s street, if you’re a vintage audio lover, you might want to suck up the strangely high $175 MSRP and grab these bad boys.
Pros
- +
Expansive soundscape
- +
Sound profile lets both instruments and vocals shine
- +
Cool, retro, utilitarian vibe
- +
Brings a vinyl-like texture to music
Cons
- -
Quite uncomfortable due to the clampy on-ear style
- -
Weirdly expensive
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The Grado SR80 are some interesting headphones. Retro tech is making a comeback, and these open-back, on-ear headphones definitely look (and sound) the part. Are they the best headphones if you value clarity and detail above all else? No. But are they fun, unique, and ideal for vintage lovers? Yes, totally.
The open-back design brought enviable expansiveness to my music, and electronic and acoustic genres sounded particularly good. While the headphones struggled with heavier, layered genres — like hard rock or gritty shoegaze — for the most part, a lot of this texture felt artistic. No, they’re not hi-fi cans, but that’s fine. They’re retro in every sense of the word.
Could the Grado SR80 be the perfect wired headphones for you? If you’re the kind of person who can’t get enough of the vinyl crackle, then, yes, without a doubt. To find out more, though, keep reading this Grado SR80 review.
Grado SR80 review: Specs
Grado SR80 review: Price & availability
The Grado SR80 are $175 from Amazon U.S. and £175 from Amazon U.K. I think this is a pretty steep price for what are essentially very plasticky headphones with raw foam earcups. Sure, they're supposedly handmade in the U.S., but When you can get the FiiO JT7 for $119 and the FiiO JT3 for $69, I’m a little confused why Grado is charging so much for the SR80.
There’s no major difference between these headphones. I would actually say both the FiiO options have superior build and sound quality.
If you want to spend a little more and get some grat mid-range open-back headphones, I’d recommend the Sennheiser HD 599, which are usually around $239.
Grado SR80 review: Design
The Grado SR80 are extremely eye-catching. They’re retro, cool, and right on trend. The open-back design brings a utilitarian vibe and the foam pads make them look like they’d fallen straight out of the ‘80s. I can see why this design might be quite divisive, but personally, I love it. Retro tech is headline news, baby, and the SR80 are on the front page.
Although they look super cool (to me), I will say that the SR80 don’t feel like $175 headphones. They look and feel like they should cost well under $100, which is a major con. Of course, you don’t buy headphones so people around you know how much money you have (unless you do…) but if I’m spending almost $200 on headphones, I want them to look like they cost $200. Not $80.
Comfort
The Grado SR80 are extremely uncomfortable. This is their main major drawback and the only thing preventing me from recommending them widely. Grado claims the steel spring brand allows users to customize the inward pressure, but it made no difference to the comfort when I wore them. The headphones clamped onto my head and squashed my ears, and I could only wear them for around thirty minutes before needing to take them off.
This design is a double-edged sword, though — the drivers are super close to your ear to give an immersive sonic experience; however, the drivers are super close to your ear — meaning they hurt. I’d like to see Grado provide a deeper foam pad or cushioned driver cover to help mitigate this issue.
I wore the FiiO JT7 and FiiO JT3 for hours before needing to remove them, so I was quite disappointed when I had to keep removing the SR80. I wanted to keep listening!
Controls
As the Grado SR80 are analog, wired headphones, there are no controls like you might expect on Bluetooth headphones. You’ll need to control music playback via your input device.
Connectivity
Again, as these are analog, wired headphones, there’s no Bluetooth or microphone. You’ll need to plug the headphones into a DAC (if required) or directly into your device. They have a low impedance of 38 ohms and an SPL of 98dB at 1mW, so they're easy to drive straight from a device. I listened on using my MacBook Air M2 and had no issues at all.
Grado SR80 review: Sound quality
To test sound quality, I listened to a variety of genres on Qobuz, our best streaming service for audiophiles, using the Campfire Audio Relay DAC.
I played “Fame is a Gun” by Addison Rae, a synth-led pop track with breathy, high-pitched female vocals. The vocals were clear, the rotating synth motif floated pleasantly at the back of the track, and the percussion kept everything lively. As these are open-back headphones, they’re naturally more expansive than closed-backs, and it really came through. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine the singer was behind me.
After, I switched genre to “Yor Zarad” by Angine de Poitrine. This experimental instrumental track is built from just a guitar, bass, and drums, all of which came through clearly on the SR80. I would have liked a little more clarity in the frantic guitars, as some of the faster notes bled into one another, and when the bass came in, some detail was lost, but I still enjoyed listening.
Last, I played the indie track “Bad Habit” by Cherry Glazerr. This song has synth notes and guitars layered underneath a processed female vocal. This was the murkiest of all the tracks I listened to, but I’m not entirely displeased by it. The synths were clear, and the drum machine claps weren’t overly sibilant; however, the choruses were a little too textured. I would have liked more clarity and accuracy, but, again, this is a stylistic choice some listeners might lap up.
The Grado SR80 don’t have the same clarity you might expect from ‘audiophile’ headphones like the Sennheiser HD 599 or the FiiO JT7. Although expansive, there’s a textured patina suckered to the top of the soundscape. It reminds me of the sonic equivalent of watching a movie shot on 35mm film. It’s not as clear as, say, IMAX, but it’s not murky or low-quality. It’s artistic. While some people might not like it, there’s a point.
I will say that heavy rock genres sounded quite disappointing — harder Cherry Glazerr tracks, some newer Muse songs, and nu-metal in particular — but if you’re predominantly an electronic or acoustic listener, you might love the SR80. On the whole, I did really like the SR80 sound, hence the overall positive 3.5-star rating.
Grado SR80 review: Verdict
The Grado SR80 are not perfect headphones, but they are entertaining. While the 3.5-star rating might appear like a “bad” score, it’s not at all. 3.5 stars means the headphones are “very good” by the Tom's Guide scoring criteria. But there are better options for less. If you’re serious about embarking on your audiophile journey, I’d recommend the $70 FiiO JT3 or the $130 FiiO JT7. Both of these headphones are much comfier and cheaper.
That’s not to say the SR80 won’t be great for the right user, though. If you’re more interested in the retro vibe, which includes a vinyl-like texture on your music itself, and you’re not the kind of person who finds on-ear headphones uncomfortable, I don’t think you’d be disappointed by the SR80.
While they’re not high-clarity, high-detail headphones, the Grado SR80 have a great personality and will definitely make a retro music lover happy.
