Headphones
Grado SR 60i
Widely regarded as the top affordable headphone, the Grado SR60i is a superb choice for listeners seeking amazing sound at a great price. It's hard to imagine any music fan would be disappointed hearing these unassuming yet potent cans. The SR60i may look retro, but the performance is right up to date with a cheerful, balanced tone on both portable and home gear.
Read Stereophile's May 2010 Review by Jim Austin
Sorry, no Grado Labs product shipping outside USA due to manufacturer restrictions!
add to wishlist |
email to a friend
Product Features:
- For decades, a classic among music lovers wanting top sound at a great price
- Excellent efficiency perfect for computer use, iPod / MP3, and all audio players
- Solid build quality and replaceable earpads for long use lifespan
- Biggest seller in the entire Grado line!
- Proudly designed & made in Brooklyn USA
What's In The Box:
- Grado 'screw-on' 1/4" (6.3 mm) stereo plug adapter
- Grado Labs warranty insert
Applications:
Long considered the headphone to beat in the competitive 'under-$80' category, the SR60i competes as "The Best Headphones Ever" at this price. These on-ear (supra-aural) open-back cans deliver a smooth, liquid-sounding midrange and engaging detail in the highs along with a clean, punchy bass response. The sole quibble is a slightly 'sparkly' sound in the uppermost treble ranges rather than the silky top-end of extremely well-extended -- and certainly MUCH pricier! -- audiophile headphones. A few customers mention that the foam earpad comfort can be a fit issue, but gently bending the headband to conform more closely to the top of the head helps alleviate that for most wearers. The style thing is another matter: use the SR60i with an uber-hip iPad or iPhone and you may be busted by the vigilant Fashionista Police. All kidding aside, this is a really enjoyable, musical headphone that almost every listener could appreciate -- and the price sure is right.
Like all Grado Labs headphones, the SR60i is an 'open' earcup design providing no isolation from outside ambient noise. By the same token, others could potentially hear "leakage" from open-back headphones when listening in quiet places or when someone's sitting nearby (i.e, libraries, workplace cubicles, late night listening, etc,.). Choose from our many closed/sealed-back headphones if listening privacy and isolation are needed for your particular situation.
A study in effective minimalist design, the Grado SR60i has a very basic flexible vinyl headband with simple metal height adjusters that connect the earpieces to the headband, thus allowing for up & down adjustment plus complete 360 degree earpiece rotation. This feature is ideal for laying the headphones down flat -- perfect for packing them in a briefcase or backpack. The SR-60i are very efficient & well-driven by portable players or inexpensive home equipment. The straight headphone cord measures roughly 7.5ft from the earcups to the plug tip, exits both earcups in a "Y" design, and terminates to a 1/8" (3.5mm) 'mini' plug. A 1/4" full-size stereo plug adapter handily comes provided with the SR60i cord. The free 1-year SR60i product warranty is directly handled exclusively by Grado Labs, the manufacturer, located in Brooklyn, NY only with your HeadRoom 'Grado authorized dealer' purchase receipt!
HeadRoom is now a fully authorized Grado headphone recable specialist! Please call us if interested in re-cabling your Grado headphones with our exclusive HeadRoom/Cardas 'Fat Pipe' upgraded headphone cord!
Specifications:
- Headphone Type: Earpad
- Connector Type: 1/8
- Weight: 4.4 oz w/o cord
- Isolation: 0
- Impedance @ 1kHz: 32 Ohms
- Detachable Cable: No
- Cord Length: 7 ft. (2 m)
- Cord Type: Straight Y
- Coupler Size: Medium
- Ear Coupler Type: Earpad
- Driver Type: Dynamic
- Acoustic Seal: Open
- Manufacturer Warranty: 1 Year
- Sensitivity: 98 dB/mV
Additional Resources:
- Manufacturer's Website
- http://www.gradolabs.com/
- Product Reviews
- PC World geek tech Tom Mainelli, November 2006
- Army Times Rob Colenso
- Cool Tech Zone Gundeep Hora Sept. 2005
- Playlist Review
- pcrules.com Adam Faight
- Terry Kok February 2001
- Soundtage! Greg Smith April 1997
- GoodSound! January 2003
- IGN September 2001
- Stereophile Corey Greenburg June 1994
- Cnet, Steve Guttenberg
Average Rating
Posted by Welly Wu from West Orange, NJ on 2013-02-24
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Sound quality
Cons: Uncomfortable
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by flopyu from Santa Rosa, CA on 2013-01-14
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Great Price for the sound,.
Cons: Uncomfortable, and plastic broke easily.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by Wage from San Francisco, CA on 2012-01-14
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Comfortable, Sound, Great Value
Cons: Poor Durability
Grado SR60i's looks aren't the coolest (for me, that would be the Denon AH-D7000), but you get what you pay for in that regard. For me, their looks are fine, and so I deduct no stars for this. Besides, these are not recommended for outdoor or "wearing while on the train to work"-type listening; who's going to see you when most reviewers recommend this for home use only?
The Grado SR60i was very uncomfortable the first few times I put it on! For the first couple of sessions, the flat earpads hurt my earlobes after a couple hours' use. But after a week or so of wearing them in, I no longer noticed they were even on my head, even while wearing for 8+ hours at a time. I'm a tall guy and have a rather large head size (I usually have to put baseball caps to the 80% notch, unless I have my hair shaved bald), so I was quite worried they would not fit properly. Fit like a glove, but they do require wearing in before that happens.
Also, please keep in mind before purchasing the Grado SR60i that they WILL leak out whatever you're listening to even if you listen at low-mid volumes. This can be a problem if you value your privacy, but otherwise the audio quality is unmatched for under $150USD. For me, the sound quality was worth it, but it did bother me that I'd be asked to turn my volume down by someone in the same room when my music wasn't even past 30% of max.
As for Headroom's service, the product came shipped when they said it would, and there were absolutely no problems with my purchase or with contacting them to ask about availability. I even remember talking to Headroom over the phone to see where they were located so that I could estimate which shipping option to pick. Very great customer service, and I will be purchasing all my headphones from them in the future (as I have since 2005).
I won't be buying the Grado SR60i again for myself because their mind-blowing sound quality has convinced me to go all the way and purchase a $700+ set with an additional DAC/AMP (whenever I can afford that). However, I will be buying the Grado SR60i again for anyone I meet in the future who loves music but has never heard what a great pair of headphones really sound like. The difference is night and day.
(P.S. These headphones made it a good 4-1/2 years of everyday use before they had to be retired. I babied them for the last two years and they lasted for another year with my mom after I moved away from home.)
28 out of 29 people found this review helpful. Did you?
