I have owned a pair of grado sr325i phones, for about 2 years. These, are the best cans i have ever had. They were £350, from amazon uk. Last year, the cable, from the right ear cracked. I fixed it with some shrink sleeving, no problem. Last week, it cracked again, further along. I thought, i`m not messing aboiut again, i`ll have a new cable put on. I have alway`s had my stuff repaired, at moorgate acoustics, in sheffield (class A repairs). Darren there, is a top man. Took my phones in last tuesday. Wednsday, he rang me up, saying, he couldn`t repair them, as, grado, won`t send out cables. They only use their own repair place (armourhome). They do a collect service, so, i phoned them, asking if they could pick the phones up from the hi-fi shop. Yes, said the woman. It will be £60, for a new cable, and, £20, to pick up the phones, and, return them to you. My brother, who is a mechanical engineer, and, has designed power stations, sub stations, etc, phoned them, saying, when you pay £350, you expect to get a quality product, not something that`s gonna fail after 2 years. They weren`t having it.

I just sold my grado RSi cans......you could of had em lad....great cans but i have much better ones...soz mate....i traded em for a gf535 wish i haddn't lad the deck needs doing and it sounds a pos

That is why I have a portapro, nice good sound and cheap, when it is broken I get new ones

porta pro.....i can make better noise through my bottom....sorry nicolle but if you leke em that's cool

Well. That was a lot more, than i was prepared to pay, but, i thought, i was getting some top quality kit. Never been a big headphone fan, but, being as i am, i rely on em a lot. Try telling this to grado.

I have a couple of headphones... the Grado SR80i at work if I want to still hear the phone and what collegues are saying behind my back thinking it is a closed set Furthermore a Sennheiser (closed) but my real stuff is a Sony MDR-CD6 (still my favorite portable) and the Technics/Panasonic EAH-510 I just restored from the late 70s.

My 2 cents: the SR80i rocks too and if it breaks it is not that bad. I do have to admit the quality of manufacturing is a shock compared to competitors. Especially the cable, man!! The outer sleaving is kind of lose around the inner cables and come on, Sony has been attaching the cable to one side since the eighties! This is prehistoric design and flawed.

The other option: I bought my old Sennheiser HD520II back on ebay with box, as new for 18 Euro. After 20 years, you can still buy new pads and a cable, fitted with connectors (German!) for a fair amount... whoohoo!

Before I found the NIB(!) MDR-CD6 from 1987, I was aiming for the Sony MDR-Z1000 (or the same model in Pro line MDR-7520), rugged design and a winner. Hell, Knopfler's engineer checks his final mixes with that thing. Sure, it may be a tiny bit colored, but then again, all of them are in some way. Neutral phones are no fun...

Haha!, you have stereo bottoms? 

the portapro are great!, no complaints here

Tim's bottompro

Yess i fart in stereo love

Good night flower...im off to bed..hugs

Imeijer, was that the CD-6's that recently sold on eBay? I was watching those.

Yup, I just had to have them... had to stay up until 4 AM dutch time, but it was worth it. I realized I may never ever see one again in that condition. I received it last week and it is brand new. I slapped myself for ever selling mine lots of years ago. Sure it was a pain and a big chunk, but I figured they're worth it (to me at least, regardless of true value).

By the way, 2 months ago I found a NIB MDR-62 on a second hand site in Holland, CD store cleaning its shelves (probably before going out of business ). I paid 15 euro for it, a bargain, so considering the average of the two I didn't do that bad

Congrats, they are great headphones, just don't forget how fragile they are. I broke two pairs in the past just carrying them in my bag.

Thanks! Yes, I most certainly won't forget, I always kept the previous one at home or in the car with my parents. Never got out in the weather or tough situations. They're so new, I'm even scared to use them :-) I know the material of the pads just wore out (not because they age, but just wear) and you can't find new ones these days....

By the way, I also tried to find the eighties headphones used by KLM in their airplanes (uncle worked there), made by Philips and sometimes Sony (MDR-3) with KLM logo embossed....couldn't find them, until I gave my uncle a call. He had 3 of them in a drawer (first one he opened ). Including 4 cartons with new replacement foam pads... black and new, not falling apart! So I guess sunlight is the most damaging factor for foam.

Going back to the topic... I'm wondering why the Grado can't be repaired? I mean, if they don't ship a cable, you make one yourself (or have one made). I guess attaching it to the drivers isn't rocket science...

Lit, if you want to replace the cable on Grado cans you have to use the old heat and prise apart method. There are various videos on the net...I saw one months ago where the guy heated his cans up over a pan of water and used something like washing pegs to help the phones case work open (they are glued together). Hairdryers can also be used, the general idea is heat 'em up, pull 'em apart! Your 325's have a metal enclosure but hopefully the cable still disappears into some black plastic.

Way cool!

Yeah. they are the 225`s. Mine are the 325`s. Believe it, or not, they don`t come apart the same. My brother, got in touch with grado. Gave them some of his old mechanical engineering speil. He told them, my phones, weren`t fit for purpose, and, he would take it further .

i am going to have to get some quality h/phones my old technics ones went out with  stone wheels 

Chris. Just get 2 cans, and a piece of string. Better than some of the crap sold today.

I hope you get it sorted, really two years service life is crap. I guess the standard warranty is out by a year or so by now? There should be a way to replace the cable (even though really shouldn't have to). How do they come apart? Is it screws etc? Thinking about it Lit, although Grados sound great, the fact the some models appear to be hot melted together (I think my SR60's are), and therefore not designed for service (otherwise they'd use screws or similar) weakens their tagline on adverts... " Truly the worlds finest headphones " .

As I say, great sound, poor construction. Shame. And what's that large triangular lump of plastic all about? Cable unions/splitters don't have to be that big 

 sony xb 1000...better than any grado after burn in

only available from japan.....totally mocked my grado RSi hence there gone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AREfsEf2cbs

Got it in 1 nakD, superb sound, crap construction. Grado, must have a special tool, for dismantling the 325`s. Had a look, but, couldn`t see any obvious ways to take them apart. I also have a pair of 10 year old sr80`s, which are still going strong. No cable problems.

Good thing about the SR80s, they sound better than anything twice as expensive and they are value for money. If it breaks after a decade of good use, no problem. 2 years is just sick. The only thing I still hate is that these things are open-air, so I get a lot of noise from the surroundings. I wish there were phones sounding like those, but closed. I guess you can't have everything

ok sod you all you all want to ignore me....fine im going through enough hard times as is.....MODS PLEASE PLEASE delete my account...bye all

Open air? Mine have ear cushions, that go over the ears. I alway`s had em down as closed .

Well, I don't know how it's called.. by open air I mean they're not in a closed shell, the drivers are open which allows the sound to bleed (I don't mind), but also sound to enter the phones if you don't crank up the volume (I tend not to). Mine have the bowl shaped cushions, the back is just a perforated metal.

I saw a kid on the subway with them on, and they are effen HUGE!

I didn't ignore you, I watched the unboxing of the XB1000.... Too bad he only jerks off about the unboxing whilst making horrible noises, instead of giving some opnion on how they sound (how subjective that may be) :-)

Erm. It`s too technical for me. I think, they`re closed,

No worries, what counts is how they sound and how comfortable they are...and it would be nice if they didn't break! :S

wasn't you my friend....just about everybody ignores me now including litfan....god id like to know what im suposed to have done...apart from some crude jokes...wich can be quite upsetting......but thanks for replying.......i'll prolly just take a few months break from here...i dont need the heartache

litfan you could buy those sony much cheaper than gettimg your grado's fixed lad.....and there better than the top of the line grado....up2u weather u read this or not lad

Hehe, take it easy... some people just have a different sense of humor and whether or not it may be offensive, that's partly up to the receiver, not only the sender. I'm a newbie here (duh) so I don't know anything about the history of wars here :-) I will keep it that way...

Anyway, I can understand wanting to get the Grado's fixed. Call it a preference, but I like the bass response (type, not volume). That said, I'm glad I have multiple brands, to fit my mood :-)

Sorry RR, I just read your post. Just take a break if you feel you need to, but I will not delete your account, and your always welcomed back.

Yeah Nicolle  same here, been a fan of the Portas since the 80s.... ...they been around since 1984....and still selling all these years!! and i have a growing collection of them 

@ Tim, Moooooooooooooooooooooo, lighten up, nobody ignores you, houw could one? 

I do love portapro, better as Tim's grado things

Of course i ignore you lad . Only joking. I`m going through paroxetine withdrawal at the moment, so, you will have to excuse me. You can chase me afterwards. You need a flippin woman lad, or, sheep, whichever floats yer boat.

Why do they make these ear phones so *&$^&# fragile

I feel your pain Litfan. Although not Grado's I bought a top tier pair of Senn's last year only to have the lead from the jack. Me being the smart ass took it apart and found the wires to be thinner than a hair Of course Sennheiser was no help...

I had to purchase a magnifying glass before my solder job. Long story short, it lasted a month before tanking again.

I just tossed them out at that point as swore off headphones....

Any headphone engineers reading this post...quality is not only about sound but durability, especially in portable components!!!!

Do grado, still make phono cartridges? My favourite, was alway`s the F2+.

Yup, they still do:

http://gradolabs.com/page_cartridges.php

You were right about open/closed headphones. I bow to your superior knowledge sir .

Thanks...

Btw, both have drawbacks...open air mostly the bleeding (both ways) so either you entertain others or get annoyed by others, and closed sets mostly the difficulty in getting the frequency response right (bloated mid-bass very common) and to achieve a spatial sound just like open sets.

My collegue has some PortaPros (that Nicolle has) and he's bringing them along on Monday. Not that I need one, but I was interested in hearing them because of the various opinions on them (and they do vary a lot )

How 'bout them Grado cartridges? Little chauvinism...Holland brought forth Van Den Hul, not only a cable manufacturer but well respected phono cartridge maker. Damn, off-topic...not very portable

Well. Got my phones back yesterday, after servicing, and, new cable. Sent them an e-mail, complaining. Waste of time that was. All they did, was, reduce the cost of repair, postage, from £96, to £84. Turns out, there`s 2 years warranty on these. I bought them 2yrs, and, 1 month ago. .

The response from (Grado/retalier) customer service I would say is a bit bollocks, frankly. One Month out? If you had just sent them in and said these are out of warranty, please fix them and invoice me, fair enough (breaking after two years approx is still irredeemably pathetic though). But after complaining they should have accommodated you, if only as a customer relations exercise. Especially as you spent some serious dough (£350). Sorry you had a trying time with what should be a top manufacturer. In my book you are not a "vexatious complainant"!

Lit, what/who was the  company you were dealing with? Grado direct or retailer?

P.S £96 is OTT for what is a stupid cable design anyway

I sent the complaint to grado, but, they sent it to their own repairer armourhome.

good old indestructible bakelite headphones...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S-G-...;hash=item27caa2d788

Yeah, exactly. When were these made? and, still going strong. I have sent another e-mail to grado. I`m not gonna let this one drop.

good for you rich....get em fixed and get some good old fasioned cans....those grados of mine sell for 500 uward....no way were they worth that lad...they couldn't even handle my setup...unlike my sony can