Grado SR325x review: Ideal cans for home-listening and even gaming
To audiophiles, the term ‘Grado’ is quite a special one. It refers to a firm who’ve been making headphones in New York City for the last seventy years, and over the course of the last few years, John Grado’s business has become a byword for fun-sounding open-back headphones that are almost obligatory for audiophiles to own. Here, I’ve got a pair of their SR325x headphones within their entry-level Prestige lineup, and boy are they good.
Upon first inspection, the SR325x don’t look like a £262/$295 pair of headphones, with a retro-inspired aesthetic that looks closer to 1953 than 2023. However, it’s arguably that retro aesthetic that sets these Grado headphones apart from other similarly-priced choices. They look absolutely fantastic to my eyes, and feel excellent in hand too.
What sets the SR325x’s apart from the cheaper options in the Prestige range by way of their construction is the fact the earcups are comprised of aluminium. This gives them a little bit of weight and justifies the price tag a little more than the plastic models do. In addition, the headband on the SR325x is made from actual leather, as opposed to vegan alternatives, and feels excellent, too. My only qualm about their construction is that the earpads here are made of a thin foam, as is typical for Grados, and they do feel as if they could end up falling apart… although at least replacements are pretty inexpensive. Other than the earpads though, the SR325x feels rugged and their construction is excellent.
It may not look as if these Grados support your noggin particularly well, but even with a lack of padding, it’s a case of shaping the headband to your head and letting them simply rest on your ears. For someone not too used to on-ear headphones, it took some getting used to, but when you set them just right, the SR325x is a rather comfy set of headphones. The clamping force isn’t too much, depending on how tightly you adjust the cups to sit, and a weight of 340g makes these some of the lighter headphones I’ve tested. They’re only a couple of grams more than the Drop + Hifiman HE R7DXs I looked at a couple of months ago, which means they don’t feel like your head is straining much when you’re wearing them.
The party piece for these Grados comes with the fact these are open-back headphones, meaning they let as much noise out as they do in. Compared to more conventional closed-back cans, open-back designs offer a wider soundstage given there’s less physical restriction on how wide the sound can go. While this may be good for audio quality, it means these headphones are designed for home use only. They let in a lot of noise, so they aren’t suitable using on your commute to work or when walking around town, and likewise, other people around you will hear every note of your music too.
