Wireless headphones might be the ultimate in convenience and portability for when you’re out and about, but if you want a pair for home use, the best wired headphones can deliver sensational sound quality.
We’ve been long-time admirers of Grado and in particular their SR325x on-ear, open-back model. They’re a three-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winner and can now be yours with a tasty £90 discount, bringing the asking price down to £236 at Amazon.
They can take a little time to get used to but you will be rewarded with a wonderfully refined and articulate performance. The Grados’ ability to communicate dynamics and deliver textures from vocals and instruments means you forget all about the headphones and end up just getting lost in the music you’re listening to. In our SR325x review, we concluded, “Nothing quite beats the Grado for communicating all elements of music faithfully and with such enthusiasm.”
The Grados use a 44mm driver and come with an 8-conductor headphone cable which uses ‘super’ annealed copper which is claimed to improve sound quality. It is terminated by a 3.5mm headphone jack, but a 6.3mm adaptor is also provided.
Now, you’ll need to remember that the Grados are an open-back design so they leak sound, but if you’re using them in the four walls of your own listening room, then this shouldn’t have any real impact.
Our only real disappointment relates to build quality and the fact you couldn’t really describe it as premium. For example, the foam used for the earpads is rather coarse, but it is rugged and durable and these are two words that also apply to the rest of the build and structure of these headphones. It feels like they are built to last and that’s what we’ve experienced in our time testing and living with them.
Whether or not you find the SR325x comfortable will be down to personal preference. We know some people love them, while others can’t quite get along with this particular on-ear design. They weigh 340g, which isn’t particularly heavy and allow for some simple adjustments to get them set on your head correctly. And, once you do have them in place, the sound quality speaks for itself.
You can plug the SR325x into a laptop or budget music player and they’ll do a fine job, but you’ll really make the most of their abilities if you have a decent outboard DAC on hand or a more premium music player.
Once you plug them in, these amazing audiophile on-ears won’t disappoint, especially with over 25% off the asking price.
MORE:
Wired vs wireless headphones: pros and cons, and which is better?
How to choose the right pair of headphones
An ode to open-back headphones – and why I’d never go (closed-)back
Our pick of the best headphone deals