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Grado SR325x
£269
Grado’s Prestige range of headphones was introduced three decades ago and has been at the core of the company’s output since. Over time, Grado has consistently developed the range in small evolutionary steps – and so it is with this ‘x’ generation, with most of the important work going unseen.
For instance, the 44mm drive unit has been given a revised motor system, new diaphragm and upgraded coil, with the aim of improving efficiency and reducing distortion. Similarly, that new eight-conductor cable uses ‘super’ annealed copper and is claimed to deliver a purer sound than before.
These still remind us of the headphones air traffic control operators used in the 1940s. The open-backed design means that they leak sound, but also provide almost nothing in the way of noise isolation from the environment. If you are listening in a room with others, be prepared for your listening experience to be disturbed if they make any noise at all.
Those changes to the drive unit are obvious too. We listen to Massive Attack’s and the SR325x sound notably cleaner and clearer than their predecessor, the SR325e. These headphones have always been detailed and articulate performers, and that hasn’t changed, but the ‘x’ generation sounds that
