Grado SR60, SR125 - Both broken.... ?

[JamesPart]

I've had the SR60's for around 2 months now and last week the right headphone decided to stop working completely, as I was so impressed with them i ordered some SR125's, and they arrived today.

Been listening to music for around 30 minutes now, medium volume, definatly not loud enough to brake them, and what happens again..... the right headphone stops working after a minute of crackling and fading.

Now It's just come back on, but for how long I don't know, anyone know what he hell is going on, is this a common fault??

Thanks guys...

 

[John Duncan]

Sure it's not your headphone socket?

 

[Big Chris]

It's definitely not the headphone jack on your amp, is it?

I've had my 125s for a few years, and OK, so they don't get used every day, but they've never let me down..... Sound great too.

Take your headphones to a friend and let him/her use them for a few hours, or use them on a different source in your home if you have one. See if the problem returns.

EDIT: D'oh! Beat me to it JD.

 

[JamesPart]

I'm pretty sure It's not the headphone jack as the SR60's used the 1/6 jack, which only fits into my amp, the SR125's use the 1/3 jack which only fits my CD unit, so I'm waiting on an adapter should arrive tomorrow.

It's very unlikely that both sockets are broken, and I'm 99% sure It's not them as I've been running some small speakers through them for a loooong time with no problems.

They haven't gone off for 10 mins of palying now, but they're bound to do it again if It happened within 30 mins of openeing the box surely.

Oh and yeah.... they sound friggin great I'm loving them to bits.

 

[Big Chris]

JamesPart:
I'm pretty sure It's not the headphone jack as the SR60's used the 1/6 jack, which only fits into my amp, the SR125's use the 1/3 jack which only fits my CD unit, so I'm waiting on an adapter should arrive tomorrow.

It's very unlikely that both sockets are broken, and I'm 99% sure It's not them as I've been running some small speakers through them for a loooong time with no problems.

They haven't gone off for 10 mins of palying now, but they're bound to do it again if It happened within 30 mins of openeing the box surely.

Oh and yeah.... they sound friggin great I'm loving them to bits.

If it's definitely the cans themselves, take them back. But be safe in the knowledge that you've just been unlucky, I don't think anyone else has reported problems on here recently, and Grados of all types are fairly ubiquitous.

 

[John Duncan]

To lose one headphone socket is unfortunate. To lose two.......

Def the cans then - do as Chris says (well you would, wouldn't you?).

 

[JamesPart]

I'll see how they play over the next few days, would like to replace them anyway, but would SuperFi do that, as they seem ok right now..

 

[Clare Newsome]

I've flagged this thread up to Grado's UK distributor - they may have some suggestions.

But i'd add that this is the first i've heard of any Grado 'issues' - i've run various pairs quite hard over the past few years, with no problems.

 

[John Duncan]

They should, yes, even if you can't recreate the issue in the shop. I mean you want another pair, it's not as if you're trying it on.

 

[JamesPart]

Thanks for the help guys, will be contacting them then.

Oh... thanks for flagging the thread, thats really nice of you.
I'll keep an eye on the thread then

 

[Anonymous]

James, another SR125 user here and no issues in 2 years.

 

[Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome]

Hello James,

Firstly, thank you very much for purchasing two pairs of Grado headphones -- I'm very confident you won't regret it and they'll almost certainly allow you to enjoy your music for decades to come.

You may be assured, Grado headphones are exceedingly reliable. So statistically speaking, the odds against you receiving two faulty pairs (puchased a couple of months apart) is pretty unlikely to say the least. Another clue that the problem may be elsewhere in your system, is your description of the fault. Headphones in general can certainly go dead in one channel. They can also 'crackle'. However, I can't see how a headphone can 'fade', if you see what I mean? The fault you describe sounds to me (nearly 40 years in the business but certainly not a qualified engineer

) like a faulty component, such as a leaking capacitor, somewhere in your system.

As previously advised, please try them in a friends system if possible, I think they'll be fine. If the problem persists, Superfi are good people -- and I would also be grateful if you would keep me advised.

best regards,

Steve Reichert -- PR Manager, Armour Home (Grado)

 

[Anonymous]

Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome:
Grado headphones are exceedingly reliable. So statistically speaking, the odds against you receiving two faulty pairs (puchased a couple of months apart) is pretty unlikely to say the least.ÿ(Grado)ÿ

I'm not going to say no here but I've had two pairs fail on me. My SR60s have failed and had to be resoldered and also the cable casing connection is ridiculously fragile and pulls away very easily. My SR325s failed recently as well which I resoldered. I have since sold the SR325s in favour of my AKG k701 which seem stupendously well built in comparison. Just going on my experience Grado's are not very reliable and I don't intend to waste my money on them in the future.ÿ

 

[Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome]

Hello Octopo,

I'm sorry to learn of you experience and can understand your relutance to continue with the brand. However, I can only reiterate the facts, which are that our sales of Grado headphones must be approaching 100,000 pairs (and that's UK only - Grado are sold worldwide and sales in the USA are vastly greater than ours) and our returns rate is extremely small.

If you still own your original SR60 headphones and there is a problem with them, please return them to me at Armour and I will arrange to have them sorted out.

best regards,

Steve Reichert -- PR Manager, Armour Home (Grado)

 

[Anonymous]

Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome:
Hello Octopo,

I'm sorry to learn of you experience and can understand your relutance to continue with the brand. However, I can only reiterate the facts, which are that our sales of Grado headphones must be approaching 100,000 pairs (and that's UK only - Grado are sold worldwide and sales in the USA are vastly greater than ours) and our returns rate is extremely small.

If you still own your original SR60 headphones and there is a problem with them, please return them to me at Armour and I will arrange to have them sorted out.

best regards,

Steve Reichert -- PR Manager, Armour Home (Grado)

Thankyou Steve, I'll pop them in the post ASAP.

 

[laserman16]

What wonderful customer service. Pity not all companies are like this.

 

[Anonymous]

This may sound obvious but have you checked that your system works fine through speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

First let me say I was extremely impressed by my SR-60s - for one thing they're about half as loud again as any other phones I've ever owned. And then the sound - brilliant. Really excellent. However, I have had problems with them. Firstly, the bass response is peculiar - what I can only describe as a "flapping" sound. Not hugely audible but definitely there. And note, I don't listen at high levels. Below average, if anything - I would guess. So anyway, I took them back to the shop and asked the guy to see if he could hear the fault. Nope. But as I was insistant he exchanged them. Great! However, the second pair were exactly the same. Now I just have to content myself with listening rather quietly. Shame. (NB I bought them about 2 years ago).

The other points I would make are these. The foam is extremely fragile in my experience - the foam on one ear-piece began to crumble and fray after a few months. I believe replacement foam pieces are available although I have not looked yet - still, this is a weakness. One other person alerted me to this, and when I inspected them sure enough mine were beginning to go - particularly on one side. Now it's quite bad. I should also mention that they have had very, very little use.

Finally, can I just say the SR-60s are very uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. This issue is off-set by the sound quality, somewhat. But even so - the poor quality foam and perhaps some aspects of the ear-phone outer design means that they're not the most comfy headsets. My bonce ain't much bigger than average as far as I know, either.

 

[Anonymous]

robbiekins:The foam is extremely fragile in my experience - the foam on one ear-piece began to crumble and fray after a few months. I believe replacement foam pieces are available although I have not looked yet - still, this is a weakness. One other person alerted me to this, and when I inspected them sure enough mine were beginning to go - particularly on one side. Now it's quite bad. I should also mention that they have had very, very little use.

Yup, I had exactly the same experience after just a couple of months' light use. I love the sound of my SR60s. However, overall build and feel is not what you would expect from a pair of headphones at this price point.

 

[JamesPart]

So do all UK Grado headphones come from Armor, Isn't there any chance of my SR60's being fixed up also?
I've just this minute tried them on my I Pod, PC Speakers, Rotel RA-04 and another PC, still only 1 of the headphone drivers work, so I'm guessing It's definatly the headphones themselves that are broken.

I also agree that where the cable meets casing is very fragile, one of the first things I noticed.

My 125's still seem fine at the moment, I'm going to be testing them quite abit tonight also though, I'll see how things go.

 

[JamesPart]

Oh I don't know what to think, It's just started happening again, on all my devices, tried several different amps and devices. Strange thing is, when jack is fully pushed in 1 driver works, when jack is partially removed, both work, but sounds rubbish... guess I'll be sending them back at some point =/

 

[JamesPart]

Also, this may sound stupid, but do they have some sort of cut-out where if played slightly loud for a little while they turn off like an amp?

I'm guessing they don't but just wondering ... music wasn't too loud, but 70% on the amp.

 

[JamesPart]

Must my RA-04 be grounded with the plug on the back of the unit?
I bought my RA-04 second hand, and didn't receive any cables with it for using the 'GND' plug on the back, would this cause these problems?

 

[Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome]

Hi James,

I'm very sorry to learn about your ongoing problems. I confess I'm completely baffled about what could be causing it. Please either return them to Superfi or contact me at Armour on Monday and we'll work out how we are going to sort them out for you.

Very best regards,

Steve

 

[JamesPart]

This is really confusing me now.....

I have both my stereo and PC speakers connected up to my creative sound card and the same thing just happened but to all the speakers.... only left speakers working on everything including headphones... what the hell is going on, maybe It's my sound card.

But the weird thing is when my headphones had the problem and only the left one was working, i changed the source to an mp3 player, another PC... several things, and It still didn't work for 15 or so minutes until it started working again, I don't get it.

It's defiantly nothing to do with everything outside of my sound card (including amp, PC speakers, cables) as when all the speakers only played through left speakers it happened to both my amp, and the active speakers which aren't connected together in any way, I just split the sound coming my my PC, with a 1 to 2 split cable.

Does anyone have any ideas, cause I bloody don''t...

P.S Thanks Steve, but maybe It isn't the headphones after all, although the SR60s left driver hasn't been working for months now, so they're defiantly broken

God I hope this isn't damaging my stereo system and speakers, don't want my 685s to be permanently damaged also...

Thanks for the help everyone...

- James P