Grado PS500 review

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Verdict:

Detailed and incredible sound that can't be beaten at the price, although they're not ideal for commuting

Review Date: 17 Jan 2012

Price when reviewed: £630

Buy it now for: £599
(see more store prices)

Supplier: http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk

Reviewed By: David Ludlow

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

ExpertReviews Award

Quality depends on the source of your music, as you'd expect. While the PS500's are capable of being powered by an iPhone, turning it up to maximum volume caused the audio to sound slightly distorted. This is a limitation of the iPhone's amplifier; switching to a dedicated amplifier or a decent sound card on a PC removed all of these problems the PS500s copes with high volumes without a single bit of distortion.

Although they look quite basic, these headphones are actually very comfortable. Each driver can swivel 360-degrees, allowing them to find a natural position to sit comfortably over each ear. We found the padded headband and foam covers incredibly comfortable. Getting lost in our music, we forgot that we were even wearing them, making us feel we were there during the recording of the music.

Comfortable and capable of stunning sound, the Grado PS500 headphones are beautiful to listen to.

As we said at the start of the review, there's no getting away from the fact that these headphones are expensive. It's also true to say that there's no getting away from the fact that the PS500 headphones sound incredible. Unless you're willing to spend closer to the £2,000 for the Grado PS1000, you're not going to get better sound quality than this.

The open drivers mean they're not ideal of commuters, but if you want to get lost in your music at home or when you're away and only have your MP3 player with you, these headphones are simply incredible.

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