When a company carries out a model refresh, it is almost an unspoken convention that whatever engineering improvements they carry out will be accompanied by an aesthetic refresh too.

Honest; accurate and unfatiguing sound; Well built; Usefully sensitive

Suitable for home use only; Not as comfortable as some rivals; Cord a little short

The sound in these headphones is fantastic for the price. The highs are bright without being brash, the mids are clear with great separation of individual sounds, and the bass is full without being muddy.

Great Sound; good transparency to outside sounds

Short cord; ear pads could be softer

First, a big thanks to Todd The Vinyl Junkie for making the 'e' series loaner program possible. To the next guy in line: sorry I kept them for so long.

Startling clarity; expansive soundstage; tuneful and articulate bass

A bit strident on suboptimally engineered / mastered recordings

The SR225 was the gateway to the Grado line for me. Unlike many who would start off with the SR60, I know that first impressions are very important- thus I chose the middle of the lineup for auditioning.

After years of owning Sennheiser, AKG, Ultrasone, Ultimate Ears, Etymotic and Beyerdynamic, I finally tried the Grado SR-225. Needless to say, I am not disappointed. For the money the SR-225 offer a very dynamic, energetic, detailed and just plain fun listen.

Grado is a relatively small manufacturer that specialises in phono cartridges and headphones and makes a virtue of its no-nonsense approach. This extends to the aesthetics, which divides opinion amongst audiophiles.

I bought it in addition to Sennheiser HD 250 Linear, which is very well balanced and sounds very "right" but more tiring although comfortable (closed). I'm glad to have both.

over several months. The reason I had so many of these are as follows: 1 - I love the Grado sound signature 2- The Grado SR125i developed Grattle / noticeable rattling coming from either one or both of the drivers. – I highly suggest Googling this before purchasing a set.

The SR225 is a sweet spot in the grado line-up for an audiophile. It has that classic grado sound and gritty guitar sound and that arena rock presentation for a nice price where congestion isn't an issue in my opinion.

Grado Labs' headphones have been audiophile favorites for decades. The company rarely introduces new models, but it recently upgraded its entire headphone line, adding an "i" to the model number to denote "improved.

Highly dynamic and detailed sound; long-term factory service and support; unique retro design

Not the most comfortable design; large 6.3mm plug requires adapter (not included) to interface with portable audio sources; open-backed design lets in external sound