Is anyone here an audiophile?

It's one of my guilty pleasures. I rarely make much over 10k a year but still willing to spend $300 on a pair of headphones. (And no I do not mean Beats or Bose). Some examples of good headphones in that price range: Sennheiser HD598/HD600/HD650 Beyerdynamic DT150/DT250/DT880/DT990 AKG K601/K612/K701/K702/Q701/K712 Audio-Technica A900X/AD900X/AD1000X Ultrasone Pro 750/900 Sony CD900ST/SA5000 etc. There are others but you get the idea. Most of high end Sony headphones currently in production are inferior to the ones they used to make. Most of these headphones require a separate amp to use with a portable device. I talk to others about this kind of stuff on headfi forum.

I am more of a technophile but after hearing my friends Grado PS1000 I have yet to find any other headphone which gives me the same quality as that. They are very expensive as well but well worth the price.

Yeah so far from what I heard from my friends headphones and other peoples reviews of them they are pretty much one of the best if not the best company for audiophiles wanting headphones.

I've owned Grado SR60 and SR80 a couple times and think they are a great value it that price range. My only issue is the lack of any low bass (they bump up the midbass to compensate but the frequency response falls off a cliff after that) and the ragged high frequency response. I bought a Beyerdynamic DT880 pro (250ohm) right after my last SR80 and thought the Beyer was vastly superior in every way (of course it was 2.3x the price for the Beyer). Unfortunately I had to sell the Beyer a year after that because of money problems and bought an Ultrasone pro 750. It's a nice headphone but not as good as the Beyer. The top end is closer to the Grado and the low end is over-emphasized. Plus it's not as comfy to wear as the Beyer which was like a couple of pillows on my ears. I've never heard the RS1.

Grado headphones are very nice and some are very special in certain ways they convey the sound, but I disagree that they are even close to the best.

Well you seem to be rather updated on the matter which would you classify as the best headphones currently out right now disregarding price as an issue. Sorry if I came off as a bit unknowing on the particular subject. ^^

The impedance on the SR80 is a little bit low. They'd probably sound better with an amp. I think the higher end grados make for excellent referencing cans