Recommendation for Headphones under $250

@soix No, I live alone so it doesn't matter if anyone hears the sound coming from the headphones.

@mattmiller ....Wow, I didn't know Grado made headphones so inexpensive!  I'll definitely take a look at those!

@patrickdowns ...Thanks for the recommendation!  I've heard of Sennheiser, but what is MassDrop?  The link appears to be a cross promotion from the two brands....Interesting....

the Philips SHP9500 cost around $75, sound very true-to-source and are very comfortable--highly rated by the headfi community

There’s a pair of Hifiman Sundaras on Amazon being sold in “Like New” condition from a very reputable seller for $240 (retail $299) and you can have them by this Tuesday with free shipping. Great headphones.  Check out this video review.  He also reviewed my Hifiman Arya Stealth ‘phones, my Singxer SA-1 headphone amp, and my Musician Pegasus DAC and in all cases his opinions closely mirror my own so I trust his ears and he knows his stuff.

https://soundnews.net/headphones/full-size/hifiman-sundara-rev.2021-review-my-favorite-headphone-under-400/

calgarian5355

Mass, or Massdrop, is an outfit that makes deals with manufacturers to make a lower-priced version of their product, iirc. So, the Mass6xx is identical to the Sennheiser-branded phones and I see they are branded Senn and Mass. I think I have that right.

This is the one I would get, their Senn 650 equivalent (I have Senn 600s and 650s):

"If you know audio gear, you know the Sennheiser HD 650. The company’s flagship from 2003 to 2009, this open-back headphone has shown serious staying power. Praised for its richly detailed, effortlessly enjoyable sound, it remains one of the most talked-about products on Head-Fi today—and is still widely considered among the best headphones under $1,000. So when we teamed up with Sennheiser on its first-ever community-driven design partnership, the HD 650 was a natural place to start. A new revision of the popular all-rounder, the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX has that same great sound plus a few updates, and a price that makes it even easier to love.

It's drop.com.  Get the HD6XX.  I have a dozen sets of headphones including some top of the line ones and the HD6XX are what I grab most often.  No, they don't sound better than the TOTL headphones, but they are super comfortable, easy to drive, and do a lot of things right in terms of sound quality.