Grado SR80's are one of best cans up to $300

Seems that everyone who has an opinion without qualifications can write a review. I have been in the audio business for 30 some years (Yes, I was involved with High-end audio since I was quite young), and for anyone to say that a pair of Sony earbuds are 80% as good is ridiculous. These are substantially better than anything Sony makes, even their very top model headphones or earbuds. Perhaps whoever wrote that Sony earbuds are 80% of the SR80's should examine his source. If the music is highly compressed, then quite frankly, I am not surprised! I don't ever get goose-bumps from eating MacDonald's burgers either! Try comparing with at least an uncompressed CD. Lossless systems sound a lot better than mp3's but they are still not as good as the original CD's. Of course what compression does to the sound is a totally different subject, and I should not go any further than just that. The SR80's are indeed worthy of having one to go finding a better source. Then perhaps your goosebump factor will be there.
Another thing great for these is that parts like foam cushions (which will deteriorate and break-down) and cables are readily available for replacement. Try finding parts for your headphones which are a few years old with any other headphones line and you will come up empty. The exceptions are Sennheiser's, parts availability are great too.