Inside Grado Labs: A legacy of hand-built headphones
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I had the privilege of speaking with both the late Joe Grado, and his son, John, about a decade ago, while working on one of the Fests.
Down to earth, humble men, possessed of a generous spirit, and a wicked sense of humour. It's easy to see why their products sell. They live, and work, in the real world.
Down to earth, humble men, possessed of a generous spirit, and a wicked sense of humour. It's easy to see why their products sell. They live, and work, in the real world.
I also had the good fortune of meeting Joe several times in Westfield NJ, where he lived. He was working on his uni-ball mic, recording concerts in a local church for measurements. Great guy, and early to recognize the effects of jitter in digital recordings. I purchased a pair of mono technics equalizers and a Wadia A/D 4000 off of him too.
His basement was AMAZING!
His basement was AMAZING!
StimpyWan
Addicted Member
Joe Grado was definitely a great guy. He told good 'war stories' too. Joe was at the CD plant where I worked. He was having a new opera CD pressed at my plant. So, while he was waiting on test press samples, Joe hung out in the audio department with us. Joe talked shopped, and demo'd a set of his prototype headphones, prior to their release. A great guy to hang out with. Plus, one of my co-workers bought the prototypes!
Use their cart daily. Great sounding headphones too.
~Maxx
I AM the Dark Side...
Just bought my first pair of Grado cans a couple of months ago (SR80's). I'm no headphone afficiando, but I've owned cans in this price range from AKG, Sony, Creative, and Sennheiser. None of them sounded anywhere near as natural or pleasing to my ears as the SR80's. When I'm ready to drop some real cash on headphones you can be certain they will come from the Grado company. When it comes to speakers of any kind, "best" is always relative. But for my part I don't think I'll ever by headphones from anyone else 
reydelaplaya
Super Member
> A legacy of hand-built headphones
...with a legacy of rotating earpieces and stiff cables.And have they improved those horribly uncomfy bowl-pads, yet?
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
Agreed! But if you're looking for a solution, the aftermarket G cushion replacement is an excellent choice. I've got them on my RS-1e, and love 'em. They completely changed how they feel without noticeably changing the sound.
The company's info is there in the pic. I've bought a few things from them now, - great products, great customer service.
For comparison, one of the original pads is at the top left.
EDIT: @~Maxx those fit yours too if you find the original cushions a little rough on the ears. These are a more 'around the ear' style like what grado uses on their TOL models.
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lini
just me...
Rey: I think in my case I'd be better off with another pair of the comfies (or maybe the earzonk replacement for these) and trying a smaller cutout - 'cause I've only got two SR80s (*), which could need a bit of taming compared to the regular bowl-pads, but not as much as with the unmodded comfy-pads...
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
*) When I bought mine years ago on vacation in SF, I definitely wanted to take two back to Germany - and I didn't want to spend much more than 200 bucks...
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
*) When I bought mine years ago on vacation in SF, I definitely wanted to take two back to Germany - and I didn't want to spend much more than 200 bucks...
Use a Grado green cart on a Grado arm and SR60 cans (with earzonk). Very happy with their products.
I don't always listen with headphones, but when I do, I listen with Grado. Love my SR 325s.
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