Grado Labs

Grado Labs is an American, family-owned audio manufacturer headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1953 by master watchmaker Joseph Grado, the company began with phono cartridges assembled at a kitchen table and developed into one of the best-known specialist brands in high-fidelity headphones and analog playback equipment. Its products are associated with open-back, dynamic, supra-aural headphone designs, distinctive retro styling, relatively small-scale production, and a sound character that has attracted a long-standing following among audiophiles, musicians, reviewers, and recording professionals. Joseph Grado had previously worked for Tiffany & Company and Sherman Fairchild before establishing the business. He developed the company’s early cartridge operation and is credited with inventing the first stereo moving-coil phono cartridge. During its earlier history, Grado also produced speakers, turntables, and tonearms, although cartridges remained its enduring product category. The company’s cartridge business expanded substantially during the 1980s, but later market pressures placed the business close to closure. Joseph’s nephew John Grado joined the company in 1965, initially performing basic factory work and learning the business from his uncle. He took over day-to-day operations in 1975 and purchased the company in 1990, becoming president and chief executive. Under John’s leadership, Grado entered the headphone market. The first headphone models were built on workbenches in the Brooklyn facility, with John working closely with his wife, Loretta. The unexpectedly strong response to those products redirected the company away from a planned large-speaker project and toward headphones, which became its defining category. Grado’s headphone strategy has emphasized incremental engineering development rather than frequent mass-market product launches. The company has introduced several generations of Prestige, Reference, Statement, Professional, and related models while retaining open-back construction and a recognizable physical design. Wooden earcups became an important part of product identity after the first wooden Grado headphones appeared in 1994. Grado also introduced its first wooden phono cartridge and its first headphone amplifier in 1996. Later product generations brought improved drivers, better damping, updated cabling, higher efficiency, and lower distortion. The company has historically relied on specialist dealers, international distributors, audio shows, press coverage, and word of mouth rather than conventional mass advertising. This low-key approach helped build a cult reputation while maintaining the image of a small workshop manufacturer. Nearly all of its products are made in Brooklyn, although the exact scope of manufacturing may vary by product and period. Grado’s business includes wired headphones, headphone accessories and amplification, and moving-magnet and moving-coil phono cartridges. A third generation of the family, John Grado’s son Jonathan, joined the company. Jonathan created Grado’s social-media presence while in college, later worked at Sonos, and then joined Grado full time, taking responsibility for marketing and brand modernization. His work helped the company communicate with a broader audience without abandoning its specialist positioning. Collaborations, including a 2013 experimental headphone using Bushmills whiskey-barrel wood, provided a way to reach new audiences while maintaining the brand’s craft-oriented identity. Grado remains a privately held, family-run audio company. Its main competitive distinctions are Brooklyn manufacturing, hand assembly, long product continuity, recognizable industrial design, and a close association with high-end open-back listening. The brand continues to serve the premium personal-audio and analog-audio markets rather than pursuing mass-market wireless-electronics scale.

Grado Labs began in Brooklyn in 1953 when Joseph Grado, a master watchmaker who had worked for Tiffany & Company and Sherman Fairchild, established an audio business focused on phono cartridges. Early production took place on a small scale, including work at Joseph’s kitchen table. He later operated the company from a former family fruit-shop location and developed a broad technical portfolio that included cartridges, speakers, turntables, tonearms, and related audio products. The cartridge business became the company’s most durable early activity. Joseph is credited with inventing the first stereo moving-coil phono cartridge, an achievement that helped establish Grado’s reputation in analog audio. He was inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame in 1982. Joseph’s nephew John Grado joined the company in 1965. He learned the manufacturing and commercial sides of the business over many years and began managing its day-to-day operations in 1975. Cartridge production reached a high point during the mid-1980s, but the company later experienced a severe downturn and approached closure. In 1990, John purchased Grado Labs from his uncle and became president and chief executive. John’s revitalization of the business centered on headphones. During the first half of the 1990s, he and his wife Loretta built the company’s first headphone products at workbenches in the Brooklyn facility. The early success of the headphones displaced plans for a large speaker project known as Grado Towers; only a small number of experimental pairs were made. The company’s first wooden headphones appeared in 1994, followed in 1996 by a wooden phono cartridge and the RA1 headphone amplifier. These developments helped establish the combination of wood, compact workshop production, and high-fidelity listening that became central to Grado’s identity. Rather than relying on large advertising budgets, John promoted the products through audio shows, specialist dealers, distributors, and personal relationships. After building a network across multiple countries, he reduced his show appearances and concentrated more on the company and his family. Over subsequent decades, Grado expanded and revised multiple headphone generations while also rebuilding its cartridge business. The company remained closely associated with wired, dynamic, open-back, and generally supra-aural headphones, although it also produced portable and in-ear products during parts of its history. The company began a brand-communications transition in the 2010s. John’s son Jonathan started Grado’s Facebook and Twitter presence while in college, later worked at Sonos, and then joined Grado full-time. He became vice president of marketing in 2014 and helped the company reach new audiences despite its reported lack of a conventional advertising budget. A 2013 collaboration with Bushmills used wood from whiskey barrels in an experimental headphone and demonstrated the brand’s ability to connect its craft image with cultural partnerships. In 2014, the company released the e series, incorporating changes to damping, distortion, and tuning. It also received recognition from Mashable and American Express for social-media activity among small companies. In 2015, JetBlue selected Grado headphones for its Mint premium-cabin service. The same year, Joseph Grado died at age 90. The family business subsequently continued to update its product families. The Prestige X series arrived in 2021 with new drivers, cable, headband, efficiency, and distortion improvements. Reference and Statement products continued to represent higher-end parts of the range, while cartridge families retained separate Prestige and Reference approaches. A Classic series announced for 2026 was described as replacing or consolidating several earlier headphone lines and introducing X2 drivers and a more flexible cable. Grado also updated its cartridge range with a fourth series and a revised cartridge logo. Grado Labs remains privately held and family operated. Its enduring market position rests on specialist credibility, distinctive open-back headphone designs, hand assembly, Brooklyn production, analog expertise, and a strong word-of-mouth community rather than mass-market scale.

• 2026

  Classic series launches

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The Classic range is described as superseding parts of the Prestige X, Reference, and Statement headphone families.

• 2021

  Prestige X series launches

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The Prestige X replaces the Prestige e range with new drivers and updated components.

• 2015

  JetBlue partnership begins

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Grado headphones are selected for JetBlue Mint flights.

• 2014

  The e series launches

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The new generation adds damping, distortion, and tuning changes.

• 2013

  Jonathan Grado joins the business

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The third generation of the family begins formal work on the brand and its communications.

• 2008

  The i headphone series launches

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The series brings revised drivers, cables, and tuning refinements.

• 1996

  Wooden cartridge and RA1 amplifier introduced

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Grado expands its wood-based analog products and introduces its first headphone amplifier.

• 1994

  First wooden Grado headphones

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Wooden headphone construction becomes part of the brand’s signature design language.

• 1990

  John Grado purchases Grado Labs

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  John buys the company from Joseph and becomes president and chief executive.

• 1982

  Joseph Grado enters the Audio Hall of Fame

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The founder receives recognition for his contribution to audio technology.

• 1975

  John Grado takes over daily operations

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  John begins managing the company’s day-to-day activities.

• 1965

  John Grado joins the company

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Grado’s nephew begins working at the family business.

• 1953

  Grado Labs is founded in Brooklyn

  [1]Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Grado establishes the company and begins producing phono cartridges.

Premium, craft-oriented, Brooklyn-made, specialist audio with an emphasis on open-back headphone sound and analog playback.

• Open-back wired headphones

  Prestige headphone series

  The Prestige family is Grado’s long-running mainstream audiophile headphone range. It uses dynamic drivers and open-back construction, with models commonly identified by SR-series designations. The line has been revised through multiple generations, including the e and X versions, with changes to drivers, damping, cabling, headbands, efficiency, and distortion performance. Its role is to provide the company’s characteristic open-air sound and workshop aesthetic across a broad premium range.

• High-end open-back headphones

  Reference headphone series

  The Reference family occupies a higher tier of Grado’s headphone portfolio and emphasizes more advanced driver matching, materials, and tuning than the entry and mid-level ranges. It is part of the company’s specialist audiophile offering and has historically been presented alongside the Statement series as a premium expression of Grado’s open-back design philosophy.

• Flagship open-back headphones

  Statement headphone series

  The Statement family represents Grado’s flagship headphone positioning. Models in this range use premium materials and more elaborate driver and acoustic development than the standard Prestige products. The series is intended for dedicated home listening and reflects Grado’s emphasis on hand assembly, open-back architecture, and high-resolution audio reproduction.

• Discontinued professional headphones

  HP-1000 series

  The Joseph Grado Signature Products HP-1000 series was a limited-production headphone family of approximately 1,000 units. It included the HP1 with polarity switches, the HP2 without those switches, and the short-run HP3 variant, whose drivers had looser matching. The series is regarded as an important historic product line in Grado’s headphone development.

• Analog audio components · 1953

  Phono cartridges

  Phono cartridges are Grado’s foundational product category. Each cartridge is hand assembled and tested for characteristics including frequency response, channel output, channel balance, phase linearity, inductance, and resistance. The range has included high-output Prestige models with replaceable styli and wooden Reference models using fixed-coil construction and individually selected mahogany bodies. Grado has also offered 78 RPM stylus options in relevant cartridge families.

• Headphone amplifier · 1996

  RA1 headphone amplifier

  The RA1 was Grado’s headphone amplifier, housed in a wooden chassis and designed to accept RCA input. It could operate from AC power or two 9-volt batteries and provided a standard headphone output. Its construction reflected the company’s preference for compact, visually distinctive components that complemented its headphones.

• Co-branded headphones

  Alessandro Music Series

  Grado produced an alternate headphone family for Alessandro Music Products, a supplier of high-end guitar components. The models shared much of Grado’s external design but used different markings and were aimed at musicians. The range included the plastic MS1, aluminum-housed MS2, and mahogany MS Pro.

• 2015JetBlue Mint headphone partnership

  United States

  JetBlue selected Grado headphones for its Mint premium-cabin flights, placing the specialist brand in an airline hospitality environment.

  Outcome. The partnership provided product exposure to premium travelers and extended Grado’s visibility beyond specialist audio retail.

  Source
• 2013Bushmills wooden headphone collaboration

  United States · International media markets

  Grado collaborated with Bushmills to create an experimental headphone using wood from whiskey barrels. The project connected Grado’s small-batch, material-focused identity with a recognizable spirits brand and generated attention from technology and general-interest media.

  Outcome. The collaboration increased public visibility for Grado and became an example of its nontraditional partnership strategy.

  Source
• 2013Social-media brand modernization

  Global digital audience

  Jonathan Grado established and developed the company’s Facebook and Twitter presence, giving a traditionally low-profile audio workshop a more contemporary public voice.

  Outcome. The initiative helped broaden awareness without replacing the company’s dealer and word-of-mouth model.

  Source

• 2026

  Introduce the Classic headphone seriesGeneration change

  Background

  The supplied reference describes a range reorganization affecting several established headphone families.

  Action taken

  Grado introduced the Classic series with X2 drivers and a softer, more flexible cable, while discontinuing or superseding some earlier models.

  Aftermath

  The Classic series was positioned as a successor to parts of the Prestige X, Reference, and Statement lineup.

  Source

• 2021

  Launch the Prestige X seriesGeneration change

  Background

  Grado was continuing its periodic redesign of the Prestige family.

  Action taken

  The company replaced the Prestige e range with X drivers, a new cable and headband, and claimed improvements in efficiency and distortion.

  Aftermath

  Prestige X became the principal successor to the Prestige e generation.

  Source

• 2014

  Launch the e headphone generationGeneration change

  Background

  The company sought to improve its established headphone designs without abandoning its characteristic open-back format.

  Action taken

  Grado introduced the e series with updated damping, lower distortion, and more neutral tuning.

  Aftermath

  The e series became a major intermediate generation before the Prestige X range.

  Source

• 2008

  Launch the i headphone generationGeneration change

  Background

  Grado continued refining its wired headphone families through incremental engineering updates.

  Action taken

  The i series introduced revised drivers, cables, and tuning changes.

  Aftermath

  The company maintained continuity in its open-back range while updating performance and usability components.

  Source

• 1994

  Introduce wooden headphonesProduct launch

  Background

  Grado was expanding its newly established headphone business while retaining its workshop-oriented identity.

  Action taken

  The company introduced its first headphones with wooden construction.

  Aftermath

  Wood became a recurring material and a recognizable visual element in premium Grado products.

  Source

• 1990

  Shift leadership and rebuild around headphonesStrategy

  Background

  The company was reportedly close to closing after a difficult period in the cartridge business.

  Action taken

  John Grado purchased the company and developed a new headphone business alongside the existing cartridge operation.

  Aftermath

  Headphones became Grado’s best-known product category and supported the company’s continued family ownership.

  Source

1. 1Grado Labsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Grado Labs official websitegradolabs.com