1953 headquarters brooklyn new york united states key people joseph grado 1924 2015 founder john grado president & ceo jonathan grado vp of marketing products audio electronics for consumer professional and business uses owner john grado website www.gradolabs.com grado labs is an audio manufacturer known for hand building high end dynamic open air headphones and cartridges in brooklyn new york . grado labs was founded in 1953 by master watchmaker joseph grado . the brooklyn company is currently run by president and ceo john grado who bought the company in 1990 after running day to day operations since the 1970s . 1 john s son jonathan grado recently entered the company as the third generation of grado . 2 grado specializes in dynamic open air supra aural high fidelity headphones . in its over 60 year history grado has kept a very low profile by relying on word of mouth among audio dealers and consumers instead of mass advertising campaigns . 3 nearly all of grado s products are hand crafted in brooklyn new york . in 2014 grado released their new line of headphones 4 the e series and was named in the top eight most social small companies in america by mashable and american express . 5 in 2015 jetblue partnered with grado to bring their headphones to their mint flights . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 foundation and phono cartridges 1953 89 1.2 resurgence and first line of headphones 1990 2012 1.3 grado goes social and the e series 2013 present 2 headphones 2.1 prestige series 2.2 reference series 2.3 statement series 2.4 professional series 2.5 in ears 2.6 limited edition specialty headphones 2.7 past production 3 phono cartridges 3.1 prestige series 3.2 reference series 4 awards 5 references 6 external links history edit foundation and phono cartridges 1953 89 edit grado labs was founded in 1953 by master watchmaker joseph grado . the origins of the audio company date back to the early 1950s when joseph left tiffany & company and sherman fairchild to start crafting phono cartridges at his kitchen table in brooklyn ny . after seeing a market for cartridges he went around the corner and closed the existing grado fruit shop opening up grado laboratories . 7 joseph went on to invent the first stereo moving coil phono cartridge while building up grado s cartridge lineup . throughout his time at grado the company made cartridges speakers turntables and tonearms with cartridges being the only product line not discontinued . 8 in 1965 joseph s nephew john grado got his first job at grado and began sweeping the floors . 2 john spent time training with his uncle and in 1975 john started running day to day business at his family s company . in 1982 joseph grado was inducted into the audio hall of fame . 8 the peak of cartridge production took place in the mid 1980s reaching 10 000 units a week . their all time low took place a few years later dipping to 12 000 units for a year . 1 resurgence and first line of headphones 1990 2012 edit on the brink of closing in 1990 john grado bought the company from his uncle becoming president and ceo . john created the first line of grado headphones building them at a workbench with his wife loretta in the early half of the 1990s . 9 at the time john and his family lived on the top floor of grado s brooklyn building as well . due to the company not advertising john would travel to audio shows around the world to spread the word . when he had established a sizable distributor list throughout multiple countries he completely stopped going to shows to spend more time with his family . 9 at one point the family was going to build grado towers ceiling tall speakers made of their headphone drivers . with the unexpected immediate success of their first headphones though the speakers never made it past five pairs . 10 over the next two decades john created over three generations of headphone lines and oversaw grado s cartridge reinvigoration bringing units per year north of 60 000 . 11 grado goes social and the e series 2013 present edit in 2013 jonathan grado john s son entered the company under his father with a goal of modernizing their word of mouth style and expanding the brand . originally embarrassed about his family s company jonathan had a change of heart in his sophomore year of college and started the grado facebook and twitter pages . 12 the hobby soon became his main focus becoming social media director over the course of his college career . after graduating and working at sonos he started full time with grado labs . 12 late 2013 brought grado s first large collaboration creating an experimental headphone out of bushmills wooden whiskey barrels which gizmodo called warm and clear with a sweet spot right in the mid range as grado products are known for . 13 the new york times also praised them although noting they might not fit everyone s budget . 14 2014 had jonathan become vice president of marketing but having to get creative due to a zero dollar ad budget . 2 soon afterwards in the same year grado was named in the top eight most social small companies in america by mashable and american express . 5 in june 2014 grado released their third generation of headphones the e series . the reception was positive with wired magazine calling them the best headphones in the world . 10 jonathan is currently training with john as well as learning the business . 12 in early 2015 jetblue airways chose to partner with grado to be their official headphone for their mint class flights . 6 joseph grado died february 6 2015 at the age of 90 . 7 15 headphones edit grado s most recent line of headphones is the e series . 16 prestige series edit headphone model headphone class driver matched db construction earpads termination igrado prestige 0.1 polycarbonate mini cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug sr60e prestige 0.1 polycarbonate s cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug with 1 4 adaptor sr80e prestige 0.1 polycarbonate s cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug with 1 4 adaptor sr125e prestige 0.1 polycarbonate s cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug sr225e prestige 0.05 polycarbonate l cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug sr325e prestige 0.05 aluminum alloy l cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug reference series edit headphone model headphone class driver matched db construction earpads termination rs2e reference 0.05 hand crafted mahogany l cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug rs1e reference 0.05 hand crafted mahogany l cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug statement series edit headphone model headphone class driver matched db construction earpads termination gs1000e statement 0.05 hand crafted mahogany g cushion 1 4 6.5 mm plug professional series edit headphone model headphone class driver matched db construction earpads termination ps500e professional 0.05 hand crafted mahogany aluminum l cushion 1 8 3.5 mm plug ps1000e professional 0.05 hand crafted mahogany aluminum g cushion 1 4 6.5 mm plug in ears edit headphone model headphone class driver matched db construction earpads termination igi in ear unknown plastic tips 1 8 3.5 mm plug gr8 in ear unknown plastic tips 1 8 3.5 mm plug gr10 in ear unknown plastic tips 1 8 3.5 mm plug grado ra1 headphone amplifier in addition to the currently available headphones listed on this table grado sells a headphone amplifier called the ra1 . it utilizes ac or dc power supplied by two 9 volt batteries depending on model . it has two rca connectors and a 1 4 6.5 mm jack enclosed in a solid mahogany box . grado also manufactures an alternate headphone line for alessandro music products ; a maker of higher end guitar components . known as the alessandro music series these models have roughly the same external appearance with those from grado but feature a slightly different printed text and lack the identifying button of many lower end grado models . the series has said to have been designed for the musician market and encompasses the entry level ms 1 or music series 1 with plastic driver housing the ms2 with aluminum cup and plastic driver housing and the professional grade ms pro which features a mahogany driver housing similar to that of the rs 1 . 17 limited edition specialty headphones edit most of these headphones are rebranded and or limited versions of grado headphones . the grado hf1 was sold exclusively to the head fi online community which had a total of 450 original november sales one replacement december seven waitlist sales three march sales and twenty april sales each numbered 001 481 . rrp for the hf1 was us 200 . the hf1 is arguably one of the most sought after grado headphones . most contend that its sound stands unique among the models . citation needed in may 2009 the limited edition hf2 was announced also for sale exclusively to head fi members . the production limit was set to 500 units or however many units sold by the end of july 2009 whichever came first . the 500 units quickly sold out ending the sales of the hf2 early . it was announced on october 12 2009 by todd green that there were several left unsold bringing the total number produced to 524 . these extra pairs also quickly sold out . rrp for the hf2 was us 429 . as of february 2010 there was a run of 26 b stock hf2 that were released totalling the production to 550 . the b stock serial numbers began from 550 and went until 575 . citation needed the ps1 pro was a special production order for a german distributor and was more expensive than any of the grado line . a partnership between headphone manufacturer grado and wireless technologies manufacturer freesystems paved way for the freesystems headphones . the freesystems package included an integrated grado ra 1 amplifier as mentioned above headphones which have a physical appearance similar to that of the grado ps1 and a free systems infra red transmitter and receiver . the rrp was us 3 800 . the system was intended for release by february 2002 but was never released . 18 19 in august 2014 grado labs celebrated its 18 year partnership between john grado and varat kamolchotiros grado s thai distributor and created grado thailand anniversary edition for the thai market . the limited edition was based on the rs1e design with minor tweaks reintroduction of classic rs1 button 18 year celebratory writing on mahogany housing brown leather headband with white stitching unique serial number 00 72 and personally signed john grado s signature on the headband . each of the 73 headphones produced also came with a bespoke grado wooden box with their unique serial number engraved at the bottom . 20 all headphones have a 32 ohm impedance . headphone model headphone class construction earpads termination production limit hf1 limited edition plastic and hand crafted mahogany bowls 1 4 6.5 mm plug 481 hf2 limited edition mahogany and aluminum alloy bowls 1 4 6.5 mm plug 550 ps1 pro limited edition aluminum alloy bowls 1 4 6.5 mm plug 250 freesystems le limited edition aluminum alloy unknown unknown never released ds2012 dolce & gabbana limited edition mahogany circumaural bowls 1 4 6.5 mm plug 100 the bushmills x grado labs limited edition wood from old oak barrels comfort pads 1 4 6.5 mm plug unknown rs1e thailand anniversary limited edition mahogany bowls 1 8 3.5 mm plug 73 past production edit the joseph grado signature products hp 1000 series headphones were limited to 1000 units produced . the hp 1000 series consisted of the hp 1 with phase polarity switches hp 2 and hp 3