New York born Joseph Grado has rarely been one to sit back when opportunity knocked. At age 16 he left vocational high school where he had been studying watchmaking and had been at the top of his class. He went to work for Tiffany & Company and also taught the craft of watchmaking in the evenings. When he discovered hi-fi sound in the early fifties, he made a visit to Saul Marantz to get help in improving the sound of his audio system. Impressed by Joseph's gifted ear, Marantz sent him over to Sherman Fairchild's floundering hi-fi division. With Saul Marantz making the introductions, Joseph promptly landed a top position in the company. As soon as he came up with a design for a viable product, he went out on his own. Scraping together $2,000, Joseph began to produce phono cartridges. In 1953 he started production of his cartridges on the kitchen table. In 1955 Joseph opened a factory in Brooklyn on the site of his Sicilian born father's grocery business which, to this day, has been the home of Grado Laboratories.
cartridge brochures, 1964
In
the early years Grado also produced speakers, turntables and the highly
acclaimed wooden tonearm, which came in several models. Even today, almost
forty years after it was discontinued, people are still using this tonearm.
In 1963 all of Grado’s resources were dedicated to creating the worldis
finest phono cartridges. Grado ceased production of all other products and,
for the next 21 years, focused only on cartridges. In 1976 phono cartridge
design was taken to the next level and the first true high-end cartridges
were created under the tutelage of Joseph Grado Signature Products. These
new cartridges were very highly regarded and were the first to reach a price
tag of $1000. In 1984 Grado introduced the Joseph Grado Signature Tonearm
that was so well received that, even now, 13 years after the last one was
shipped, calls are still received inquiring whether any are available for
In the late 1980s Joseph began the development of what was to become the
first true high-end dynamic headphone. The introduction of the Joseph Grado
Signature Series of headphones was a major event in the evolution of headphone
design. Joseph Grado’s painstaking design process, combined with nearly
a half century of experience manufacturing precision audio devices, astonished
even the most critical reviewers. Joseph extended headphone performance
to levels previously attained by only the very best full-range speaker systems
in areas of dynamics, pitch control, harmonic accuracy and bass quality.
In the process, he once again created a whole new category - true audiophile
- quality headphones.
poster at Lincoln Center, New York.
John Grado, Joseph's nephew, is the second generation at Grado. John's father Angelo, an artist, and his Uncle Joe shared a two family house during the 1950s. In 1953 John was born, the same year Uncle Joe sold his first phono cartridge. John started his career sweeping the floors for Uncle Joe when he was twelve years old. John attended Brooklyn Technical High School, where he studied electronics and engineering and John Jay College where he was a Criminal Justice major, but his most important education was learning by looking over the shoulder of Uncle Joe. Since then, John has worked his way up and is now President and owner of Grado Laboratories.
John Grado led the development of the Prestige Series of headphones, winners of more awards than any other headphone line in the world. The Prestige Series SR60 has become a legend worldwide. All the Prestige Series from the SR60 to the SR325 have been acclaimed best value in their price category. John also led the design of Grado's wooden series headphones. The wooden Reference and Statement Series have set all new standards for headphone listening pleasure. The RS1 and GS1000 are in such demand that they are usually in backorder. After more then 15 years in production all these series of headphones continue to win "BEST IN THEIR PRICE" awards from publications around the world. In 2008 the Grado design team went back to the drawing board. Their goal was to upgrade the entire headphone line and to develop a new flagship series. In 2009 Grado introduced these as the “i “series. All models from the SR60 through to the GS1000 have been upgraded and now offer improved listening pleasure. Grado also introduced a headphone they had been working on for some time, their new flagship, the PS1000. The Professional Series PS1000 is a hybrid of wood and metal and extends the Grado sound to levels never before achieved. This is truly the best headphone Grado has ever produced.
the headphones at a
Hi-Fi show in London.
John also undertook a new challenge in the Grado tradition. He set out to redesign the entire Grado line of phono cartridges. John took the knowledge gained while designing the wooden Reference headphones and applied this in the cartridge designs. Grado's system of damping has virtually eliminated resonant distortions in the magnetic and electrical circuits in the cartridge, bringing analog to a new level of performance. The wooden Reference and Statement Series of phono cartridges have been declared by the analog aficionados of the world as "the most significant advancement involving analog reproduction in the last thirty years." The wooden Reference and Statement Series of cartridges were honored with a Golden Note Award for analog design. Grado also revised the entry level cartridges with the Prestige Series which has been touted as the "Best Value" in phono cartridges in the world. John Borwick of Gramophone wrote about the Prestige Black model, "The Grado brought out most of the tonal accuracy and excitement and, though I’ve heard better, that was only with cartridges costing about 10 times the price." Hi-Fi Choice rated the Prestige Gold model "Best Buy" in a field of moving coils costing 3 to 4 times the price of the Grado. John Grado did not stop there. He then created the Grado Statement cartridge, that one world-renowned analog reviewer stated "might just be the best cartridge i have ever heard." In 2008 John and the design team reworked all the Grado cartridges, from the Black to the Statement models, and all were upgraded to create the “1” series. This new series of cartridges and the continued pursuit in the evolution of analog, shows that Grado intends to be the major player in phono-cartridge design with their continued support of analog.
As Grado closes in to 60 years of manufacturing products that offer top value to the consumer, we look forward to keeping the tradition alive and to the next generation of Grados.
Happy Listening!
examining some wooden cartridges.
