Former Apple Store Has The Best Headphones

SPOILER, IT WAS A FRUIT STAND

“My grandfather used to sell Mcintosh apples out of this location” says Rich Grado. “Today we’re polishing up the best headphones to use with your Apple devices or anything else you choose to use”.

Rich, COO of Grado Labs, is talking about the family’s former fruit market in Brooklyn, which is now headquarters for the respected audio manufacturer. The company has been family owned and operated by brothers, uncles and nephews, all Grado’s, since 1953.

Grado recently took the top spot on the list of best headphones put out by a leading consumer publication, beating out their better known rivals including Bose, Audeze, Meze, and Sennheiser. “Those are all great brands, it’s an honor to be mentioned with manufacturers like them.” says Rich. “Most of our products are made in our Brooklyn, NY factory using parts sourced from around the world, our process is done by hand using people, with soldering irons and other tools”.

Indeed, some of the employees who aren’t named Grado have been with the company for more than twenty years. True to their fashionably unfashionable Brooklyn heritage, Grado’s hand-crafted mahogany headphones look like relics of an earlier time. “We don’t chase after style, we’re all about the sound” says CEO John Grado, “Great sound is what our customers expect. Every so often the fashion comes back around to where we are.”

In addition to headphones Grado Labs makes some of the world’s finest phono cartridges. For more information contact Grado Labs at media@gradolabs.com.

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