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Grado GS1000x & GS3000x
Grado introduced the new Statement Series, which brings fourth-generation X Drivers to the wooden GS3000x and GS1000x. The GS1000x combines mahogany and ipê wood, while the GS3000x houses the company's most powerful driver yet inside a metal chamber surrounded by a single body of cocobolo wood. Along with the superior sound these new drivers produce, the GS3000x and GS1000x also utilise Grado's improved 12-conductor braided cable and new headbands. Both are hand assembled in Brooklyn, New York.
The new flagship GS3000x is the best-sounding headphone Grado has released in their seven-decade history. The largest driver to be placed in a Grado headphone yet, the new 52mm speaker is specifically tuned to embrace the tenacity of cocobolo and precision of metal. This speaker design features a more powerful magnetic circuit, a voice coil with decreased effective mass, and a reconfigured diaphragm. Teeming with texture and emotion, cocobolo's sonic properties and innate mass makes it perfect for the new speakers. They paired this with a metal inner chamber to add even more mass, which lets them control the rigidity of our largest driver yet. Cocobolo has striking patterns and colour that tend to vary from pair to pair.
Continuing over two decades of one of Grado's most important headphone designs, the now hybrid GS1000x sees mahogany and ipê wood come together for the first time. Mahogany has been a long-standing material in almost all of Grado's wooden headphones and phono cartridges, so combining it with a wood not yet used in a Grado called for a delicate balance. Mahogany still exudes warmth and texture, while ipê improves the structural integrity of the sound passing through the grains of the housing. "I remember trying on the first GS1000 decades ago when my dad (John Grado) brought the first pair upstairs from the workbench. I was seven or eight and they swallowed my head. The fact that they are in their fourth generation today is a testament to the design of the original GS1000. And I'm sure my mom has that photo somewhere." - says Jonathan Grado.
In thirty years Grado Labs has only released four generations of drivers, the speaker inside the headphone. Avoiding yearly update cycles “just because”, Grado has made sure only to place new drivers inside their headphones when there is a significant upgrade. The X Drivers bring a completely redesigned speaker and new harmony to the inner workings of the GS3000x and GS1000x. Each one is specifically tuned for the wooden enclosure they're in. In Grado's pursuit for the betterment of sonic reproduction, the Brooklyn company uses the first-time wood in their line-up, ipê, and released their largest driver yet at 52mm. The Grado GS1000x will be priced at £1,295/$1,195, and the GS3000x will be £2,195/$1,995. Info and photos by Grado Labs via Armour Home.
