Reference-quality sound from Grado

The first RS1 headphones were created like most great things: during a middle-of-the-night spark of inspiration. After countless hours of prototyping and testing, John Grado made his company's first wooden headphone. Three decades later, the RS1 series is still going strong, continuing with the RS1x.

Carefully tuned and matched drivers

These fourth-generation headphones are the first to use a 50mm X Series driver. The drivers are matched within 0.5dB of each other for improved soundstaging and imaging. They were also tuned by Grado to make sure they sound great in the RS1x's new tri-wood driver housing.

The X series difference

Compared to previous Grado drivers, the ones found in X Series headphones use a more powerful magnetic circuit for tighter driver control, a lighter voice coil for higher efficiency, and a reconfigured "de-stressed" diaphragm for better detail at lower volume levels.

Tri-wood earcup design

The gorgeous open-backed driver housings are made of a maple sleeve, hemp core, and cocobolo outer ring. Those wood types were chosen for their sonic characteristics. Maple provides exceptional separation, hemp smooths things out and keeps the sound warm and inviting, and cocobolo adds some extra impact to the bass. The end result is rich, dynamic sound. L-cushion earpads rest the headphones softly on your ears. The sleek new headband sports some extra cushioning to make the headphones more comfortable and has a white-stitched accent for some added flair. Grado also built a new cable for their 2021 lineup. The super-annealed copper eight-conductor cable is housed in a more durable exterior and helps provide more detail while keeping out noise at the same time.

Hand-assembled in Brooklyn

Grado started making world-renowned audio equipment in Brooklyn in 1953 and continues to do so today. The SR60x headphones are hand-assembled in Grado's hometown headquarters on 7th Avenue.