Grado Labs
Last verified: April 2026
Read our full verification: Is Grado Labs Made in USA?Verification Summary
American Score
Manufacturing Location
Brooklyn, NY
Headquarters
Brooklyn, NY
Founded
1953
Products Verified
5 products
Evidence Breakdown
Factory Location Specificity
Specific factory city identified
Website Claim
Brand website explicitly claims Made in USA
Manufacturing History
20+ years of USA manufacturing
Known Overseas Production
No known overseas production
Verification Notes
Grado Labs has been hand-building headphones and phono cartridges in Brooklyn, New York since 1953. Joseph Grado founded the company above his family's fruit store in Brooklyn. Every Prestige series headphone is hand-assembled by the Grado team at their Brooklyn workshop. Family-owned for 70+ years.
Last verified: April 2026
Manufacturing Profile
Grado Labs manufactures at a specific factory location in Brooklyn, NY. Founded in 1953 (73 years of US production on the books). Our 5 verified Grado Labs listings sit in electronics.
Verification tier
100% average
Very High — multiple independent sources confirm domestic production
Factory evidence
Specific city
Brooklyn, NY
Catalog breadth
5 products
1 category
How we verified Grado Labs
Most recent check: Oct 18, 2026
From the brand's website
“The housing of the S750 is an all aluminum construction, each one handcrafted in Brooklyn, NY.”
gradolabs.com · checked Oct 18, 2026
Amazon listings
We read the live Amazon listing for 5 of the 5 Grado Labs products on this page (most recently Oct 16, 2026). None of them states where the product is made, so these products rely on the brand-level evidence above.
These checks are run by our software on a schedule: brand websites are re-read about every three weeks, Amazon listings weekly, and news is scanned monthly. Every flag is checked against its original source before anything on this page changes. How the American Score works.
Grado Labs has been manufacturing products in Brooklyn, NY since 1953. We carry 5 verified American-made Grado Labs products.
Seven Decades in Brooklyn
Joseph Grado founded Grado Labs in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, initially producing phono cartridges for the emerging hi-fi market. The company has remained in the same Brooklyn location ever since, with the Grado family managing operations across three generations. In an industry where manufacturing has migrated almost entirely to East Asia, Grado's Brooklyn workshop is a genuine anomaly — a family-owned American audio company that still builds its products by hand on the same block where it started.
Joseph Grado was himself an inventor of note: he held patents in stereo phono cartridge design and was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. His nephew John Grado leads the company today, maintaining the same commitment to Brooklyn-made audio that defined the company from its founding.
Hand-Assembled in Brooklyn
Every Grado headphone is assembled by hand at the Brooklyn workshop. The process is labor-intensive by design — Grado's craftspeople wind voice coils, fit drivers, and assemble the headphone bodies individually rather than relying on automated production. The result is that each pair of headphones receives the kind of attention that mass production cannot provide.
The Prestige Series — the SR60x, SR80x, SR325x, and their siblings — represents Grado's entry-level to mid-range headphones and are among the most accessible domestically-produced audiophile headphones available. The open-back design, a Grado signature, creates a soundstage that closed-back headphones cannot replicate — the sense of listening in a room rather than through a tube. The trade-off is sound leakage in both directions, making them best suited for home use.
The Audiophile Standard
Grado headphones occupy a specific position in the audiophile world: they are known for a warm, musical sound signature that prioritizes natural timbre and midrange presence over the exaggerated bass and hyped treble common in consumer-oriented headphones. The sound is often described as analog in character — suitable for acoustic music, jazz, and classical listening where the texture of instruments matters as much as frequency extension.
For buyers entering the audiophile headphone market, Grado's Prestige Series offers something unusual: genuine American craftsmanship at prices that compete with mass-produced imports. A pair of SR80x headphones costs less than most smartphones while delivering the kind of listening experience that audio enthusiasts reliably recognize. The seven-decade continuity of the Brooklyn workshop is part of what that price represents.
Quick Picks
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grado Labs made in the USA?
Yes. Grado Labs manufactures 5 verified products in Brooklyn, NY. Grado Labs has hand-assembled headphones and phono cartridges in the same Brooklyn, New York workshop since 1953, making it one of the oldest continuously operating American audio manufacturers and one of the few consumer electronics companies with genuine domestic production.
Where is Grado Labs manufactured?
Grado Labs is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. Manufacturing takes place in Brooklyn, NY.
What Grado Labs products can I buy?
We carry 5 verified Grado Labs products across Electronics. Every listing links directly to a trusted online store with verified American manufacturing.
When was Grado Labs founded?
Grado Labs was founded in 1953. Grado Labs has hand-assembled headphones and phono cartridges in the same Brooklyn, New York workshop since 1953, making it one of the oldest continuously operating American audio manufacturers and one of the few consumer electronics companies with genuine domestic production.
Where can I buy Grado Labs products?
Every Grado Labs product listed here links to a trusted online store — a major retailer or the brand's own shop — where you can purchase directly.
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