Thanks for everything, Joe. Rest in peace.

What a loss to the audio community...Joe was a true pioneer who's products have brought so much joy to so many. I've owned many Grado headphones through the years and the SR-60s were my gateway drug into this hobby. In honour of Joe, I'm listening to my PS1000e headphones with some of my favourite single malt. Cheers Joe!

Threads merged.

Here's a list of 612 of the major US patents relating to the turntable, including the first mention of a Stereophonic MC Cartridge (1962, #3,040,136) and a four others by (Joseph) Grado (use ctrl+h if you want to jump to his name): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16a29opMLMRM8Sh19lHoFjdknLSHoQfluY8ZE6gF7mSc/edit?usp=sharing


And Joe's response to the first official review (and measurement) of the HP 1000 that I'm aware of (Stereophile, May 1991; online copy also linked in pcf's clips, although that one doesn't feature the following comment):

“Thank you for a most favorable review. It makes
my weary old bones feel good to know all my
work has not been in vain. It has been particularly
pleasing to have such an overwhelming
positive response to my first efforts in the head-
phone product category. Knowing that there
will be evolutionary improvements in our headphone
design, I have designed the headphones
so that any new developments can be upgraded
into the present headphones without having
to throw away the "old" ones.
[...]
The Grado headphones used in conjunction
with the Grado HPA-IDC amplifier may be used
to evaluate any component simply by substituting
that component between the sound source
and the input of the Grado HPA-IDC amplifier.
This is the way electronics engineers are using
the Grado headphone and amplifier to evaluate
components and component parts. I mention
this because Gary was able to check the quality
of the Stax ED-1 in precisely this manner, and
very quickly.

The main purpose in designing the Grado Signature
earphones was to show the world that
earphones are capable of producing the finest
possible sound, to give everybody from the
recording engineer to the consumer a reference
of what great sound should be, and most of all
to motivate my colleagues, competitors, and
otherwise to get off their butts and design and
build products like I know they are capable of.
[...]
When a dozen fellows and myself started the
high-fidelity industry 40 years ago, we made
product sound that excited people. This no
longer seems the case, judging from what I
have heard at recent CE shows, microphones
and speakers being the main culprits.

Are the Grado headphones being so enthusiastically
accepted because they are best or
because they are the least worst? It is very possible
that the latter is the case. If it is, then there
is a tremendous amount of improvement possible
in sound reproduction.

If my headphones motivate the industry by
virtue of the sound they produce, then my reason
for making them has been fulfilled.” – Joseph Grado

I believe Grado should change the grado logo in the background with Joseph's young looks and have the GL signature in the foreground. This would be a worthy testament and legacy to the great man.

I'm surprised that head-fi didn't do more to acknowledge his passing. Unless I missed something that is kind of a missed opportunity. I see a link on the home page, but nothing written from Jude. Did I miss it?

I didn't know Mr. Grado. I'd never had the good fortune to meet him during his lifetime. I'm the one who wrote the piece on the homepage with a link to Grado Labs' blog entry about Mr. Grado, with words from his family.
 
Again, I'd never met Mr. Grado, and didn't know him. I do know John. Even back when I was a kid working in the hi-fi store, I think it was John who'd answer our calls from our store much of the time--I always hoped I'd catch him on the phone, but never had the luck to speak with Joseph.
 
Back when Head-Fi was losing money, John Grado and Todd Green (of TTVJ Audio) came up with the idea of two unique Grado Head-Fi Commemorative headphone models to support Head-Fi--the Grado Head-Fi 1 (HF-1) and Grado Head-Fi 2 (HF-2). While these were John Grado limited edition models, there's no doubt their lineage traced back to Joseph Grado's first headphone models.
 
Joseph Grado made many contributions to audio and music, some of which predates many of us, yet many of which we still benefit from (and use) today.
 
As I said on the homepage:
 

As a kid at a hi-fi store, I was selling Grado cartridges before they made headphones. Later, the Grado SR80 was one of my first good headphones, and helped turn me into the headphone enthusiast I've become. Without Grado, there may never have been Head-Fi. Thank you, and rest in peace, Mr. Grado.

Click to expand...

 
Right now, my thoughts are with John and the rest of Joseph Grado's family.
 
For those of you who didn't already read it, here is the message from Grado Labs:
 

jude said:

  I didn't know Mr. Grado. I'd never had the good fortune to meet him during his lifetime. I'm the one who wrote the piece on the homepage with a link to Grado Labs' blog entry about Mr. Grado, with words from his family.
 
Again, I'd never met Mr. Grado, and didn't know him. I do know John. Even back when I was a kid working in the hi-fi store, I think it was John who'd answer our calls from our store much of the time--I always hoped I'd catch him on the phone, but never had the luck to speak with Joseph.
 
Back when Head-Fi was losing money, John Grado and Todd Green (of TTVJ Audio) came up with the idea of two unique Grado Head-Fi Commemorative headphone models to support Head-Fi--the Grado Head-Fi 1 (HF-1) and Grado Head-Fi 2 (HF-2). While these were John Grado limited edition models, there's no doubt their lineage traced back to Joseph Grado's first headphone models.
 
Joseph Grado made many contributions to audio and music, many of which predate most of us, but that many of which we still benefit from (and use) today.
 
As I said on the homepage:
 
 
Right now, my thoughts are with John and the rest of Joseph Grado's family.

Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that Jude, and it is as I expected. It would be nice to see a little more about his life and passing here as I think you created a very strong community Jude and I think this gives us the opportunity to show that. I was just a little shocked to see this thread receiving so little attention, but perhaps there are other threads and activities I am missing. Again, thanks for the clarification.