Grado Drivers
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:15 AM Post #16 of 103
The fact is...those patents...held by Grado were based on inventions by John Chaipis and John Grado. John Chaipis still works at Grado, how then is there no technical know-how?

You can think for yourself, I'm fine with that, but you are basing your "evidence" on nothing. That is what is irking me. And that evidence when stated as such implicates John Grado as a liar which is slanderous and libelous that is what I can't stand. We have Aaron who has seen the place and has talked with John. I've talked to John, they have been doing the headphone gig now for 20 years and I'm supposed to buy into "evidence" that lacks any substance? Seriously, show me real evidence, one iota of proof and I'll cave. I'm a lawyer by trade. I love evidence. Right now I have it and you don't, what you have is a hallow argument based on fluff. Moreover you are indirectly accusing John Grado et. al., of lying to the public. That sucks not just because one person should never do that to another but because Grado Labs supports our community etc., it sucks to read that oh this so called evidence really does support some obscure alternate reality factual data

Yes, in the end the sound is what matters, I'm 100% on that bandwagon but you and I both know that Grado gets more heat than any other manufacturer (think RA1 alone) and so, any indication that the drivers are these mass produced items from China just fuels the fire of those thinking the phones are overvalued etc.

There are a few facts, hard facts that can be claimed:

1) Grado drivers were made in house, Joe perfected his driver
2) John tweaked the HP1000 driver creating the current line
3) Chinese manufacturers can clone anything and they do it without blinking
4) John stated the drivers are all made in house and when I asked I made sure to emphasize "assembled vs. manufactured"
5) Folks ahve seen the Grado Labs and talked with John too, and they have the same info
6) any theory contra to the above implicates John as a liar, if a liar about his drivers, what else is he lying about

I could go on but I don't think I need to.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:22 AM Post #17 of 103
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:36 AM Post #18 of 103
can someone just ask John Grado to comment on this page? I mean it doesn't really matter as far as I can see, but the simple answer is from the source.

I think if drivers are made any old place but according to John's specs and he does majority of work at his plant. I do believe that is considered he is manufacturing here, just perhaps not ever single minute or whatever....detail.


Ask John!
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:40 AM Post #19 of 103
Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickio /img/forum/go_quote.gif
can someone just ask John Grado to comment on this page? I mean it doesn't really matter as far as I can see, but the simple answer is from the source.

I think if drivers are made any old place but according to John's specs and he does majority of work at his plant. I do believe that is considered he is manufacturing here, just perhaps not ever single minute or whatever....detail.


Ask John!


Although John does sometimes read the board, he doens't have an account and thus never posts. However, this exact question had come up before I had interviewed John and I explictly asked him what was manufacturered outside of Grado, his answer: the cables and the wood housings. The cables are made in China and the wood products are made locally.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:45 AM Post #20 of 103
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The fact is...those patents...held by Grado were based on inventions by John Chaipis and John Grado. John Chaipis still works at Grado, how then is there no technical know-how?


No... That was Joseph Grado, all of Grado's patents were created in his tenure at Grado and are in his name.



Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif
There are a few facts, hard facts that can be claimed:

1) Grado drivers were made in house, Joe perfected his driver
2) John tweaked the HP1000 driver creating the current line


The HP-1000 driver was not made in house; its known as the DH-40 made by a company called Primo (says right on the top of the driver), located in Singapore.

There are no similarities between the DH-40 and Grado's current driver save for possibly the doping substance. Impedance, dimensions, magnet structure, material composition, SPL, efficiency, all are substantially different.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif
5) Folks ahve seen the Grado Labs and talked with John too, and they have the same info


I dont want to say Grado dosent make their drivers, your right we have no evidence of that... but where is the evidence that they do make their drivers.

After numerous factory tours and visits from enthusiasts alike, i would of thought someone could of seen the driver production line. Its a big thing to brag about among audio companies.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:46 AM Post #21 of 103
EdT;3430030 said:
Can someone confirm if Grado actually makes them in house ? For those that did the factory tour, did you guys actually see them making the drivers, like winding the copper coil onto the drivers and them forming the diaphrams and assembling them together or you just saw them inserting the finished drivers into the various housings ?

From what I can see, they are incapable of making the drivers and diaphrams in house. It looks likes they are just simply assembling and molding the plastic parts in house. Grado has already mentioned that the cable assemblies come from China. From some of the photos and people comparing the drivers look similar to drivers from other brands, mainly drivers that are from China. Now the scary question, are they even different driver models for each of the Grado models ?


1) What difference would it make if all the drivers are made in China? My LD MKIV SE was shipped directly to me from China. Should that make a difference?
2) Who cares if all Grado phones use the same driver? What matters is they sound different and even that doesn't matter much because most of us will never hear the more expensive ones and those who own them will always hear a difference because they must.
Click to expand...
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 5:57 AM Post #22 of 103
Ok so we know the question.

So is there a reason or something we can learn or appreciate if we understand where the drivers are made?

Does manufacturing here or there have any real meaning or value in our use or appreciation of a headphone?
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 6:10 AM Post #24 of 103
Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickio /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ok so we know the question.

So is there a reason or something we can learn or appreciate if we understand where the drivers are made?

Does manufacturing here or there have any real meaning or value in our use or appreciation of a headphone?


Yes, compare a Rolex and a Timex, one is an art form thats made by highly skilled craftsman(s) that are the very refinement of the art and the other is a mass produced unitarian tool that has no resale value even though it does the same function ! We are talking about capitalistic snobbery here !

As you can see I own several Grados myself, I like Grado's entrepreneral spirit in competing with the big boys and winning !
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 6:34 AM Post #26 of 103
It boils down to no side has any concrete proof either way.

All you have is one person's claim.

So Zanth, you have just as much evidence as EdT.

So until we get some solid proof either way, all this bitching will go no where.

Personally, I find it odd that many people have taken the grado tour, but nobody can say they have seen the drivers being manufactured.

Also, just in terms of production and financial feasibility, chances are they are outsourced.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 6:51 AM Post #27 of 103
Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhydon /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The HP-1000 driver was not made in house; its known as the DH-40 made by a company called Primo (says right on the top of the driver), located in Singapore.


Look what a little Googling turns up, could this be the Primo your talking about ?, they have locations in Singapore too ! and make or distribute headphone drivers:

primomic.com

DH-40 is still made there:
Welcome to Primo
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 7:11 AM Post #30 of 103
Sorry guys. The DH-40 was eventually succeeded by the DH57, followed by the DH59. All but the DH59 were discontinued quite some time ago; Primo's website is quite outdated- you should refer to primomic.com (its the north american distributor- but its also a few years behind). I managed to get ahold of some DH59 drivers, still have quite a few left, but they are far inferior to the DH40/57.

Primo doesn't hold a presence in the headphone driver market anymore.
 
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