[Sweet Spot]

Hmm.... What's in her ears ?

Oh teh irony !

(kind of look like the sony ones that came with my Sony Ericsson phone)

 

[troymadison]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruckus /img/forum/go_quote.gif After seeing those pictures. The work condition where those headphones are made. I will never buy Grados

2x

 

[Disiskurt]

I guess this explains how occasional embarrassments like the "Late Friday" RS1s ever made it out of the "factory." But really, cardboard boxes?

 

[ccontreras]

I will return to buy Grado
he does not matter to me as the factory shines or who they work there
be Indian, Arab or Latin friends…

I like the sound Grado.. nothing else it matters.

 

[OverlordXenu]

With the price of some Grado's, I would think Joe could afford better conditions for his workers.

 

[EdT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomagnate /img/forum/go_quote.gif Somehow I have a feeling that place doesn't meet ISO 9000 standards. Is that an old Marantz 7T with a couple of knobs missing? IIRC that's not a very good sounding preamp, compared to the 7C anyway.

I seen these pics before and was appalled !

I come from a manufacturing background starting from old school diamond cutting to modern SMT electronics plants. This resembles the diamond cutting place I worked for 22 years ago, it was dirty, dark, dusty and rustic ...LoL !

Grado's facilities make Shan Ling's(makes high end Chinese CD Transports) plants in China look like 5 star hotels ! I would suspect all of Senns cans are made at similar facilities in China. So who ever thinks China is a 3rd world country working in sweat shops better wake up !

Photos of their plant here: http://www.charismaaudio.com/factory.html

ISO 9001-2000 whats that ? ...LoL kidding, I am a QA Manager for multi-nationals now. There isn't one audio electronics manufacturer that I know of that use the IPC-A-610 specs yet.

 

[Snacks]

The conditions of the Grado facility is alarming...I for one am very surprised...in this day and age of innovation...I expected better.

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grado's facilities make Shan Ling's(makes high end Chinese CD Transports) plants in China look like 5 star hotels ! I would suspect all of Senns cans are made at similar facilities in China. So who ever thinks China is a 3rd world country working in sweat shops better wake up ! Photos of their plant here: http://www.charismaaudio.com/factory.html .

Thanks for the link nice to see where my Corda Headfive was assembled

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I seen these pics before and was appalled ! I come from a manufacturing background starting from old school diamond cutting to modern SMT electronics plants. This resembles the diamond cutting place I worked for 22 years ago, it was dirty, dark, dusty and rustic ...LoL ! Grado's facilities make Shan Ling's(makes high end Chinese CD Transports) plants in China look like 5 star hotels ! I would suspect all of Senns cans are made at similar facilities in China. So who ever thinks China is a 3rd world country working in sweat shops better wake up ! Photos of their plant here: http://www.charismaaudio.com/factory.html ISO 9001-2000 whats that ? ...LoL kidding, I am a QA Manager for multi-nationals now. There isn't one audio electronics manufacturer that I know of that use the IPC-A-610 specs yet.

Yeah! Nice looking facility! The workstations aren't much bigger where the solderers are working, but the chairs are more comfortable looking!

I suppose Grado could abandon the two-family plus storefront house in Brooklyn which is probably bought-and-paid-for and move out to the country into a multi-million buck facility with all new production equipment and leave all their workers and tradition behind. I'm sure they could raise some venture capital and sell stocks and get a Board of Directors and hire a new R&D and production staff and a slew of accountants and a few new Lawyers to keep it all straight.

And, most importantly; add a bright shiny new QC Lab with maybe even a 5-axis inspection machine with a bunch of inspectors and a whole QA staff to assure that all is under 100% control all the time!

They might even want to do a merger and acquisition of the company that produces their wooden housings so they can also be under complete control of the QA Dept.

Maybe even sell-out to one of those New York based financial conglomerates that buys companies and sends the companies good name "Offshore" to be manufactured elsewhere.

Yeah; that could maybe save us some money when we buy our "New Grados" and insure there are no loose housings or flash on the C-rings.

 

[1M1]

Not a fan of ISO or Six-Sigma. The programs put too many established concerns out of business.

I like the picts - reminds me of when I was a kid going to where my parents worked - that company is gone, but the "brand" is still active offering junk.

Back to topic.


My only wish, besides that Grado keeps making good 'phones - is that Grado would try making a closed 'phone that isn't so sibilent, with a bit more bass potential.

 

[ilmari]

The good thing about using ancient equipment like seen in the pictures, is that it's already burned in

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

Grado's facilities make Shan Ling's(makes high end Chinese CD Transports) plants in China look like 5 star hotels ! I would suspect all of Senns cans are made at similar facilities in China. So who ever thinks China is a 3rd world country working in sweat shops better wake up !

Sennheiser cans are made at an extremely high-end factory in Ireland, not in China.

 

[Davesrose]

Well if you ask me, the shop looks like what I expected: Grados don't scream high end molding or precision there guys. Their injected parts are as simple as it gets.....the shop screams exactly what the look of Grado headphones look like: machined. This is also not a silicon die wafer manufacturing plant......no one has to be dressed in sterile clothes or has to be a WASP for that matter

 

[Drag0n]

Theyre not slaves being whipped in that factory. Everyones actually very happy and family oriented from what i have heard about that place. If you cant tell what kind of place the headphones are made at by looking at the headphones,then....WHO CARES???

Would you be happier if the headphones were made in a hospital lab type of room with german or swedish men in lab coats, rather than hispanic women in their comfy street clothes on a wood table?
The factory is functional and its been working for years and i dont think they are complaining.
I dont care where they are made,as long as they sound good,are comfortable,dont fall apart,and the price is right.
I didnt see Kathy Lee Gifford in any pictures,so i dont think its a sweatshop,and if it was then im sure Oprah or Montel would have made a show about it already.
Maybe we can send in Heraldo Rivera to investigate and do a report about this?
Im sure its fine and the 700 Club is sending food and supplies as we speak.
As long as it gives Jerry's Kids a job, Why complain?

I think people are taking all this way too far,and if those pictures cause you not to buy Grado headphones, then youre just plain ignorant. Personally i think the hand-made thing makes Grados a little bit more personal and special.
Its the American way..........unless you come from the camp that believes large corporations that cause little family-owned "Mom and Pop" shops to CLOSE , the American Way?

One bit of proof that John Grado isnt a slave-driver is that woman is wearing another companies ear buds in the picture,instead of having to wear Grados on the job. Some companies wont allow competing products on the job.

As soon as i can get the plastic R/L plastic things on the RS1 replaced with metal ones, im buying some!

 

[F107plus5]

One thing that shows that even Grado is pleased with the photos that we're discussing is the fact that these and the remainder of the photos showing even more of the employees are displayed on the Grado web-site under "Grado Tour"!

Personally; I think it's GREAT!