Boasting Grado's largest speaker yet, the 52mm X Driver, the new Statement Series flagship GS3000x features a metal chamber surrounded by a single body of cocobolo wood. Meanwhile, the GS1000x combines mahogany and ipê wood, the latter debuting on Grado earpieces.

We're told that the X Driver design features a more powerful magnetic circuit, a voice coil with decreased effective mass, and a reconfigured diaphragm. Also, where the Reference Series saw the X Driver in 44mm and 50mm versions, the Statement Series welcomes the 52mm iteration. This not only gives the GS3000x a claimed frequency response of 4Hz-51kHz, but it also hands them bragging rights to being “the best sounding headphone Grado has released in their seven-decade history”, according to the manufacturer.

Apparently, the 52mm driver has been specifically tuned to “embrace the tenacity of cocobolo and precision of metal”. The Brooklyn company says that “cocobolo's sonic properties and innate mass makes it perfect for the new speakers”. In addition, the metal inner chamber adds even more mass, which, according to Grado, enables them to better control the company's largest driver's rigidity.

Continuing over two decades of one of Grado's most important headphone designs, the now hybrid GS1000x sees mahogany and ipê, sometimes called Brazilian walnut, come together for the first time to create a bi-wood housing.

Mahogany is certainly no stranger to Grado's wooden headphones and phono cartridges; however, combining it with a wood not yet used by the firm called for a delicate balance. While we're informed that mahogany exudes warmth and texture, ipê improves the structural integrity of the sound passing through the grains of the housing from the GS1000x's 50mm X Drivers. The stated frequency response of the GS1000x is 8Hz-35kHz.

Along with the superior sound the new drivers produce, the GS3000x and GS1000x utilise Grado's improved super annealed copper 12-conductor braided cable. They also share G cushion ear pads, new black leather headbands finished with white stitching, as well as a listed 38 ohm nominal impedance and 99.8db (1mW) SPL.

Naturally, both models are hand assembled in Brooklyn, New York.

The Grado Statement X Series will be available from September 2022. The SRP for the Grado Statement GS1000x is US$1,195, and the Grado Statement GS3000x will cost US$1,995. Both are also available with balanced XLR cables for an extra around US$200.

Visit Grado Labs for more information