Grado Labs’ Reference Series headphones are the standard bearer of aural excellence. They’re the harmonic gold standard for legions of audiophiles. Only problem: they’re too damn expensive. No longer. Enter the Grado PS500. Rejoice.
Like Grado’s much more expensive PS1000, the chambers and drivers inside the new PS500 are designed to surgically reproduce sound. To that end, the PS500 has an aluminium outer shell, which serves the dual function of damping extraneous sound and looking totally awesome. OK, so I’m sure everyone who splurges on Grados cares more about sound than anything else, but lets face it, their headphones have a distinctive look that’s as spottable by music nerds as Beats headphones are by fashion-conscious teenagers. And you could wear the PS500 on the subway: they’re way lighter than other professional headphones.
Professional Series Grados aren’t for everyone — a lot of people like their music coloured by their cans in some way. That said, the venerable brand has brought the price of professional Grados down to $US600 dollars, which is the same as their famous reference series. I’m not excited to hear the PS500. I’m downright impatient. [Grado]