GRADO GS3000X STATEMENT

Luxury, when it comes to headphones, lies in the eye and beneath the fingertips of the beholder, as well as in the ear. These Grados are our favourites in the ‘very expensive indeed’ category, and for good reason – even if the luxury aspect is, to be fair, a little bit patchy.

They’re big open-backed ’phones that feature a whole lot of cocobolo wood for their driver housings, as part of a hybrid metal acoustic chamber. The company puts forward a lot of reasons why this particular wood is so desirable in acoustic terms – but the fact that it looks and feels so dramatic and, yes, luxurious doesn’t do any harm. Elsewhere, the foam earpads and minimally padded leather headband – with only rudimentary adjustment – are less friendly.

The chunky cable is very nearly 2m long, which – along with the sonically leaky open-back configuration – lets you know these cans are designed for at-home (ideally solitary) listening. They’re comfortable for long sessions, for sure, but their 515g weight means they’re not very portable.

Most importantly of all, the 52mm (very) full-range dynamic drivers do the audio business – when it comes to sound quality, these Grados are close to untouchable.

They’re a natural, neutral listen and are egoless in the sense that they’ll get out of the way of your favourite music, handing it right over without seeming to stick their oar in. Detail levels are almost indecently high, the soundstage they create is huge and beautifully defined, and their tonality from the bottom of the frequency range to the top is utterly convincing. Add superb dynamics and rhythmic expression, and they just don’t put an audio foot wrong.

No, the GS3000X headphones aren’t in any way flash. But as far as sonic luxury is concerned, they’re about as indulgent as it gets.