Audio Engineer Joseph Grado, Founder of Grado Labs, Dies at Age 90

The founder fo Grado Labs and inventor of stereo moving-coil cartridge, Joseph Grado, has passed away at the age of 90. Joseph Grado held over 48 patents in the audio system category and the company is mostly known for its high-end headphones now.

To turntable laymen, the cartridge is the needle assembly and it is responsible for converting the analog grooves in the vinyl into an electric signal, and it is they key to the sound quality.

Grado didn’t start out in the audio business but was a watchmaker working for Tiffany & Co. In 1953, he started making phono cartridges on the kitchen table before taking over his father’s grocery store two years later and turning it into a factory.

That building is still the company headquarter today, but Joseph Grado sold the company to his nephew who still runs it together with his son.

While Joseph Grado might not be the most familiar name, the evolution of recorded music might have looked different without him. May he rest in peace.

Thanks to GradoLabs for providing us with this information