We saw a bunch of cool merch to mark Pokémon's 25th but one collaboration that has passed us by until now is this range of hand-built Grado Labs headphones.
Grado Labs – which was founded in Brooklyn way back in 1953 – makes high-end headphones and phono cartridges for record players.
It has released a range of four different Pokémon-themed headphones: three sets of the Poké Ball ones (wood with red headband; wood with black headband; aluminium) and a pair of Pikachu ones (Black Aluminum).
Here's some PR:
Our favorite collaborations are ones that challenge us to build something different than what we’ve been doing for decades, and these fit that quite nicely. To bridge function and design, we built a new ventilation system in the shape of a Poké Ball. If this design didn’t meet our standards, it wouldn’t move forward. Fortunately not only do they sound great, they’re one of our favorite designs we’ve ever put to a headphone.
Each driver is tuned for the material of their enclosure and individually matched for sonic consistency, as we strive to find the perfect balance between the housing material and speaker. This process lets the headphones take full advantage of the color & impact of maple wood, and the clarity & imaging of metal.
Rounding out the four pairs are two made of aluminum. The aluminum Poké Ball Headphone is built with a wooden Poké Ball to combine metal and maple. The final pair has a wooden Pikachu medallion paired with black aluminum, another first for us. The housings of these special edition headphones lay out an extremely detailed presentation.
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Thanks to James Mielke for the tip!
Comments 12
GRADO makes great headphones. I own the RS2e model and they are the best headphones I have ever had!
Like Grados weren't overpriced enough already...
I jest, they're great on-ear headphones and God (and my wife, sadly) knows I've spent far more than that on headphones.
I've always wanted a pair of Grados, but I am definitely not starting with a $300 or $500 pair.
This pretty cool.
These look beautiful compared to the $5 one I got from Five Below that broke 3 days after I opened it.
@Kanbei $500 will get you the lowest Grado headphones worthy of being considered by audiophiles. LOL
These are based on the SR80X, which sound absolutely great (I Own a pair of old SR60's) and probably the only ones that can be used with a phone.
Get them without the Pokemon brand and you can be blown away for $99.00 or $125.00. You will not be disappointed.
I ain't paying $500 for a pikachu icon lol.
They’re stunning headphones but I would be horrified to wear them, haha. I wouldn’t trust myself to actually use $500 headphones
Was going to say, those look like Grados. Always wanted to get a pair but never did. Heard great things about them though.
I wouldn't buy these though, can't justify spending that much on headphones. I would get one of their standard entry level headphones.
I've got a pair of Grados, SR320e. Sound absolutely phenomenal but not always that comfortable over long sessions. Also, these are open backed so anyone nearby can hear everything you're listening to and vice versa. Sound quality is so so good though. Not an obvious choice for a company to make Pokemon efforts. Actually, Grado have always done their own thing and followed their own path regardless of what others are doing - very Nintendo!
Okay, but why?
Okay thank goodness there is a three hundred dollar option.
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