Hi,

I am a Grado fan also, but not because they are in the US or in my neighborhood, but because they make high quality, beautifully sounding equipment.

I have a GS1000x, and it is a fantastic, piece of art device. I love the idea they used wood for the body, it makes it warmer, and better looking. The mahogany is a wonderful wood, the look is perfect. Mine came with XLR connector and an XLR to TRS converter.

They stating 8Hz - 35kHz, while I cannot say anything about the upper limit , I can hear 10Hz, so I guess it is really able to work in the specified range. But more importantly the sound is just beautiful! It is very engaging, you just want to listen more. It is very naturally sounding, detailed, and it has huge sound-stage. You just see the players in front of you, and you can place them very precisely where they are. As it is fully open back, it does not filter out any surrounding noise. The result is that if the recording contains noises like breathing, closing door, sneezing, you will look around what is going on. That good.

About the open back. Yes, it can be annoying, you cannot use it in a busy airport, but it sounds very good! There is always a debate about the open back approach. I never had a chance to listen a high quality closed back overhead headphones, so I cannot really compare, but I used to have a Grado Gr10e, that can be considered closed back. While the Gr10e a very good in-ear pair, the sound stage just not as good. The Statement makes you listen more music. As they state in a review:

"... headphones that more-or-less insist on being used when alone. But if you’re OK with this, you’ll find the GS1000x Statement will keep you listening long after you should have gone to bed."

I can confirm this... On the other hand the good thing is that the sound is still superb when you listen in a low volume, and then it is not that annoying to others around.

audioadvisor and head-fi.org have good reviews, unfortunately I am new here, cannot post links, you need to look up...

It would be nice to hear what is your experience with yours.

Cheers

So my headphones just arrived and they are beautiful.  After I cleaned the plug with alcohol and hit it with DeOxit, I replaced the ear cups with a new pair.  

After setting up the trim controls on my CSP2+, I fired them up streaming songs through Roon.  It took a bit to find the sweet spot with the gain controls on my ZBIT, ZRock2, and CSP2+, but once I got it dialed in, it really sounded sublime.  I found myself submersed in the music.   There was such a natural tone, and it’s easy to hear how the wood plays a part in the sound signature.  The soundstage was nice and wide, and the instruments were very clear.  

I never listened to open back ear phones before, and quite honestly, I was quite surprised.  Having some background noise from the surrounding environment did not bother me, unless it was really loud.  The headphones were very comfortable and the craftsmanship is top notch.  

I only got a chance to listen for a little while, but I can’t wait until tomorrow’s session.

Dom