Hi-Fi Choice on the Grado Signature HP100 SE

The Signature HP100 SE was conceived to mark the centenary of Joseph Grado's birth, and despite the name-check to the original HP1 of the late 1980s, nothing in the finished headphone is a rerun. Every driver, cable and cosmetic part has been rethought, and the result is the first Grado production model ever to ship with detachable cables — a long-requested upgrade for a brand built on retrofit-friendly engineering.

What Hi-Fi Choice found

Hi-Fi Choice spend time on the engineering: a new 52 mm driver designed for balanced high-frequency resolution, a smooth midrange and clean bass energy, with a lightweight paper-composite cone married to a copper-plated aluminium voice coil. Sensitivity lands at 117 dB/mW, so almost any headphone stage has enough power on tap. The headband has 50 percent more padding than any previous Grado, a stainless-steel band and adjustable height rods — the first HP-series where long sessions don't become a negotiation with hot spots.

“Hand-assembled in Brooklyn and tuned with Grado's signature open-back phrasing — but made to live with, not just listen to.”

— Hi-Fi Choice

Our take

We've had a pair in the showroom for several weeks. Two things stand out. First, the detachable braided cables genuinely improve day-to-day life — replaceable, quieter in the hand, and easier to route to a headphone amp or balanced DAC. Second, the new driver keeps the Grado midrange honesty that made the brand famous, while tightening the low end in a way that suits modern recordings without pushing into bass-head territory. If you're stepping up from an RS2x or GS1000x, the HP100 SE is the Signature you've been waiting for.