post your grado mods.... - Page 174

I got a cowon J3, Well not really worth it. But it was a good buy since it was a direct trade without any added cost. 

My cowon is starting to die. The sound is good and the equalizer is very great and helpfull for some cheaper headphones. But the UI and everything else just sucks. Oh and battery life is a bliss on my cowon. Two weeks lifetime seems prety good 

So prety mixed feelings there. The sound and battery is better but everything else sucks ass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PintoDave 

Very nice! Full or partial liberation like my SR-60? Either way, very nice!

Thanks! Partial liberation...the woodies replace just the stock plastic housing...drivers are not removed from plastic airchambers.

No Grado/Alessandro drivers were resoldered in the process 

I am about to receive a pair of woodies from Martin custom audio. They are quite particular.

I sent him drivers from a pair of vintage Joseph Grado SR-325, one from the bunch who had Black Star drivers in them (the same as the famous HP1000 - pictures here: http://www.martincustomaudio.com/2012/10/ehrmagosh-look-at-these.html).

I also asked him to build a pair of discs on which I could mount different sets of pads, such as the Lawton Audio Denon leather pads, the JMoney leather pads for Denon and Beyerdynamic, as well as the HiFiMAN & Beyerdynamic stock velour and pleather pads, and even the Stax O2 pads. Martin came up with another idea, which was to make a set of cups that would act as the discs themselves. He used Hormigo, a rare South American wood known as the "wood that sings".

I also asked him to install mini 4-pin XLR sockets on the cups, so that the cable could be swapped like on the LCD-2/3. I have a TWag V2 cable and SAA Endorphin to try on them. I also took the stock cable, JGSUWBRC, and installed LCD-2/3 connectors on it. I sent him TWag V2 wire that I had to connect the socket pins with the drivers.

The gimbals/rodblocks are Martin's black-anodized aluminium, and the headband is either the JMoney Audio or Onyx Manta; I can't recall which one I sent for him to use.

Here are a few pics of the near-final product. Martin still has to install the connectors and drivers.

I originally ordered him a pair of Padauk cups, but it turned out the HP1000 drivers are slightly larger than the current ones, and so they didn't fit. He offered me to keep both for a small extra, and so I'll be making another set with them. I bought the black powder-coated aluminium gimbals that were for sale in the For Sale forums, and ordered a headband from the JMoney Christmas giveaway/sale. I'll order a set of the new V5 Magnum drivers and build a DHC cable to put on. Here are some pics from when they were supposed to house the Black Star drivers: http://www.martincustomaudio.com/2012/10/padauk-with-legendary-black-stars-and.html

I'll post my impressions of the creation when I receive it. I've never heard of anyone modding a pair of HP1000 in such way in the past, so I have no idea what they'll sound like. I hope the sound quality will be as good as the HP1000, but with a slightly warmer signature to complement my HE-6, and perhaps a larger soundstage from the extra-thickness in some of the pads. I will have the Bryston BHA-1 to test it out with, as well as the Joseph Grado HPA-2, a rare amplifier that was built to pair with the HP1000 back in the days (this amp is older than me!). 

I wondered who's drivers those were when he did that post...they must sound fantastic...

Right now, they could either be the worst or best pair of HP1000 headphones ever. It all depends whether or not the impacts on the sound from the cups/pads/cable contribute to make the drivers sound even better/different, or if they'll take away from an already close-to-perfect product. I'm hoping the former. 

Indeed...reading the last few pages of this thread has gotten me worried about possibly making my drivers sound worse when I finally put them in their cups, instead of better...oh well, all part of the journey :D
 

I think they'll probably sound fairly similar, although not identical. However, there's no doubt they will be among the best Grados for comfort, a factor often overlooked when choosing a pair of headphones. I am very excited to have them.

Can't wait ! you're right, they probably won't sound identical, they might sound similar, they can sound different. Let us know post honeymoon

Hormigo?! Rare South African singing wood! That's amazing, I thought it was just some Cocobolo or a common MCA wood, lol

I think they will sound a tad different (balance and sound-stage wise) but just as great in terms of sheer performance (details, fullness)! (I'm also judging by what I recall from reading mostly 2004-2007 dated Head-Fi posts/impressions of the Larry@headphile.com wooden builds/Vixens making use of the Prestige series extracted HP 1000 drivers [same as yours actually] in the days when these were more easily found [which prompted people {and especially Larry} to extract and mod them more at the time].)

Super-excited...managed to get one of the pairs of Cabillas' cups that were posted in the classifieds recently...can't wait...this is rapidly turning into an obsession...I have a pair of the Vintage Vibros already, now these...will have to try my 225i drivers in both and see which is better.

I have actually held onto a stock pair of SR225i, oddly enough...going to make sure to A/B.

so, i've got this beat up chair that we're probably going to throw away sometime, and i was wondering if you guys think this would be enough leather to make a headband out of? the short sides are about 13" and the long side is about 16"