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I know what you mean, I also noticed some congestion on my 325i's with the sheet protector strips I mentioned a little earlier so I thought I'd try something different.

Instead of sheet protector strips I've switched to overhead projector transparency strips; cut 12 inches long by 3/4 inches wide taped at both the inside and outside joints. This material is quite a bit harder than scotch tape or sheet protector material and when wrapped tightly around the bowls I notice little or no congestion or lack of clarity. My 325i's are now very much on par with the clarity of my electrostatic's, except the Grado's are more dynamic and fun!

To me it makes sense that a harder material would sound better. If the idea is to couple bass energy to the eardrum like the original poster suggested, than it would seem a harder material would be better at doing that than a softer one. I mean would you want the cabinet walls of your home loudspeaker to be made out of wood veneer or solid wood? A loudspeaker with wood veneer walls would flex too much absorbing bass energy and coloring the sound just like a softer material around the bowls would.

I recommend trying something harder on the Grado's than scotch tape and listening again.

i was thinking the same thing! so i used electrical tape (which are usually black, which can seem kinda cheep but can also give it a nice glossy look) and just surrounded the bowls. very very easy to remove and since it sticks best to itself remember to complete the circle = bass definitely has more punch.
highly recomended with the bowls to ballance the highs for a "fuller" sound, but since its less "airy" it probably does effect clarity.

do you think this would work well with reversed 414s?

I'm going to order some pads soon to replace the stock MS-1 comfies, but I might get some Grado bowls and do this mod instead of getting 414s.

yeah, you should be able to. bowls have a more solid foam though, so i wouldnt use ducktape on the 414's ;>
i think bowls would last longer no boubt, but the hd414 is way more comfortable.

I just did this mod with my new SR80's & plain masking tape around the bowls two times.... !! It's a big improvement.

I am tempted to roll the edges of my bowls on black silicone (or at least find my black electrical tape, but that kind of tape can get too sticky)

Oh my

Such little mod and so huge difference. thanks!

Personally I'm not a basshead but its a great mod for those bassy nights

this makes me want to get a pair of grados just to test them out. SIGH

This mod works great. I fell hopelessly in love with my new 225s w/stock bowls, the only bad thing was that in some songs the bass is a bit lacking. But now everything is perfect.
The mids and highs do seem a bit recessed versus no tape, but that can be fixed by readjusting the bowls (moving them back so the back of the bowl goes around the back of the ear. Same clarity, but more bass

should i completely or partially cover the perimeter with tape?

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as with pad-selection, there is no 'one size fits all'-rule. Best is to try different ways and keep the one you liked most (the whole range has been tried and tested and each way has its fans, from a thin strip precisely placed where they want to taping every bit of foam showing on the outside)

experiment and have fun

Just odered my bowls (should arrive by friday).
I am going to try this mod out.

So is there a consensus as to what type of tape is the best? Electrical, duct or clear scotch tape? And is this safe and reversible? I mean, wont pieces of foam stick to the tape if i try to remove them?

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I don't think that there is real audible difference between different types of tape... but the reversibility sure is different ...

- If you just want to try how it sounds, just use some masking tape (the blue or beige stuff painters use). Some clear tapes could be as easy to remove, but a lot of that depends on the brand I guess... and I do not think it would look any better either.

- If you know you like how it sounds and want to keep it for a while you could use more aesthetically pleasing black electrical tape (but my experience with this on other surfaces is that it can leave glue residue sometimes). I guess some clear tapes fit here as well.

- If you are 100% sure that you'll keep this and not opt for reversibility, you could use clear or black silicon paste and apply it on the outer surface. But this means that you'll have to buy new bowls if you ever get tired of it. I would reckon that the super strong duct tape falls in this category as well.

Thanks to this thread that resurfaced out of nowhere I decided to try the tape mod for myself and it works VERY NICELY...its too bad that it isn't a very well known mod for Grado headphones...oh well at lest I'm enjoying it

What I did was use the carton core of 3/4 masking tape, it fits around nice and snug, and the plus to this is that you can take them off whenever you feel like it.