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Does this look normal to you? - Page 3

post #31 of 41
2/26/07 at 12:10am
Don't do a damn thing to it. If you don;t like it, make Alessandro deal with it. Otherwise you're left explaining why you took alcohol, steel wool, brasso, or whatever to it. If you want it fixed, make them fix it. If not just enjoy your cans.
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post #32 of 41
2/26/07 at 12:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rylinkus View Post
I'll admit that doesn't look great. If it were me I wouldn't care that much. (At least not enough to send them back) That's just my personal preference. When I got my SR60s I was a bit amazed at the quality for the money. But the sound is good enough that I don't care at all. As far as anodizing, I don't think that aluminum is anodized. It's hard to tell from the pics. But I'm a designer in a company that works in anodized aluminum. And that doesn't look like our stuff. To me it looks like imperfections in the aluminum itself. And I wonder if you polished it, sanded it, or whatever if it would matter. If it bothers you that much, (And I'm certainly not saying it shouldn't), then see what Alessandro says about em.
Looking at the housings on my MS2i I get the impression that there is some kind of surface treatment. Whether it's anodic or some other form of applied treatment I can't be sure, but there is something there beyond bare aluminum, or a simple protective coating.

It's an interesting finish, as I have a couple of small wa-was' in the surface and can't see a break in the coating so it doesn't seem to meet mil spec 8625(I think)for toughness....but I have no desire to scratch them further to find out!!

But yeah; there's something there.
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post #33 of 41
2/26/07 at 12:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by F107plus5 View Post
Looking at the housings on my MS2i I get the impression that there is some kind of surface treatment. Whether it's anodic or some other form of applied treatment I can't be sure, but there is something there beyond bare aluminum, or a simple protective coating.

It's an interesting finish, as I have a couple of small wa-was' in the surface and can't see a break in the coating so it doesn't seem to meet mil spec 8625(I think)for toughness....but I have no desire to scratch them further to find out!!

But yeah; there's something there.
Just my thoughts.....

But to ME. Doesn't look like Anodization. There's tons of other Aluminum finishes though. But a lot of them scratch VERY easy. At work we use aluminum tubing, plates, and L-Plates. The tubing we get in anodized (Bright Shine IIRC), "Matte", and "Clear". They all scratch way too easy. The anodized being the toughest and most used by us. The plates and such are just bare aluminum. To me, they look the most like those casings on the Alessandros. To me, the face isn't telling. It's the "sides" towards the pad. It looks just like our plates when we polish them with a 3M wheel. I truly believe that's the aluminum, not the finish.

I think the surface treatment is a nice 3M wheel or the like. I think the defect we see is in the metal itself from the factory that sold Alessandro the metal they used to make said enclosure.
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post #34 of 41
2/26/07 at 1:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rylinkus View Post
Just my thoughts.....

But to ME. Doesn't look like Anodization. There's tons of other Aluminum finishes though. But a lot of them scratch VERY easy. At work we use aluminum tubing, plates, and L-Plates. The tubing we get in anodized (Bright Shine IIRC), "Matte", and "Clear". They all scratch way too easy. The anodized being the toughest and most used by us. The plates and such are just bare aluminum. To me, they look the most like those casings on the Alessandros. To me, the face isn't telling. It's the "sides" towards the pad. It looks just like our plates when we polish them with a 3M wheel. I truly believe that's the aluminum, not the finish.

I think the surface treatment is a nice 3M wheel or the like. I think the defect we see is in the metal itself from the factory that sold Alessandro the metal they used to make said enclosure.
You may be absolutely right. Rarely some of our aluminum components either weren't finished at all after being removed from the lathe or mill, or had a number of other anodic finishes that were really obvious, like almost black!! We did have a few that were anodized that had a preservation-only finish and if it wasn't obvious from the appearance or paperwork trail, we would send them to the met-lab for verification. Pretty subtle coatings.

But for some silly reason, these housings in-person don't look exactly like machined and polished or buffed untreated aluminum(which; like I said, I didn't have that much experience with). There's also no degradation of the surface after the six months that I've had mine.

It's interesting!!
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post #35 of 41
2/26/07 at 1:49am
Dont use Brasso! Dont use any chemicals on the aluminum; You will strip the anodized layer, ultimatly ruining your 7 week investment.

The discoloration you see is a after-effect of a sloppy anodizing job. It looks like they wernt held properly on the rack when they were dipped in the acid bath- ive seen these patterns on many of our MS2's, almost all of them- most are along the outer rim of the cup and unnoticable to the average person- yours on the other hand are quite different.

Theres no way of improving your problem, that discoloration is there to stay. Trying to buff, rub, or clean it further could make things much worse.

I recommend shipping them back to George and explaining your issue- ask for him to swap them with another pair. Since he has stock now, you shouldnt have to wait as long as before-


Rhydon
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post #36 of 41
2/26/07 at 2:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rylinkus View Post
Doesn't look like Anodization...I think the surface treatment is a nice 3M wheel or the like. I think the defect we see is in the metal itself from the factory that sold Alessandro the metal they used to make said enclosure.

Both the SR325i and the MS-2 are anodized aluminum. Most likely manual anodizing, without computer aid, that would account for the different finish across various generations of MS2's/325's.
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post #37 of 41
2/26/07 at 3:02am
Egad.. .some of the worst DIY matal-working advice I have ever seen. Its not that easy to maintain a finish on billet aluminum.... I've tried metal polishes and wet sanding various grades of aluminum (from T5 & T6), it is tedious, very messy and difficult to get a uniform finish. At the very least you would have to completely dis-assemble the earcups to access all the aluminum surfaces equally with whatever tool you hope to use.

Ive ripped apart a lot of headphones, and had my share of mis-haps and projects gone to the crapper. (I only post my success stories . All the cans I screw-up and ruin, get swept under the rug ). That is one DIY job I (for one) wouldn't touch.

I say... return them under warranty to George, or just enjoy them as they are. My MS2 had little swirl marks like that, but not as pronounced. I believe its a byproduct of the anti-oxidation coating. I believe there is a coating of some sort on the MS2 and older silver SR325. Its what prevents the bare/unfinished aluminum from oxidizing to a battle-ship Gray color as the cans age.

Good Luck!!
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post #38 of 41
2/26/07 at 3:27am
Wow, if I were you I'd loose sleep over that, esp. after waiting for them for so long!

Better try and RMA them ASAP.
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post #39 of 41
2/26/07 at 4:00am
George is an easy guy, he shouldnt have any issues with swapping these for another pair- Im sure hes seen his fair share of Grado quality controll issues

Dont worry OpusRob, once you get that perfect set of MS2i's, youl be happy you went through the extra work; they're a beautiful set of cans.
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post #40 of 41
2/26/07 at 7:10pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, so I called Alessandro this morning. The guy who answered the phone wasn't as helpful as I would have hoped - he didn't seem too concerned. When I described the defect, he kind of said, in effect, "if it's in the metal, then that's just the way they are," without offering to fix the problem or even recognizing that the problem exists. He did suggest, though, that I deal directly with Grado, since they would have to send it there anyway and it would take longer. I called Grado and was instructed to send them in with a note describing the problem and mention that I had waited a very long time to receive them in the first place so that they don't get put on the back burner. Both the Alessandro guy and the nice lady at Grado suggested that they would most likely swap out the part that has the blemishes. I hope I am not in for another marathon wait - I really just want to start listening ASAP. Thanks for all of your interest and help.
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post #41 of 41
3/3/07 at 10:14am
It looked like a chemical stain such as an alkali/basic solution attacking the aluminum alloy surface and oxidizing it. Aluminum alloys are very prone to attacks from basic solutions and even your household detergents may, at
times, IMO, be strong enough to cause white oxidation stains on aluminum if left unwashed for long periods of time.

The defect becomes similar to scratches on leather where you might do more damage removing the cosmetic defect. You can try using a weak acid solution like citric acid cleaners or weak vinegar and lightly touch it. But then if you are not careful you may end up with patches of different hue.

Your best option at this point is like what you did, let the manufacturer take care of it ...the wait is so aggravating...arrgh!
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