All the talk about how good the cage mod has got me excited, but I'm not 100 percent clear on what the mod does. Does it just cut out part of the inner cage and leave the drivers open to the air? Or is there some kind of protective material on the drivers? And why is the mod not also done for the outer cage?

Yep - it leaves the drivers exposed which is why I'm hesitant. It protects the electronics on the bottom of the ear speaker, however.

The cage mod eliminates reflections from the cage interfering with the sound. The outside of the cage shouldn't cause any of those issues.

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I thought the K1000s are dipoles, so they emit sound both forwards and backwards. I'm not sure about that though, so if someone who knows for sure could answer, that'd be great.

Oh man it kills me when I see people mutilate a pair of phones in such a way with a destructive, non-reversible modification. Granted, I have not yet heard a pair of K-1000s with said mod, but I seriously doubt that the sonic changes would be so wonderful that I would be willing to chop up my K-1000s, thereby risking damaging (or worse destroying) them in the process.

Plus the drivers are wide open and would be very susceptible to damage. Not to mention hurting potential re-sale value in the event I would ever want to sell them for some odd reason. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of doing something like this to a very expensive, discontinued set of perfectly good phones. I suppose it would be easier for me to comprehend if it was a pair of phones that were still in production and replacement parts (or repairs offered by the manufacturer) were readily available.

Anywho, sorry I couldn't help. I suppose I was just hoping that I could maybe talk you out of doing it. Please don't do it. Think of the children!

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The irreversible nature of the mod is certain cause for not doing it, but on the other hand, people whose ears I trust very much have had nothing but good things to say about the mod, so I'm thinking it over.

I'll ask AKG if replacement grills are available for order. The mod itself is not that hard, and if I can source replacement grills, it's worth a try.

Of course you can always make your own cages. Maybe one out of thinner guage wires? Or a basic frame with pantyhose, like the 650 mods.

Front cages are $40 a pair if I remember correctly. Probably cheaper in USA or Austria.

It's not irreversible, you can put them back on. That being said, it's not a good idea at all. I tried it, and it makes no difference at all. I was amping with a Pass Labs Aleph 30 at the time.

Trust me, it's not worth it and it's a bad idea in general.

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And yes, you can order new grilles but they're not cheap. You wouldn't have to though, if you take them off properly.

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Yeah, that's why I'm on the fence about it. I DO however want to get them re cabled.

I'm not sure if they are dipole or not. Good question. I imagine they must emit sound as they push outwards.

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Difference of opinion...we had 2 identical k1000s at the meet. one with and one without mod...and most if not all who could listen in a decently quiet environment could tell the difference.

It's like with everything...as long as you take a common sense approach and take good care of it, they won't get damaged just because of the missing grills.

I think it's a good idea...I did it, but I also have a backup pair just in case
for others with just one...it may not be worth the risk...

The scary part (besides driver diaphragm being exposed) is the coil lead-in wires are also partially exposed. I would go absolutely mental if those broke. I was afraid to even breathe on them, knowing how fragile those wires can be.

It's not like life is at stake. The mod can be done in many different ways, including just taking them off and putting a panty hose over them. Replacement grills are available if you want to use the cut-out method like Vinnie did. Don't do it if it freaks you out, but I am not sure why anyone would attempt to talk a K1K owner out of trying something like this.

Not sure how 003 determined there is no difference, but the side by side test we just did at the meet was pretty darned convincing. Those two K1Ks are as close to the same can as you can get and they were literally sharing the same signal on the same binding posts. The difference was clear and not subtle. I am going to figure out a mod that I am comfortable with and I am also going to talk more to James Serdechny about his findings because he has experimented and ABSOLUTELY believes the improvement is on a par with replacing the stock cable with HIS Equinox cable. That is quite an endorsement.

Maybe the two K1000s sound inherently different? Would be even better to test the same K1000 with and without the front cage. I'm not hardcore enough to expose my K1000 drivers.

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This coming from a man who balances beer on top of his K1000's! Pretty sure those drivers wouldn't be happy with a splash or two.

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I also heard the cage mod directly against the non-cage modded version. If indeed, the difference has solely to do with the fact that there is a variance between K1000's, then quality control is a MAJOR issue with these headphones, since to me, the differences were not in the least bit slight. If power cables, interconnects and even tubes can be considered slight, with amps making a bit more of a difference, to me, the sonic variances between these two phones was at least on par with a major amp upgrade (but likely even more so).

Neil

For those who are curious, I uploaded some closeups of the mod in the photo gallery.

http://photo.head-fi.org/showphoto.p...0&ppuser=10738