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sr80 mods?

post #1 of 13
1/21/08 at 1:52am
Thread Starter 
i have seen some threads about the possibilities. i want to kick up the flavor of my cans. are there any that will improve the sound of the sr80's more than others? i am thinking about liberators, new grills and deeper cups. i am not going anywhere near new cables by myself (no soldering experience and i won;t start with these).
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post #2 of 13
1/21/08 at 2:31am
I have gone thru 2 -3 rounds of modding the SR80 and found that the most impact came from the change in cable. Then getting teh right cable is another thing.
While many says that the grills have little or impact, i hear a difference in the change of grills from the original.

My friend who went ahead with the cups mods mentioned that its pretty effective, but i never gotten to try it. I guess a balance between the looks and sonic quality is important, dont think it would sound good to you if it doesnt look good
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post #3 of 13
1/21/08 at 2:57am
You might want to start off rolling pads. Then when you find you're comfortable with that, try different grilles. I didn't like the SR60's plastic grille. It didn't make sense to restrict the sound as much as the stock one did, so you can try opening the sound up by opening up your Grados and swapping out the grille. If yours was manufactured later than sooner, it's going to be a bit tougher opening the casing because I believe Grado switched from hot glue or something to some really annoying epoxy. Essentially, ripping off the button, opening up the casing, and removing the grille will all be annoying due to the super impossible epoxy. Get a heat gun, hair dryer and carefully and apply steady heat. Try not to ruin the driver, cable or the housing, try not to melt your hands, then all should be good. Some people woodify the outer plastic half with varying degrees of success as per wood choice, shape of woody, so on and so forth. I'm trying to get beyerdynamic DT770/880/990 headbands for my Grados, but it's impossible to get a Canadian distributor to talk to me.

Aside from recabling, I think those mods are what you should try in decreasing order of sound difference/difficulty. The woody may be difficult depending on your skill- and toolset, so I listed it after the grille bit though it may change the sound more. The headband one is counterintuitive, but it's just as legitimate as any other sound-altering modification.

And as always, check out the HeadWize Collected Grado Mods article.
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post #4 of 13
1/21/08 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
that is one of my concerns. it might sound good, but if they look like crap, that sucks...definitely need to do something about this headband though. got any suggestions there? i have seen folks making new leather ones and other people adding a senn headband underneath. any experience with that?
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post #5 of 13
1/21/08 at 3:03am
Thread Starter 
thanks joneeboi. that is what i was reading that sparked my interest in the mods. i also saw someone who put little clamps on the adjusting rods, to keep the fit right. i will definitely be adding that one too.

nice avatar too...
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post #6 of 13
1/21/08 at 4:31am
Does the SR-80 have 4 connector wires all the way to the normal jack? The completion of my next little project should leave me with a balanced source/amp combo but no balanced phones but I was under the impression it would be a simple mod to go balanced (unlike the method Kevin lists in the page linked above). I was intending to use a 4 pin XLR though, which is significantly different.
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post #7 of 13
1/21/08 at 1:30pm
The Grado cable has 4 conductors, so it's quite easy to just lop off the end connector and throw on some XLRs.

I've seen DIYed leather headbands, Senn headbands, and all sorts of things go over the Grado headband, but personally, I like the beyers the best. They are the most comfortable, IMO. You could go all the beyer way if you want and DIY some beyer pads for the Grados. You could get the C-pads from Headphile, but there's something like a 8-10 week line up. If you can get them used, all the power to you. J'aime beyer.

"Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money."

*sees children with shocked expressions*

"Or cocaine."
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post #8 of 13
1/21/08 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
nice try, but i can't see buying $119 c-pads when i spent much less than that for the cans themsleves. can i order the beyer headband from beyer? or do i need to find a used one out there somewhere.
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post #9 of 13
1/21/08 at 7:40pm
They go for about $10 from beyerdynamic USA, which I believe is located in around New York or New Jersey. You just need to fill out an order form with your info and such. Ask for part number 340.502 and you're great. Calling them is the best way to get a hold of them, since they don't really like to answer emails or that "Contact Us" form on their page. Give them a ring at 1-800-293-4463.
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post #10 of 13
1/23/08 at 12:26am
Thread Starter 
i have seen several folks talk about putting tape around the bowl pads on the sr series. what does this do to the sound? cheap way to improve it?
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post #11 of 13
1/23/08 at 4:04am
Quick, cheap and easy mod to improve the bass, IIRC. I haven't tried it but I'm a little curious as to how much more bass the SR-80's would need...YMMV.
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post #12 of 13
1/23/08 at 4:38am
Ack, how could I forget the infamous tape mod? Yes, they reportedly increase the bass and it actually is the most value in terms of cost and performance change that you can have in the way of Grado mods. If tape doesn't suit your fancy, you can get a popsicle stick/tongue depressor and wipe white glue around the edges. I did that to my SR60's GS1K pads. This results of this mod are pretty blatant.
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post #13 of 13
3/9/10 at 12:36am
I never really like the cheap tape look to be honest. I went to Home Depot and picked up black silicone. First I taped around the inner and outer edges, applied the silicone to the exposed foam with rubber gloves (smoothing it out as much as possible), let them dry overnight and carefully remove the tape. You can't even tell I did the mod myself and looks pretty stock. The silicone plugs the small holes in the foam and prevents sound from escaping. I found I got a little more bass than stock pads.
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