So i've got my first Grado cans a couple of days ago, SR 80. Even though i liked their sound overall i couldn't resist an urge to tweak them a bit.
The first thing i did not like it's infamous silver lettering which are really low quality. The letter 'G" was accidentaly half-erased on the first day. Foreseeing the progression i decided to remove all of them once and for all to avoid ugliness. Also, i'm not a huge fan of plastic grills(i hoped the grill would be metall...) and buttons on grado cans, so i've installed metall grill instead. I think the result is quite nice:
But i not calling that a "Black" mod just for looks. There's something that was too much for me in Grados - their brightness. As a mostly Senn guy i found their top end to be a little harsh on some songs and bass are just a liiiiiiltle light for me. So i found the way to make them a little darker and shift the tonal balance down low for some(not big) degree. Here's how: there's an acoustic screen on the other side of the driver, which are damper for the membrane. You can alter the sound of the driver playing with damper. No damper usually means a lot of bass but rather uncontrolled; by varying density of the damper you can alter the sound. To allow a little more membrane movement and allow the bass to show up a little more just make some holes in the damber. It's basically a paper so little screwdriver and you are able to poke it. There's a plastic surface with a holes under the acoustic screen, to find where the holes are placed, just look through the driver on the light source(table lamp will be fine). Be careful and not insert the screwdriver more than couple of millimeters deep because you can damage the membrane. The more holes you poked, the more bass will show up, but, of course, it will not make AKG K81 DJ out of your Grados, it's a tweak, so changes will not be dramatic.
I started with 4 holes(as on the pic) but eventually poked all of them(10-as shown on the last pic). So you can gradually increase the quantity of holes until you satisfied with the bass. I think 5-6 holes will be enough to noticeably increase amount of bass. I've found there's too much bass with all 10 holes exposed, so i will cover some of them.
Just wanted to share...
The first thing i did not like it's infamous silver lettering which are really low quality. The letter 'G" was accidentaly half-erased on the first day. Foreseeing the progression i decided to remove all of them once and for all to avoid ugliness. Also, i'm not a huge fan of plastic grills(i hoped the grill would be metall...) and buttons on grado cans, so i've installed metall grill instead. I think the result is quite nice:
But i not calling that a "Black" mod just for looks. There's something that was too much for me in Grados - their brightness. As a mostly Senn guy i found their top end to be a little harsh on some songs and bass are just a liiiiiiltle light for me. So i found the way to make them a little darker and shift the tonal balance down low for some(not big) degree. Here's how: there's an acoustic screen on the other side of the driver, which are damper for the membrane. You can alter the sound of the driver playing with damper. No damper usually means a lot of bass but rather uncontrolled; by varying density of the damper you can alter the sound. To allow a little more membrane movement and allow the bass to show up a little more just make some holes in the damber. It's basically a paper so little screwdriver and you are able to poke it. There's a plastic surface with a holes under the acoustic screen, to find where the holes are placed, just look through the driver on the light source(table lamp will be fine). Be careful and not insert the screwdriver more than couple of millimeters deep because you can damage the membrane. The more holes you poked, the more bass will show up, but, of course, it will not make AKG K81 DJ out of your Grados, it's a tweak, so changes will not be dramatic.
I started with 4 holes(as on the pic) but eventually poked all of them(10-as shown on the last pic). So you can gradually increase the quantity of holes until you satisfied with the bass. I think 5-6 holes will be enough to noticeably increase amount of bass. I've found there's too much bass with all 10 holes exposed, so i will cover some of them.
Just wanted to share...
