[wallijonn]

these are the pics:

Aiwa AK100 with SR80 drivers installed, beyer pads, sennheiser yellow pads. Grado headband. Noral 3.5" cloth driver covers (blue) for the Grado bowl pads.

 

[kenchi1983]

umm, is it imaginary?

 

[wallijonn]

kench,

i was on XP, and wanted to test my I-net conection. Then I switched to W2000, where I posted the pics. (the camera software didn't install in w2k, but it did on wxp). So i burned to RW the pics from XP and posted via W2k.

in the second picture you can see where the Grado drivers are angled.

 

[xlifez]

are they on sell? hahaha

 

[kenchi1983]

what have you done to the grados? nOOOOOOOO....

 

[purk]

Wall,
Any improvement in sound quality? Keep us post. BTW, extreme transplant on your part!


Purk

 

[wallijonn]

the drivers just touch the ears.

when Greg heard them he said, "eh. they're Grados".

so the overall sound hasn't been changed. but where you could change the sound by pressing on the Grado pads, it is now minimised. the highs are not as harsh (becuse they do not squish the ears and therefore the driver is closer to my ears).

I adjusted the Senn yellow pad so that there was less bass bloat. (it's the "yellow" in the pics). i tuned it for a more pleasing overall sound. to my ears, it's a lot flatter.

my one concern was in improving the comfort. with the new band the drivers do not rotate, so there is no more cable tangle.


i worked too hard on the SR80 drivers. it would have been much easier if i just added a shim (or three legs) to the Grado driver and inserted it into the Aiwa "hole" (inside). this would preserve the sound almost 100%. it is what i would suggest if anyone wants to pick up a Aiwa Ak100 and do his own mods - just remove the3 Aiwa drivers, add a spacing shim, add the Beyer pads, tune as necessary, and enjoy. believe we when i say that they are much more comfortable.

ps.,

i may go in again and undo a lot of it. the Grado cable is way too short. i still have a little Mogami cable left, so it wouldn't be hard at all replacing the stock cable. who knows, it might help the overall sound.

 

[wallijonn]

i have some Beyer DT440s that could probably be converted to Grado driver use.

since the Beyer DT440 is very flat, it would take no more than a dremel to enlarge the hole to accept a Grado driver. looks like crap, though.

 

[gloco]

wallijonn, your the king of cable replacements...your a sick man.

 

[lan]

awesome. my test aiwa headphones need some pads. are there generic cheap ones to fit certain sized shapes or will i have to scavenge from another pair?

 

[wallijonn]

Ian,

which Aiwa do you have? got a pic? i might have the old Aiwa Ak100 pads laying around (if I didn't throw them away). the beyer pads use 3 7/8" pads, i think (or is it 3 + 5/8" pads).

yeah, you might have to scronge around.

if anyone has the Aiwa AK100s, they might be able to be sold to certain Grado owners who may want to replicate what i have done.

 

[lan]

These Aiwa headphones of mine are like 10 years old or something. HP-X35. I was just messing around with them. The outer diameter of the plastic part is like 2 1/2".

You don't wanna see them, i'm using socks as padding.