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Originally Posted by bobkin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Not that i don't trust you Nickchen () but has anyone else tried this mod with similar success?
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It's kind of FOTM in Germany and in the meantime quite a few members of the german HiFi-forum.de have modded their own headphones or listened to the mod at mini meets.
I've tried it with my RS-1s, MS-1s and with the SR225s of my spouse.
The modded RS-1s do sound really crappy.Totally unlistenable IMO.
The modded SR225s and the modded MS-1s on the other hand are interesting though.
Is it worth it?
It depends.It's probably not for everyone but surely many listeners would prefer the modded cans.
What you get is an unique and very attractive headstage.
Unique like in "not really comparable to any other headphones".
Not perfect since it's lacking in depth and layering precision, but this might be due to the mediocre performance of the mid-fi Grados/Alessandros in the resolution department and the modded Alessandro MS-Pros might be better in this regard.
However, you'd be hard pressed to get a similarly attractive headstage for less than $200 anywhere else so if headstage is paramount for you a modded MS-1 represents the best bang for the buck ratio I've encountered so far especially when you take into account that you don't need an expensive amplifier.
The modded cans do sound like
very different headphones.Still somewhat forward sounding but you are not sitting on the laps of the musicians anymore, and the tonal balance is not exactly the same.
You could even call it a (mild) suckout in the mids and therefor human and especially female voices sometimes don't sound as good anymore.
I guess it's dependant on your preferences and therefor unpredictabe whether you'd like the modded cans better or not but I certainly do.
One caveat though: The modded headphones are not suitable for hot and humid weather.The Grados with jumbo pads do block the flow of air like no other pads and actually to me the modded Alessandros/Grados are worse than my Sony MDR-CD3000s, and the latter are closed cans with pleather pads !!!
One additional hint: For a first test or even for a permanent solution you don't have to utilize glue.A small rolled out amount of blu tak (or similar) does the trick very well and it's easily reversible in case you don't like the mod.