[Braheem24]

Do you have to take the casing apart to remove the 325 logo? would that be a good first step in improving the lower freq. response?

 

[ArmAndHammer]

G-cushions.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I don't think you do to just remove it however to thoroughly clean the glue off the mesh you probably need to.
Quote:

Do you have to take the casing apart to remove the 325 logo?

 

[sferic]

I removed the badges, then put them back on because it recessed the bass/mids too much. Grado know what they are doing, one nice thing about Grados is they don't need modding. These are WONDERFUL phones. The G-Cushions are an improvement in comfort though, and don't hurt the sound. As you move up the line, the highs get less grainy and more subtle, but I think at the price point they are incredible.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

Please explain. I am interested. Not sure I want to experiment with my 325's but I would like to know more.
 
 
Quote:

 Venting the driver is free.  It takes a few minutes and produces immediate results.  Grado does this with their top cans.  I have done this with recent 325s and the improvement was astonishing.

 

 
I used steam to loosen up the hot glue holding the metal chamber onto the plastic inner.  I then used a bit of leverage to finally get the cups apart.  Once apart, I held the plastic inner up to a light source so I could see all ten holes glowing in their little circles around the radius of the driver.  With a ball-point pen, I perforated the holes I wanted (Grado vents four; I vented all ten).  The reason I used a ball-point pen was the safety it provided to the driver diaphragm.  The shell enclosing the shaft of the pen actually acts as a halo, preventing it from being inserted too far.
 
If you vent the drivers, you get more airflow; more airflow brings up the bass.  It doesn't make it flabby, slow or boomy.  That's a myth.  It simply increases the volume of the driver (speakers have baskets but the baskets aren't usually airtight).  When you vent the driver, you increase volume and the driver is able to properly deliver enough bass that you don't end up with something tinny.  The SR325 is less "balanced" than the SR225, but that's because the 325 has more top-end sparkle, probably due to a difference in the grill cloth.  There's nothing wrong with this sparkle, as long as the bass is also unleashed.  Without the bass to counterbalance the increased HF, the 325 comes across as significantly brighter than the 225 - leading many to argue that the 225 is a better headphone and that the 325 is a lateral step, if not a regression.  However, if you boost the bass, the increased HF not only works out; it sounds so much better than the 225, you'd think the latter were a bit muted.
 
There are, however, a couple of other changes that will actually improve the 325.  One is to remove the plastic ring inside the metal shell.  It's there to act as a brace, to hold the metal grill in.  It's overkill.  You don't need it.  What's more, it makes an audible difference, one you can hear when you remove it.  The other change is to remove the button on the rear grill.  This is easier said than done.  The hot glue on the back of the button is hard to remove, and even when you do, chances are pretty good that you'll have some glue that simply won't go away without a lot of effort at removal.  Still, the difference in sound is amazing.  The clarity you obtain is phenomenal.
 
Removing the rear button will not reduce the quality or quantity of your bass, not if you first vent the driver backs.  This is an extremely inexpensive way to improve the 325's sound.
 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Sounds interesting but I am just not sure about messing with my 325's...not yet...lol
 
It's funny though because I found my 325's sounded a bit better, richer and smoother that the 225's I demoed along side them. Same amp, DAC, music...the 225's just sound thin and airy to me.
 
I am thinking about doing the distancer mod or possibly getting a complete woodied sound chamber. If I end up doing this I would definitely vent the wood as you described.

 

[Braheem24]

FOLLOWUP:
 
The 325is in the past few days seems to have either lost thier shrill or killed my ear's higher frequency sensation

, NO seriously they really seem to have filled out and also warmed up a bit.  I'm falling in love.
 
... on a side note, my friend who originally wanted bose headphones and I were walking through target when we saw the bose headphones display, we each put them on for no longer then 5 seconds to realize we had no idea what we were missing before the Grados.
 
The bose mid notes were muffled and clashing, the bass had no depth and the highes had no seperation.

 

[estreeter]

I also disagree with the old 'amping does nothing for Grados' BS - its like a lot of the 'accepted wisdom' here. My only warning to would-be modders is to be extremely careful - the 325s are a little too expensive to be inadvertently trashed. Spend time experimenting with pads before you go anywhere near mods which involve possible damage to your cans.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I know for a fact that my SR325i's respond extremely well to amping. I actually don't think I could listen to them unamped. They need the warmth of the tubes to bring the highend down a bit and smooth things out. 
 
Quote:

I also disagree with the old 'amping does nothing for Grados' BS - its like a lot of the 'accepted wisdom' here. 

 

[Braheem24]

FYI, The mini3 does nothing for warming the 325is but does improve the soundstage and seperation.
 

 

[Bilavideo]

 

I also disagree with the old 'amping does nothing for Grados' BS - its like a lot of the 'accepted wisdom' here. My only warning to would-be modders is to be extremely careful - the 325s are a little too expensive to be inadvertently trashed. Spend time experimenting with pads before you go anywhere near mods which involve possible damage to your cans.

Most mods involve little risk.  Opening up the shells is fairly straight forward.  Lots of people have done that without trashing their 325s.  Putting some putty or adhesive felt on the back of the magnet plate is usually safe and reversible.  Removing the plastic button from the rear screen takes a little doing, even more so when you try to get rid of the vestiges of hot glue.  Still, it's not a risky venture.  Even venting the felt behind the driver is low risk if you use a ballpoint pen, since the body of the pen prevents the point from going in too deep.
 
The only real risks come from either removing the drivers or from desoldering and re-soldering the wires.  Handling the drivers is not for the faint of heart.  Sloppy soldering can damage the pads, or their connection to the voice coil.  Even if few feel like handling the driver, most Headfiers could probably manage to de-solder and re-solder their wires (to enable upgrades to the cable or shells).  Most mods are safe, even if most would hesitate to remove the drivers from their plastic cups.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

FYI, The mini3 does nothing for warming the 325is but does improve the soundstage and seperation.
 

I agree.

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

I also disagree with the old 'amping does nothing for Grados' BS - its like a lot of the 'accepted wisdom' here. My only warning to would-be modders is to be extremely careful - the 325s are a little too expensive to be inadvertently trashed. Spend time experimenting with pads before you go anywhere near mods which involve possible damage to your cans.

lol

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Quote:

I also disagree with the old 'amping does nothing for Grados' BS - its like a lot of the 'accepted wisdom' here. My only warning to would-be modders is to be extremely careful - the 325s are a little too expensive to be inadvertently trashed. Spend time experimenting with pads before you go anywhere near mods which involve possible damage to your cans.

lol

 
In that vein, the smaller pads give you more bass (though they restrict the soundstage and mute the HF); the larger pads give you more soundstage and better HF, but tax the bass more.  With a strong enough amp, people would be surprised at what their Grados could do, especially with larger pads.
 

 

[Kevin Brown]

 I have compared bowls vs the comfies quite a few times on a few different models.  The high frequencies are definitely muted with the comfies (which I personally prefer), but I couldn't really hear any difference in the lows between them.  But this might have to do with how well the bowls and comfies seal with your ears, which could be different because ears are different.