[eclipes]

same with me, i don't experience one bit of harshness with the sr325i. Sounds really comfortable and satisfying.
 
Quote:

 
Could not agree more - all this talk of the 325i being harsh is all source related. Either the recording or the digital decoder.
 
Last piece of the puzzle for me today proved this without doubt upgrading from a decent soundcard to a dedicated DAC.
 
Not even the slightest amount of harshness across the range even with difficult recordings.
 

 

 

[SemiAudiophile]

SR325i has one of the best, if not the very best treble in the Grado lineup, imo. If you think it is harsh, try let it burn in for a while or try with different source/amp. It could be that you are sensitive to treble and that's fine too. The only other Grado related headphone that has even better treble detail is the Magnum modification. SR325i has reference quality drivers. I found that getting them woodied and adding a pair of flats make them sound even better and even preferable over my old RS1i's. That's what I've recently done with my leftover 325i drivers from the Magnum mod.
 
If you want to upgrade your SR325i and don't want to spend $ on Magnum upgrade, I highly recommend doing the woody mod, you get great soundstage and imaging, while capturing the rich tone and body of RS1 with great detail. You can optionally also add blutak on back of the driver to add even more body (more bass and mid emphasis; less treble). I prefer it without the blutak though because you don't get that midbass hump and I prefer the treble detail.

 

[eclipes]

wow really... I am always curious if i could do anything more to upgrade my sr325i, didnt know the wood will help. Are you referring to a DIY wood mod or like some custom wood jacket. Let me know more details and other things that I can do.
 
Quote:

SR325i has one of the best, if not the very best treble in the Grado lineup, imo. If you think it is harsh, try let it burn in for a while or try with different source/amp. It could be that you are sensitive to treble and that's fine too. The only other Grado related headphone that has even better treble detail is the Magnum modification. SR325i has reference quality drivers. I found that getting them woodied and adding a pair of flats make them sound even better and even preferable over my old RS1i's. That's what I've recently done with my leftover 325i drivers from the Magnum mod.
 
If you want to upgrade your SR325i and don't want to spend $ on Magnum upgrade, I highly recommend doing the woody mod, you get great soundstage and imaging, while capturing the rich tone and body of RS1 with great detail. You can optionally also add blutak on back of the driver to add even more body (more bass and mid emphasis; less treble). I prefer it without the blutak though because you don't get that midbass hump and I prefer the treble detail.

 

 

[xaval]

My next move is a woodied SR325i - I'm still a few weeks of posting some pics and feedback.

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

wow really... I am always curious if i could do anything more to upgrade my sr325i, didnt know the wood will help. Are you referring to a DIY wood mod or like some custom wood jacket. Let me know more details and other things that I can do.
 


 

Martin Custom Audio.
MartinCustomAudio.Blogspot.com
 
The guy is a class A guy to work with. He does recables, woodies, dynamat, sleeves, even hardware which is unheard of! His work essentially dominates a good amount of the SR-60 mod thread, and I've heard nothing but good things. As a gradophile, this is one of the most refreshing things to come to the scene in a long time.
 
The reasonable upgrade path is actually to stick to the stock SR325 cups, have Martin install the "Magnum" drivers in these. I think the drivers would make a huge difference as well. I think you can sell off your old drivers for cash too.
 
Chris

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Quote:

Martin Custom Audio.
MartinCustomAudio.Blogspot.com
 
The guy is a class A guy to work with. He does recables, woodies, dynamat, sleeves, even hardware which is unheard of! His work essentially dominates a good amount of the SR-60 mod thread, and I've heard nothing but good things. As a gradophile, this is one of the most refreshing things to come to the scene in a long time.
 
The reasonable upgrade path is actually to stick to the stock SR325 cups, have Martin install the "Magnum" drivers in these. I think the drivers would make a huge difference as well. I think you can sell off your old drivers for cash too.
 
Chris

 
Yup, I believe that's where my wood cups came from. I'll post a pic later.
 
That's also a interesting alternative. Using stock 325 cups then adding a wooden housing into them with Magnum drivers or stock drivers. Kinda like HF-2. I think you should try it.
 
The drivers stick in using sticky felt like material, which is a brilliant idea! Makes it super easy to interchange drivers.
 

 

[eclipes]

just checked out martin custom audio's work, definitely A class stuff. Looks really good but a full wood jacket would cost around 200 dollars. Do you guys think it would be logical to sell the sr325i and maybe get the HF2 or the new PS500. Wow grado fever haha

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Here's the pics of my restored SR325i's: 
 

 

 
Borrowed the headband from my HF2 (waiting on my other to arrive), gonna slap on a extra Jmoney band on it later. The wood work is very good and is suppose to be a RS1 replica I think made out of mahagony, but these seem to be closer to RS2 cups in dimension I think. As I said earlier, the sticky felt makes it really convenient to change out the drivers. Good stuff. 
 
Quote:

just checked out martin custom audio's work, definitely A class stuff. Looks really good but a full wood jacket would cost around 200 dollars. Do you guys think it would be logical to sell the sr325i and maybe get the HF2 or the new PS500. Wow grado fever haha

 
imo, this modified SR325i sounds better than HF2 and even my previously owned RS1i. It's ironically one of the best Grado's I've ever heard. 
 
I would skip the wood jacket unless you really like the look and just either get wood inserts or full wood cups to use for your SR325i. Then try different wiring on them copper/silver, etc. 

 

[Gwarmi]

@ SemiAudiophile
 
Gets my vote for most beautiful, purposeful looking 325 to date in my book.

 

[eclipes]

@ semiaudiophile
 
Holy smokes, they look sexy. So you only got the wood cups from martincustomaudiom, what else did you get?
Quote:

Here's the pics of my restored SR325i's: 
 

 

 
Borrowed the headband from my HF2 (waiting on my other to arrive), gonna slap on a extra Jmoney band on it later. The wood work is very good and is suppose to be a RS1 replica I think made out of mahagony, but these seem to be closer to RS2 cups in dimension I think. As I said earlier, the sticky felt makes it really convenient to change out the drivers. Good stuff. 
 
Quote:

just checked out martin custom audio's work, definitely A class stuff. Looks really good but a full wood jacket would cost around 200 dollars. Do you guys think it would be logical to sell the sr325i and maybe get the HF2 or the new PS500. Wow grado fever haha

 
imo, this modified SR325i sounds better than HF2 and even my previously owned RS1i. It's ironically one of the best Grado's I've ever heard. 
 
I would skip the wood jacket unless you really like the look and just either get wood inserts or full wood cups to use for your SR325i. Then try different wiring on them copper/silver, etc. 

 

 

[SemiAudiophile]

I actually bought the cups from markkr, which he got from martincustomaudio. I believe martin makes them for about $90 for the pair. That was it. Borrowed headband from my HF-2 and used my leftover SR325i drivers, cable, button, added flats. 

 

[doghouse]

I'm almost ready to take the grado plunge. I've always been intrigued by how everyone talks about the low to mid guitar 'punch' you get with certain models. Do the 225i's deliver more of this forward 'punch' then the sr80i's? I'm looking for that sweet spot in cost versus diminished returns. I already have a little ra1 cmoy for driving and work, and I cant wait to annoy my cube neighbors : )

 

[koolkat]

How much would the wood cups be if you asked him to install it for you?
I might get the wood cups in the future, I promised myself I won't be spending on audio till February (lol).
 
Quote:

I actually bought the cups from markkr, which he got from martincustomaudio. I believe martin makes them for about $90 for the pair. That was it. Borrowed headband from my HF-2 and used my leftover SR325i drivers, cable, button, added flats. 

 

 

[SemiAudiophile]

I haven't dealt with Martin directly so wouldn't know, I would shoot him a PM or email for more info.

 

[eclipes]

I actually asked marty for a quote to do my sr325i, it was around 160 excluding shipping. So under 200$. Still thinking if i should do it.
 
Quote:

How much would the wood cups be if you asked him to install it for you?
I might get the wood cups in the future, I promised myself I won't be spending on audio till February (lol).