I received my purchased Cabillas Grado cups and Magnum 3.5 drivers yesterday. The cups are iroko wood, but with a different stain applied. The appearance is much better as it takes it from a basic brown to a much better color. I remember refinishing a pair of my iroko cups some time back to a finish like this, too. I should pull my pics and compare. Plus, the Sony 7506 band arrived yesterday and the Senn. 414 pads, too. So, now you're thinking "what's holding him back from finishing these up?" Well, it's the cable. I am building the cable for it at this time. Now, the question remains ... how will these sound compared to my Grado RS1i? Hmmm ... In the past when I'd do Magnum builds, I only had the lower end Grados (SR-325) and below to compare a Magnum to. Also, for the record, I did have a chance to listen to a pair of Allesandro MS-Pro headphones for several days once. I remember at the time, I didn't feel as wowed by them and felt my Magnum at the time was a pretty good performer. But, now, the RS1i that I have really provides great sound - and it seems much better than the MS-Pro that I had heard. I'm wondering if the MS-Pro with the slightly bumped mids and toned down treble might have been what I didn't like as much. However, the RS1i to me, has a much better upper frequency range when compared to some of the other lower Grados as the highs are smoother and tamed a bit, too.
I remember saying on more than one occasion, though, that if a person heard a pair of lower-end Grados but didn't like the piercing highs, then they should listen to a Magnum. I guess time will tell and I'll be able to confirm if I'll still be able to repeat that statement, or if I'll need to revise it in any way.
Pictures of cups / drivers:
Picture of dark brown Anaconda stamped cow hide for potential headband modification: (Actually, when Grado first released the RS1, it had a brown head band and then they changed to black. I believe the same is true for the SR-325 also. The SR-325 "Goldies" that I had (not the "i" or the "is") had the brown band, too.)
Also, I've done leather headbands, while in place on the headphone such as the HifiMan I used to own. Taking your time, spacing your stitching and using a lock stitch with a special needle (leather sewing needle fasted to a popsicle stick with super glue) is what is used for the sewing along with some heavier upholstery thread.
