[sling5s]

It's really bad.  I just purchased this used from a head fi seller.  It was fine for two weeks.  Than a little grattle.  Now it's not even a slight grattle noise, it's like when the whole speaker cone is torn.  It just rattles like crazy.  What do I do?  Should I open it?  And how do you do that? Or ship it to GradoLabs.
 
 

 

[Mercuttio]

Check the back of it, see if there are any small splinters of wood. My Vintage pair had these, and they caused a little Grattle. I managed to take them out with an unfolded paperclip with a little tape on the end, pulling each splinter individually. 
 
If it IS a torn driver, you'll probably have to get service from Grado. Opening up an RS1 is no easy feat.

 

[kite7]

I'm not sure if this will help but wouldn't hurt to try
 
 
Quote: Bilavideo

Suck it.  
Remove the cushion and approach the cup as if it were the mouth of a very pretty woman you would like to resuscitate.  But instead of blowing into her, you're going to gently inhale, sucking with enough pressure to pull the diaphragm up until you hear a light "click."  The click will be your diaphragm popping into shape.

 

 

[sling5s]

I think the driver/diaphragm is creased/wrinkled because slight blowing or sucking causes crackling noise. It can't be just hair.
Actually when i shake it, I can hear something dislodged that is moving.

 

[pcf]

Give Grado Lab a call-718 435 5340. They can check them for you. If anything needs to be done, they will charge you $100 (including the change of drivers if needed).

 

[FearSC549]

Blow very hard from the back of the drivers. Don't blame me if they break. I do this to my SR-80 to stop Grattles. 

 

[pcf]

It sounds like something more serious than normal grattle...

 

[sling5s]

Thanks everyone.  Will be sending it in.  If it's the driver, I'll probably have to change both drivers since they will add the RS1i driver and not an old RS1 driver.
Hope it's just a minor thing.  I guess it was a bad idea trading in my RS1i for a RS1 with another head fi member.  Was looking for the vintage sound. Definitely was not expecting it to go bad this soon. 

 

[Bilavideo]

 

I think the driver/diaphragm is creased/wrinkled because slight blowing or sucking causes crackling noise. It can't be just hair.
Actually when i shake it, I can hear something dislodged that is moving.

That's a good sign.  In fact, it's very good news.
 
First of all, the Mylar is surprisingly tough stuff.  It doesn't rip easily.  It crinkles because it is very thin and has been stamped into a shrimp plate with radial grooves around a circular cone, making it very easy to wrinkle up.  Notwithstanding the ease with which it wrinkles up, the Mylar will not tear unless it is perforated.  The biggest, baddest bass off of a headphone current is not going to punch a hole in the diaphragm, though in some cases it may loosen the glue seal that holds the diaphragm suspended over the voice coil and magnet.
 
A really punchy bit of bass is more likely to dislodge the voice coil, which is one reason Sennheiser and beyerdynamic have moved to doughnut-hole diaphragms, with no cone to break up.  They crow about their "revolutionary technology" but it's worse than Columbus pulling up to some Indian's back yard.  These guys have discovered the ring magnet.  Golf clap, everyone.  (Note: The HD800 and the T1 are very fast, very nice headphones and no disrespect is intended.)
 
If you can hear something rattling around, you must have an object lodged in your headphones.  How did that object get there?  When I mod a headphone, I take off the grill cloth and vent the driver back, making it easier for micro dust and debris to get into the driver area, but also making it fairly easy to blow and shake right out.  If you've got an unmodded driver, with the grill cloth on it and the driver back unvented, there's no reason for there to be anything in there unless it fell in during the manufacturing process.  As the drivers do not come with cloths on them (Grado applies those in the lab), anything that got lodged in must have arrived during the manufacturing process.
 
You can call Grado up and tell them your headphone has either spontaneously produced a foreign object or the doctor's watch ended up in the patient's abdomen some time during surgery.  Grado's service is notoriously blunt (no social graces lost there) but generous.  If you call up and ask why something would be rattling around inside your RS1, Grado will probably tell you to ship it to them right away (Just don't expect a customer-service butt-kissing because it doesn't happen).
 
That's your absolute very best option, apart from the one I'm about to lay on you.
 
In all likelihood, the foreign object is behind the diaphragm.  Shake it and listen.  Use your best deertracker skills to figure out whether the object is just behind the grill cloth (front) or inside the driver (behind the diaphragm).  If it is just behind the grill cloth, you can strip away enough of the grill cloth to give it an exit before gluing things back up.  As I mentioned before, my money is on the object being lodged inside the driver area.  It's not bouncing atop the diaphragm; it's bouncing around inside.
 
The driver has holes, which are covered by felt to produce a semipermeable membrane that arrests standing waves within the shell cavity.  Sennheiser and beyerdynamic use various foam schemes for similar reasons.  If the felt is unvented, there's no reason anything should have fallen into the driver unless it fell in during the manufacturing process.  Again, it raises the sort of question you should bring up in a telephone call to Grado.  Unless Grado Labs can guarantee it has a dust-free environment, it may be to its advantage to get the headphone from you and fix it - hopefully free of charge.
 
If, for any reason, your experience with Grado does not pan out, either because you got them on the wrong day or because you're not the original owner, there are folks who can help you fix the problem yourself.  But before you spend time waiting for your headphones to get back from somewhere, trying shaking and blowing.  It's very low tech but it works wonders - and provides very good value for the price.

 

[sling5s]

Thank you Bilavideo.
It was a severe rattle and grattle, to the point where you can't hear the music.  It sounds like a thin film vibrating-without producing sound.
Actually, its started with a slight grattle and its' the blowing and sucking that cause it to just rattle without any sound and kept getting worse.
There was nothing shaking as if something was dislodged, it only happen as result of sucking and blowing.  I really didn't do it that hard but I guess something separated or got lose.
Not like foreign object but an object that is supposed to be attached got detached, if you know what I mean.
 
It's going to be shipped to Grado Monday anyways. Thanks everyone.

 

[kite7]

I wonder if they will try to fix it or replace both drivers with the RS1i drivers. I suggest taking pictures of the drivers before sending.

 

[kite7]

*double post*
 

 

[Mercuttio]

They'll replace both. They wouldn't sound good without a matched pair of drivers.
 
Quote:

I wonder if they will try to fix it or replace both drivers with the RS1i drivers. I suggest taking pictures of the drivers before sending.

 

 

[sling5s]

They'll replace both. They wouldn't sound good without a matched pair of drivers.
 


 

Gradolabs said they will match the driver if needed, but do they mean they will match the exiting good driver or they will replace both so they are matched?
Their email sounded like they will match exiting good side with new driver that matches. I asked them if a new driver is needed to replace both. I told them I don't want mismatched driver but insisted they match them. My question is, how do they get a driver to match the old vintage driver? From what heard, dont they just throw in a new current driver?

 

[kite7]

 
Quote:

Gradolabs said they will match the driver if needed, but do they mean they will match the exiting good driver or they will replace both so they are matched?
Their email sounded like they will match exiting good side with new driver that matches. I asked them if a new driver is needed to replace both. I told them I don't want mismatched driver but insisted they match them. My question is, how do they get a driver to match the old vintage driver? From what heard, dont they just throw in a new current driver?

It's likely they will throw in the new current drivers. I had a RS1 that was repaired by a grado distributor and the new i cable was installed as well as the drivers for the RS1i which looks considerably whiter; I don't know why it went for repairs though. I could easily see that both sides have been opened before.