[scytheavatar]

I am just curious. Which headphone out there has the potential to show the most drastic improvements after the various mods, be it cable, earpad, etc?

 

[Shakey27]

probably grados

 

[Shakey27]

here ya go...

The Collected Grado Headphone Mods

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Oh, well I didn't know this was going to be for mods based on the thread title. If you didn't say what you said in the post, I would say the Sennheiser HD-650's... they are the only headphones I know that cost $300, and people drive them with $1k+ amps, $400+ interconnects, $300+ cables, and who knows how much they spend on various sources...

 

[nor_spoon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnknownSouljer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, well I didn't know this was going to be for mods based on the thread title. If you didn't say what you said in the post, I would say the Sennheiser HD-650's... they are the only headphones I know that cost $300, and people drive them with $1k+ amps, $400+ interconnects, $300+ cables, and who knows how much they spend on various sources...

People have reported that the HD650's scales almost endlessly with better equipment.

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nor_spoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif People have reported that the HD650's scales almost endlessly with better equipment.

It's true. When you take into account the cable possibilities and ease of switching, as well as balanced operation, it's got the most possible iterations and best scalability.

 

[M0T0XGUY]

In terms of the number of available mods, I think Denon's D series and all Grado's are about tied; with Denon winning extra points for ease of deconstruction, and Grado for the ability to quickly change earpads. Personally, I've never been able to try a MarkL modded D5000, but if the claims are indeed true, then these phones improve to the point of rivaling high-end items like the Sony R-10. Grado pad mods are more immediate, but lack overall refinement: switching pads is a sonic compromise, as no one pad can provide all the benefits of others.

Of course, no headphone scales better than the Sennheiser HD-650's. I'm no cable advocate, but it's interesting that these Sennheiser's seem boundless with regards to their upgrade potential; the more money you put into your source and amp, the better they'll sound. It's questionable to call source and amp upgrades "mods" however, and as of now, there are only a few things you can do to the HD650's themselves.

Hope that helped,
Nick

 

[TheDeliveryMan]

the HD580/HD600/HD650 were all famous for tweaks n' mods. the HD580 project is very popular here (put HD600 grills on it + the HD650 cable)...there are some ROCKIN pictures of DIY projects. One gent, I don't remember who, gave his HD580 grills a wonderful paint job.

 

[M0T0XGUY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDeliveryMan /img/forum/go_quote.gif the HD580/HD600/HD650 were all famous for tweaks n' mods. the HD580 project is very popular here (put HD600 grills on it + the HD650 cable)...there are some ROCKIN pictures of DIY projects. One gent, I don't remember who, gave his HD580 grills a wonderful paint job.

True, but at best these mods make the HD-580's sound identical to HD-600's - it's difficult to tweak the HD series further without delving into cable "upgrades." Not that the HD-580's or 600's are incapable, but if the ability to mod one's headphones is a big priority, I think there are some better choices.

 

[tfarney]

The earbuds you turn into electrostatics?

Tim

 

[Deftoned]

Seems like the dudes over at the orthodynamic thread is making quite big changes in sound of their various orthos with different mods.