[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally posted by kwkarth That's what I was afraid of.... From what I recall, the RS-1s didn't have the midrange of the original series of cans from Grado.

Which was all the excuse kwkarth needed to rush out and buy his first set of HP-1000s...

EDIT - Sorry I spent too much time in the one line story thread...

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by gpalmer Which was all the excuse kwkarth needed to rush out and buy his first set of HP-1000s...

Man! I shoulda bought them the first time I couldn't afford them!

I only had a half dozen cans then.

BTW, that's them in my current avatar picture.

 

[fewtch]

kw,

I recently ordered a pair of Grado SR-225. Not sure if these are similar enough to the SR-200 to apply, but care to share any of those tips Joe gave you (aside from the one about the bowl pads)? Just curious...

TIA...

P.S... thanks. Was it just me, or did you edit my post to share the tips? Either I just hallucinated it, or that was really interesting way of replying...

 

[daycart1]

kwkarth, it is interesting that you first "accomodated" yourself to the Grados for a couple of days. I've found that when I put on my Grado 325 after the Senn 600 they sound too bright and thin, but then I accomodate and they sound great. Then when I put the Senns back on, they sound veiled.

But then I reaccomodate to the Senns, etc.. Others have posted they they noticed the same phenomenon.

I wonder: how did your modded Grados sound BEFORE you accomodated yourself to them?

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by daycart1 kwkarth, it is interesting that you first "accomodated" yourself to the Grados for a couple of days. I've found that when I put on my Grado 325 after the Senn 600 they sound too bright and thin, but then I accomodate and they sound great. Then when I put the Senns back on, they sound veiled. But then I reaccomodate to the Senns, etc.. Others have posted they they noticed the same phenomenon. I wonder: how did your modded Grados sound BEFORE you accomodated yourself to them?

Excellent question. Nothing in particular stood out when I first put them on. I first noticed not as much bass as the HD-600s, but better bass than the K-1000s. I was surprised by how deep and yet uncolored the bass was. Then I remember being pleasantly surprised by how much high end detail there was because as I recalled, they did not have that much detail, but that was with the Creek OBH-11SE, before I got the Max. Then I plugged them into my Porta-Corda and went downstairs to roast some coffee beans. I listened to the same CDs on the portable rig as I was listening to through the Max, and while the sound was harder, flatter, grainier, and the soundstage much less 3-dimentional, they were not at all unpleasant to listen to.

When I went back upstairs and plugged back in to the Max, things were as I expected them to be. Wife and I drove to the coast Saturday and I picked up a couple new CDs at the beach. Really enjoyed them at home on the Max with the Grado's. I remember being impressed with the bass drums on the Narada World CD, and with the pleasantness of the oboe and paino on the Acoustic Garden CD, the delicateness of the acoustic guitar, etc. Then tonight for grins I plugged the HD-600s back in to hear the depth of those drums on the Narada World CD and yech! the midrange colorations!.. Then I thought, I'm sure the 501s are better, so I plugged them in....yecch! a little better, but not much! Listened to many, many cds and difference is consistent! I kept the 600s on until they stopped sounding so yuchy to me and when I took them off, the sounds of real life were a contrasting relief! Man I can't believe I never noticed these Grados on the Max before!

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by fewtch kw, I recently ordered a pair of Grado SR-225. Not sure if these are similar enough to the SR-200 to apply, but care to share any of those tips Joe gave you (aside from the one about the bowl pads)? Just curious... TIA...

Be happy to.

First, as you can see in the picture, the headband is extended all the way up and a very dense damping foam is attached to the underside of the headband. It's about an inch thick and very dense. It's there mostly to allow for proper positioning of the earphones next to my ears while the posts are extended all the way down. The posts themselves are covered/sandwiched between two more pieces or that very dense foam. It effectively damps the posts which Joe said would help the sound. By having them extended fully it reduces the lateral pressure against my head making the phones so comfortable that you can wear them all day with no problem. The distance between ear and driver is very critical. My original flats are now somewhat compressed from their original thickness. This positions the drivers a little too close to the ears and makes mids/lower mids too heavy (out of balance) Currently, the bowl pads reversed make the right distance between my ears and the drivers for flattest (most accurate) presentation. Those are the big tweeks.

 

[Duncan]

I have a real love / hate relationship with the RS1s...

...but I know what the problem is... its the source... its in chronic need of upgrading... listen to the XE570, and i'm uninterested, yet listen to my broken CD63SE and my ears perk up nicely...

...RS1s I feel are almost like Senns, needing top notch gear to sound great - sure they can be driven out of a portable... but they're probably a lot happier singing out of a much bigger front-end

I wonder if anyone in the UK has SR200s... - Seeing that they are from back in the time before e-commerce, does anyone even know if they were exported from the US?

Thanks

 

[Chinchy]

Quote:

Originally posted by kwkarth Be happy to. First, as you can see in the picture, the headband is extended all the way up and a very dense damping foam is attached to the underside of the headband. It's about an inch thick and very dense. It's there mostly to allow for proper positioning of the earphones next to my ears while the posts are extended all the way down. The posts themselves are covered/sandwiched between two more pieces or that very dense foam.

Interesting. I have a pair of SR100 that I wouldn't mind modding if it will give me glorious sound. So I have a few further questions. What kind of foam did you use, and any idea where I can get it? On my Sr225 I currently am using the Senn 490 headband (the ridged ones in this pic http://headwize2.powerpill.org/images4/grado_mod7.gif ). I have a couple extra, so I could slap it on the SR200. It's not exactly dense foam, more like the spongy kind. Would that work, or no?

 

[bifcake]

Quote:

Originally posted by kwkarth After accomodating to the magical midrange of these SR-200s for a couple days, I can hardly stand to listen to my HD-600/Cardas or my AKG-K501s. The midrange on both of them sucks compared to the Grado. The Grado is so neutral/natural compared to everything else I have, it's hard to go back. Now what do I do?

The answer to your dilemma is very simple: donate your 600/Cardas combo to your favorite charity - ME!!!

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chinchy Interesting. I have a pair of SR100 that I wouldn't mind modding if it will give me glorious sound. So I have a few further questions. What kind of foam did you use, and any idea where I can get it? On my Sr225 I currently am using the Senn 490 headband (the ridged ones in this pic http://headwize2.powerpill.org/images4/grado_mod7.gif ). I have a couple extra, so I could slap it on the SR200. It's not exactly dense foam, more like the spongy kind. Would that work, or no?

The stuff that I used is super dense and designed specifically for vibration damping. I got it so many years ago that I'm not sure it's available any more. It is far more dense than the earpads themselves.

I'll check around and see what I can find out.

 

[Chinchy]

Heh, the first hit on google for "dense foam" was for a dense 1 inch thick insert for a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad. I wonder if something like this would work.. Maybe I can also turn around and sell 2 inch by 5 inch strips for like 50 cents to a dollar..

You think foam like this would work? I'd imagine something built to withstand 100-150+ pounds of weight jumping up and down would be pretty good at vibration damping..

And I wonder if these same mods would work well for the current Grado lineup...

 

[kwkarth]

It may work. Certainly, the "frame" of the x25 series is essentially the same as the x00 series frame so they should benefit from the same mass/resonance damping. The stuff I used is heavy and dense.

 

[kwkarth]

Close up of headband padding.

 

[kwkarth]

Grado stand off damping close up

 

[kwkarth]

Close up of whole enchilada