[Tasty]

I've got a set of HF-1s that I (at least for a moment) considered sending to Larry down at Headphile.com to get recabled, and perhaps have the stock pads changed to those comfy looking C-pads as the cans were somewhat lacking to me...

... but honestly, I can't help but think it's ludicrously pricey to do so. Doesn't help that I can't get a recable on it's own as Larry is not offering to do so at this point. Even if I went with bare minimal options and the cheapest wood available, sending my HF-1s on this little excursion would set me back a good USD350+, including the C-pads and shipping.

I realise that woody-ing your cans and getting a recable are possibly more for the wealthier enthusiast, but even so, is that amount of money spent really justifiable at least in terms of audible improvements? I suppose USD119 doesn't sound particularly cheap for a pair of headphone pads either!

I'm sure there have been many HF-1s which have left Larry's hands and been tricked up with all the options - I was hoping that some of these owners could shed some light on why they did it and whether they felt that, outside the aesthetic changes, the audible improvements justified the price to any extent.

PS: Damn those black ebony woodies are sexy... but at USD350 a pop...

 

[grawk]

I will say this:

I have compared my hhf1s head to head with PS1s and RS1s, and I think they're worth every penny. The only grados I still own are my woodied hf1s.

 

[Tasty]

I see... may I know which woodies you got? I understand that the wood may affect the sound in different ways.

I suppose I'm wondering whether it's worth the buck to upgrade these cans rather than invest that money in another new set of cans altogether. Opinions anyone?

[EDIT] Bit of sleuthing on the forum gave me a fine picture of your HHF1s... beautiful stuff there. I'm getting closer and closer to clicking that 'add to cart' button.

 

[Elephas]

I have a stock HF-1 and a Headphile HF-1. I think the HHF-1 sounds much better than the HF-1, and consider the modifications worth the cost based on sound quality alone.

The HHF-1 is less detailed than the RS-1, but it is extremely enjoyable in its own way.

 

[jellybones]

Do the different wood choices have different outcomes in terms of how they sound?

 

[Tasty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jellybones /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do the different wood choices have different outcomes in terms of how they sound?

According to Ryan Clarin at 6moons ( http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/h...headphile.html ):

Quote:

Larry offers various types of wood primarily for their cosmetic appeal and to meet personal preferences, however he does not deny that he can hear subtle differences between the various woods in his creations.

I'm not really sure that the price of wood corresponds directly with the quality of the sound improvement though. I'm more leaning towards believing that the quality of wood and aesthetic appeal is the main difference.

 

[grawk]

The price of the wood is related to the cost of the wood to obtain and the difficulty in working it.

 

[en480c4]

If you have access to a lathe and a drill press, going the DIY route and woodying it yourself can be a fun and rewarding project. But you'll also appreciate the amount of time that goes into a pair of cups and suddenly the price doesn't seem out of line at all.

 

[Televator]

unless you really have comfort issues, I would abandon the C-pads idea (it changes sound character quite a bit according to most) and go with a nice wood that pleases you aesthetically as well (DIY if you have the skills and Headphile if you don't)

 

[matt8268]

HHF1 is a nice improvement over the HF1. For me, I already really liked the HF1 sound, so it was worth it to max out that sound. The recable makes the sound closer/cleaner, and the woody-ing (deep wood) increases the soundstage and probably improves the tone. I like it better than the RS-1 personally.

I second to stay away from the C-pads unless you've heard them on the HF-1 and know that's the sound you want (personally, I didn't care for it).

 

[Tasty]

Hmm. I do find the sound of the HF1 agreeable indeed, but the one major gripe I've always had with it is that they aren't very comfortable (at least in comparison to my HD600s). I suppose it's something I'm willing to leave to chance at this point.

It seems that everyone does actually find Larry's services to be well worth the buck! It'd be really nice to DIY I suppose, but I'm terrible with my hands and I would much rather ensure that the job's well done the first time round. Bleh... looks like this $250 dollar pair of cans is going to become a $700+ pair very soon...

Heh with all that money spent on tricking up the HF1s, people here could actually have pumped in just a little more for a GS1000...

 

[LawnGnome]

I have a hard time believing that all of the headphiled phones sound better.

I mean some of the designs don't make much sense acoustically. I would actually bet that some headphiled phones sound worse than their stock counterparts.

Even Larry has said that most of the sound difference is from the recable.

Save yourself 300$ and recable it yourself.

As there definitely seems to be a reason why you HAVE to get it recabled when you get it woodied.

 

[grawk]

I'd be willing to state without reservation that on the hf1s, the wood cups make more of a difference than the cable.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd be willing to state without reservation that on the hf1s, the wood cups make more of a difference than the cable.

how would you be able to tell which mod is making the greater part of the difference.

 

[grawk]

because cable differences are subtle.