[LawnGnome]

Larry himself has said the cable makes more of a difference than the wood.

But you have not answered the question at all.

And unless you have heard a headphiled HF-1 with the stock cable, you can not say the wood is making the most difference.

There is a reason why you MUST get a cable upgrade with the woody, and that you can't just get one.

Because if that were so, people would find out the wood is probably making much less of a sonic impact that people think. And then people wouldn't be dishing out the hundreds of dollars to get it headphiled.

They would just DIY a quality cable upgrade.

 

[Zorander]

Well... some people woody their phones for aesthetic purposes, not so much for the sonics. I know I'm one of them. I don't need the woods to 'beautify' the sound, as long as they beautify the phones. With that in mind, I think what Larry charges for these beautiful woodies is quite reasonable.

Cheers!

 

[grawk]

Everyone is welcome to have their own opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LawnGnome /img/forum/go_quote.gif Larry himself has said the cable makes more of a difference than the wood. But you have not answered the question at all. And unless you have heard a headphiled HF-1 with the stock cable, you can not say the wood is making the most difference. There is a reason why you MUST get a cable upgrade with the woody, and that you can't just get one. Because if that were so, people would find out the wood is probably making much less of a sonic impact that people think. And then people wouldn't be dishing out the hundreds of dollars to get it headphiled. They would just DIY a quality cable upgrade.

 

[en480c4]

From the thread discussing material used in Grados:
Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif While I can't point to material or chamber size as being the difference, I can say that there were definitely differences between HF-1s with the stock plastic outer cup and the wood cups I turned. I woodied my pair and made a pair of cups for a friend as a gift. Before installing his cups, we both sat down and did back-to-back listening to my modded pair (#10) and his stock pair (#8), and while no double-blind procedures were used, I can say we both heard a difference and neither of us thought it was subtle. Unfortunatley the wood cups I made had a chamber that was considerably deeper than the stock plastic cups, so I can't say how much of the improvement was due to the additional mahogany and how much was due to the increase in chamber size. And my experience with woodying my 125s and 325s leads me to believe that the use of wood instead of plastic or metal does have at least some effect on the sound, though I did increase the chamber size on both of those Grados as well.

I do plan on recabling mine as well, but the above test was done one near-identical HF-1s with similar hours and that were only a few serial numbers apart. The only variable other than the cup material used was chamber size.

 

[tbonner1]

RS-1's hold resale value well.

If Grado offers another HF-1, who knows what the price will be.

 

[braillediver]

"hhf1s head to head with PS1s and RS1s"

Thanks for the laugh man.

Sell the HF-1's and just buy the RS-1's. Some other .... can spend the money if they so chose.


Mitch

 

[grawk]

RS1s regularly sell for $400-450, with a retail of $700 US and $1400 in Europe.

HF1s regularly sell for $300-350 with a retail price that was $200 when they were new.

Grado won't be re-releasing the HF1s.

As to the laughability about comparing HF1s to RS1s and PS1s, as above, everyone is welcome to their opinion. Mine is: the HF1 is CLEARLY better than the RS1, and is comparable to the PS1. I've owned all 3, had modified versions of hte hf1s and ps1s, and I'll take my woodied hf1s over any of the 3. I did, in fact, do just that.

 

[en480c4]

All I know is that if an RS-1 or PS-1 were the first Grados I heard, I never would've bothered to try another. The RS-1 was harsh to my ears, and the PS-1 was too bass-heavy. I'd take my now-departed woodied (non-i) silver 325 to either the PS-1 or the RS-1. The closest I've heard to the mids of the HF-1 was the RS-2, but even it lacked the HF-1s warmth.

To the OP, if you like the HF-1 and want to improve on what you like about it, I'd say go for the mods. Odds are good you'll end up with a headphone that you'll love. However, I too can't endorse C-pads, as they sucked all the life out of the Grados I've heard with them, including the HF-1. And if you're looking for major changes to the sound, another model might be for you.

 

[lmilhan]

I have owned many models of Grado phones over the years, including a Zebrawood HHF-1 and RS-1, PS-1, GS-1000, SR-225, MS-2i, SR-80, etc...

My opinions are as follows:

If I had it to do all over again, I would spend the money on a pair of RS-1s instead of the HHF-1s.

Now don't get me wrong, the work that Headphile does is amazing, and the phones are beautiful. Larry is an artist, and I do believe the prices are justified. I just prefer the way the RS-1s sound to the HHF-1s, and I think the RS-1s are a much better monetary investment. In the end the HHF-1s went and the RS-1s stayed.

The HHF-1s aren't even close to the PS-1s, at least to my ears.

The C-Pads should be avoided at all costs, I absolutely did not like what they did to the sound signature of my beloved RS-1s and PS-1s. I firmly believe that a huge part of the Grado magic lies within the fact that they are supra-aural phones. When you turn them into circum-aural phones, the Grado magic goes right out the window. As such, it didn't take me long to sell the C-Pads. On a more positive note, the C-Pads were indeed comfy as heck!

 

[Tasty]

I wish I could contribute a bit more to the whole PS/RS debate but I'm unfortunately almost completely unlearned in the world of Grado cans... all I can say is that the HF1s are pretty decent to me, and it would indeed be nice to have them modded if not for the sonic improvements, for the aesthetic appeal. Thanks to all the contributors for your views - they have been highly enlightening. I suppose in the end to each is own, eh?

en480c4: thanks very much for your advice. It appears that there's overwhelming response that the C-pads aren't hardly advisable at least for the HF1s. Unfortunately I honestly can't find much comfort with the bowl pads of the HF1. In fact, I think I might actually spend more time with them if they were more comfortable even if there was a degradation in sound quality to some extent.

In any case, I'm still kinda in limbo at this point although I'm leaning closer and closer to that 'Proceed to Checkout' button

[Edit] Dang, that's another "nay" to the C-pads...

 

[grawk]

Wash your bowls in warm water and soap. They'll soften up and get more comfortable, and sound better, taboot.

 

[Rav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wash your bowls in warm water and soap. They'll soften up and get more comfortable, and sound better, taboot.

And also pad out the headband, to me the single biggest comfort mod you can do to a grado (but then i like the bowls new and firm, so YMWV).

 

[mjg]

I guess i can approach this question. I've had my modded hf1's and rs1's side by side for a good long while now. Just recently though my rs1's were recabled themselves, but still breaking in..

Anyway, stock for stock, rs1 blows away the hf1's. With the hf1's modded, they do sound very much improved, and most people including larry say it's mostly a result of the cable and less the wood. The wood choice is actually mostly cosmetic. If anyone claims otherwise, beyond a deeper cup wood depth, that's mostly speculation. If you were looking for a recable job alone, you could look elsewhere beyond headphile. Perhaps ask drew from moon audio if he is up for it.

Anyway, to compare the hh1's to the rs1's. I'd still prefer a stock rs1 pair. They are more detailed, and have a much sweeter midrange. The hhf1's with bowl pads do have more quantity of bass then the rs1's, but the midrange after the mod isn't quite the same, and the highend is a bit more extended. The sound is refined a bit, but after the mods it does sort of loose the warmer sound they had stock. They do have a more extended sound stage then the stock rs1 and you can really hear it with a good amp. In all of the other categories though, i'd take rs1's. They are more detailed, have the great grado wood midrange (that the hhf1's dont) and have less exageraated bloated bass that the hhf1's do have.

I do like the hhf1's alot, but spending 300 dollars or more on them won't ever make them an rs1, ps1, gs1000. They do sound good, though different. The wood choices make them look cooler def, and they are a fun can to kick around with, but they just aren't in the same class.

Just a side note though, You can recable most grados and get good results. Side by side a few years back i had my hhf1's and the ms2i's (recabled with the black silver cable). They both compared well, but I sold the ms2i off because the hhf1's were rarer. If I had to, I wouldn't mind owning a recabled ms2i again because they were great, and much easier to obtain obviously. Larry would also have no problem recabling those without doing the woody if you wanted to go that route.


Anyway, soon I should have impressions of my silver dragon rs1's, which are still breaking in. Already though I can say the hhf1's can't touch them after 60 hours of burn in.

 

[lmilhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tasty /img/forum/go_quote.gif I suppose in the end to each is own, eh?

Bingo!

You now officially 'get it'; the very essence of what makes Head-Fi what it is.

The only opinion that matters is your own. Regardless of how many people say that they don't like C-Pads (or any other headphone/piece of Hi-Fi gear) doesn't necessarily mean that YOU will not like them!

 

[Tasty]

mjg: great stuff. Thanks. I won't deny that having the HF1s modded is partly to have a bloody good looking pair of cans which sound good to boot. Larry's woodwork simply looks outstanding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bingo! You now officially 'get it'; the very essence of what makes Head-Fi what it is. The only opinion that matters is your own. Regardless of how many people say that they don't like C-Pads (or any other headphone/piece of Hi-Fi gear) doesn't necessarily mean that YOU will not like them!

Yeah true... but for $119 a pair, there're obvious reasons why anyone would pause a moment especially since they're not something I've actually heard myself. I'm thinking I may just try to make the bowls more comfortable by the various means suggested on the board (washing, fabric softener etc) for now. lmilhan made a great point that the point of a Grado is after all that it is supra aural. I might have implicitly just been trying to transform my Grados into a Beyer!