[cwoo]

I’m thinking of buying one of these off eBay from a seller in the USA, as adorama doesn’t deliver to the uk. Does anywhere sell those grills to do the mid?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265277136476?hash=item3dc3bfde5c:g:OF4AAOSwAppef8Y3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114990134850?hash=item1ac5f23642:g:BvEAAOSweQphIWMY

I bought mine from one of the two sellers above. Can't remember which one though.

 

[bagwell359]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265277136476?hash=item3dc3bfde5c:g:OF4AAOSwAppef8Y3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114990134850?hash=item1ac5f23642:g:BvEAAOSweQphIWMY

I bought mine from one of the two sellers above. Can't remember which one though.

Haven't used those, made 5 of my own. Careful that they don't resonate noticeably when installed and playing, could easily make things worse. BTW, I dumped all of my screens all about 15 months ago on all my round form cans to better results. No resonating, and zero close calls on the drivers.

 

[Shane D]

Haven't used those, made 5 of my own. Careful that they don't resonate noticeably when installed and playing, could easily make things worse. BTW, I dumped all of my screens all about 15 months ago on all my round form cans to better results. No resonating, and zero close calls on the drivers.

So, what do you have in their place?

 

[bagwell359]

So, what do you have in their place?

Nothing. BTW even though that hexagon style looks nice unless you have some nylon (or the correct stuff whose name escapes me) behind them, they don't stop anything from getting in but fingers, and fingers used to remove them don't do anything nasty, you'd need fingernails like FloJo and bad intent to do actual damage.

 

[cwoo]

Haven't used those, made 5 of my own. Careful that they don't resonate noticeably when installed and playing, could easily make things worse. BTW, I dumped all of my screens all about 15 months ago on all my round form cans to better results. No resonating, and zero close calls on the drivers.

Fortunately they do not rattle at all and sit in tightly. I aslo used some spray glue on the back of my screens and attached a layer of black organza to keep transparency but also to block out dust and hairs. Works perfectly.

 

[bagwell359]

Fortunately they do not rattle at all and sit in tightly. I aslo used some spray glue on the back of my screens and attached a layer of black organza to keep transparency but also to block out dust and hairs. Works perfectly.

Yes, organza. Glad it works - did you A B vs no cover? One of my screens could not be told apart from naked. It's got very minimal coverage - 1/2" hardware cloth. Spray painted black it looks OK. But it's attracted to magnets - a problem that plastic or aluminum don't have. Last time I took it off to adjust my amount of dynamat used to control excess bass resonance - and I never put it back.

 

[cwoo]

Yes, organza. Glad it works - did you A B vs no cover? One of my screens could not be told apart from naked. It's got very minimal coverage - 1/2" hardware cloth. Spray painted black it looks OK. But it's attracted to magnets - a problem that plastic or aluminum don't have. Last time I took it off to adjust my amount of dynamat used to control excess bass resonance - and I never put it back.

I did AB the best I could between the original screens, no screens, and the ebay with organza screens. The original screens vs no screens and the ebay screens was night and day. Way less congested. I didn't really notice much of a difference between no screens and the ebay screens with organza. I didn't go back and forth much between completely open and with the ebay screens, but didn't notice much, if anything at all.

 

[Shane D]

Yes, organza. Glad it works - did you A B vs no cover? One of my screens could not be told apart from naked. It's got very minimal coverage - 1/2" hardware cloth. Spray painted black it looks OK. But it's attracted to magnets - a problem that plastic or aluminum don't have. Last time I took it off to adjust my amount of dynamat used to control excess bass resonance - and I never put it back.

Can you post a pic of what you have done?

 

[bagwell359]

I did AB the best I could between the original screens, no screens, and the ebay with organza screens. The original screens vs no screens and the ebay screens was night and day. Way less congested. I didn't really notice much of a difference between no screens and the ebay screens with organza. I didn't go back and forth much between completely open and with the ebay screens, but didn't notice much, if anything at all.

Concur - I was working on a ratio of covered vs uncovered - but since it was obvious less was better than more and my solution was a match for none, I stopped. The message is its worth looking into.

 

[bagwell359]

Can you post a pic of what you have done?

It's in the main HE-500 thread about 2 years back. They are de-mounted now.

 

[cwoo]

Concur - I was working on a ratio of covered vs uncovered - but since it was obvious less was better than more and my solution was a match for none, I stopped. The message is its worth looking into.

I agree, i feel like a middle ground between fully open and with the original screens would be the best. I had contemplated adding more sheets of organza to see if that would find the right balance, but I didn't feel like messing with it too much.

With the ebay screens or with no screens at all, you get a much better airy sound (as I'm sure you know), but you also end up with kind of an odd soundstage. The center image is fairly close and anything that extends outward ends up sounding very wide to the left and the right. You don't really end up with a very holographic and 3D soundstage.

The imaging and timbre is much improved and you lose the congestion of the original screens, and that is good enough for me!

 

[Idiosyncrat]

Holy cow! These things are crazy good. I tried the grill mod from eBay and it definitely sounds more open now. I also changed the headband/strap to the hybrid comfort. These are my favorite cans after really using them for two months. I’ve ignored my LCD-X and Focal Clear for these. I am also powering them with an Emotiva A-100. Makes a huge difference

 

[bagwell359]

I agree, i feel like a middle ground between fully open and with the original screens would be the best. I had contemplated adding more sheets of organza to see if that would find the right balance, but I didn't feel like messing with it too much.

With the ebay screens or with no screens at all, you get a much better airy sound (as I'm sure you know), but you also end up with kind of an odd soundstage. The center image is fairly close and anything that extends outward ends up sounding very wide to the left and the right. You don't really end up with a very holographic and 3D soundstage.

The imaging and timbre is much improved and you lose the congestion of the original screens, and that is good enough for me!

I agree - I found in combo with the Dan Clark Ether Angled Lambskin - the soundstage becomes more speaker like (in this case too far apart so the middle fill isn't much not taller or deeper) giving a regular shortish but wide stage. (Although the opening cut of "Dance of the Night Creatures " by Thurman Green - the horns shockingly pop out over the top of your head). Also those pads have the best overall sound & FR of the > 10 I've tried with the 500 - pretty much true with the HE-6 6 screw as well.

BTW, anything on the Mapleshade (Green's label) label is recorded with care and clarity - rare to find these days.

 

[deafenears]

I agree - I found in combo with the Dan Clark Ether Angled Lambskin - the soundstage becomes more speaker like ...

I'm interested, but on the DCA website, there doesn't appear to be any measurements, in particular depth, so I can compare it with the Dekoni pads. The problem I have is with my ears sometimes touching the drivers.

 

[cwoo]

I agree - I found in combo with the Dan Clark Ether Angled Lambskin - the soundstage becomes more speaker like (in this case too far apart so the middle fill isn't much not taller or deeper) giving a regular shortish but wide stage. (Although the opening cut of "Dance of the Night Creatures " by Thurman Green - the horns shockingly pop out over the top of your head). Also those pads have the best overall sound & FR of the > 10 I've tried with the 500 - pretty much true with the HE-6 6 screw as well.

BTW, anything on the Mapleshade (Green's label) label is recorded with care and clarity - rare to find these days.

That's excellent news. I did try them with the Dekoni fenostrated pads, and while more comfortable, i didn't find much of a change either good or bad. If I decide to change pads, I will definitely consider the ether angled lambskins.

Also, thanks for listing those listening options... I am always looking for more well recorded music to add to my collection. I will definitely give those a listen.