[ThurstonX]

Made a couple grills for the HE-500 using two different sized meshes, both from those envelope holders (larger one new from Wlamart; smaller from my closet
 
The grills in these shots are the smaller ones.  The mesh of the others is the same size as the black pen/pencil holder jerg posted in the first post.  Both sport two coats of Krylon X-O Rust Professional Fiesta Red 

 
You can see the felt mod through the grills, esp. in the shots where I used the flash.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

[Zoom25]

Anyone try this out with their LCD-2/LCD-3 yet?

 

[ComradeDylie]

Nice work thurston!
 
I was doing some further grill modifications the other day and I broke one of the stupid prongs off the retainer ring.  I had been being extremely careful and I guess I just got too comfortable and complacent and snapped one.  What in the H do I do now?  I tried contacting head-direct and they said no.  Thats pretty much what the advice on here was to do, so does anyone actually know how to get another one of these guys?

 

[jerg]

  Nice work thurston!
 
I was doing some further grill modifications the other day and I broke one of the stupid prongs off the retainer ring.  I had been being extremely careful and I guess I just got too comfortable and complacent and snapped one.  What in the H do I do now?  I tried contacting head-direct and they said no.  Thats pretty much what the advice on here was to do, so does anyone actually know how to get another one of these guys?

Just PM the head-direct reps here on head-fi (their thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/629253/head-direct-hifiman-customer-service-team).
 
I think you can get a pair of those rings for like $10 or $15 from them.

 

[Proglover14]

Very cool experiment! I need to try something like this with my he400s myself. 

 

[Proglover14]

  Made a couple grills for the HE-500 using two different sized meshes, both from those envelope holders (larger one new from Wlamart; smaller from my closet
 
The grills in these shots are the smaller ones.  The mesh of the others is the same size as the black pen/pencil holder jerg posted in the first post.  Both sport two coats of Krylon Fiesta Red 

 
You can see the felt mod through the grills, esp. in the shots where I used the flash.
 
 
 

 

 

 

Very nice! Those look so much more transparent than the original. I wish I could give em a listen!

 

[ThurstonX]

  Very nice! Those look so much more transparent than the original. I wish I could give em a listen!

 
They're really easy to make.  Just go to Walmart or an office supply store or any place that would carry the mesh letter holders.  Here are some examples of ones that might work:
 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/TRAY-MESH-LEGAL-BK/32559444
 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/TRAY-LEGAL-MESH-BK/32545541
 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/TRAY-LETTER-SINGLE-BK/32509097
 
Didn't see the one I used, but you get the idea.  Maybe the Dollar Store or similar would have them.  I bought one with flat surfaces, as they're easier to work with.  I paid less than $2.50 and got two grills out of it (a bit tight on the short piece of mesh.  I already have tin snips, and they made short work of the mesh.  The spray paint was the most expensive thing, even more than the fabric I used for the dust shields.  The size of the mesh can vary.  The newer one I got at Walmart is a larger mesh than the one I found in my closet (the one pictured above), even though the letter holder/organizer design was the same.
 
Another thing I might have done is to remove the black paint from the mesh before spray painting.  Still, after two coats I'm happy with the result.
 
Definitely an inexpensive, fun project that will help open up the HE-500s.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Do all Hifiman planar magnetics benefit from the grill mod? Do the HE400 benefit the most vs other models with the most different driver layout?

 

[MrMateoHead]

I am a little confused about this mod.
 
Has anyone tried negating a grill entirely, and just reinstalling mesh for the sake of dust protection? It should be the grill, not the mesh, that makes the biggest impact right? I am getting more curious about trying this mod, but I am not clear on which fabrics should be the most acoustically neutral and so on.

 

[goropeza]

Just decided to do this mod this afternoon and was completed in about an hour and a half. Im all thumbs but this mod is so simple i thought i would try it, especially since its completely reversable. Im gonna hold off on impressions but there is certainly an improvement in soundstage. I actually ended up accidentally touching the driver with one of the new metal grills briefly. It doesnt sound like anything is wrong so i think i got away with it. Just for future reference, I wanted to ask just how sensitive these drivers are, and can they be damaged from a hiccup like that?

@Mrmateohead: Honestly, if anything I think it would be the mesh that would impair the sound more. The whole purpose is to allow more air into the driver right? Something i did as part of a test to judge the benefits of this mod was to blow through each grill while holding my finger to the other sode to see which allowed more air to pass. As it turned out, the dust cover on the stock grills were the biggest obstacle to airflow.

 

[jerg]

Just decided to do this mod this afternoon and was completed in about an hour and a half. Im all thumbs but this mod is so simple i thought i would try it, especially since its completely reversable. Im gonna hold off on impressions but there is certainly an improvement in soundstage. I actually ended up accidentally touching the driver with one of the new metal grills briefly. It doesnt sound like anything is wrong so i think i got away with it. Just for future reference, I wanted to ask just how sensitive these drivers are, and can they be damaged from a hiccup like that?

@Mrmateohead: Honestly, if anything I think it would be the mesh that would impair the sound more. The whole purpose is to allow more air into the driver right? Something i did as part of a test to judge the benefits of this mod was to blow through each grill while holding my finger to the other sode to see which allowed more air to pass. As it turned out, the dust cover on the stock grills were the biggest obstacle to airflow.

Did you touch the driver membrane (which is fragile) or the driver magnet array (which is...steel and magnets...yep)? I'm gonna assume you just had the grill touch the array.

 

[goropeza]

Well my grills magnetized to em so im guessing the driver magnet array? I never knew those magnets were so strong...it took me by surprise.

 

[ThurstonX]

  I am a little confused about this mod.
 
Has anyone tried negating a grill entirely, and just reinstalling mesh for the sake of dust protection? It should be the grill, not the mesh, that makes the biggest impact right? I am getting more curious about trying this mod, but I am not clear on which fabrics should be the most acoustically neutral and so on.

 
Definitely.  I was reading about HE-500 mods in an older thread today.  There are pix and everything, but a caveat about reduced protection.  I'll try to find that thread and post the link, if you can't find it.  Search for "HE-500 mods".

 

[ThurstonX]

Just decided to do this mod this afternoon and was completed in about an hour and a half. Im all thumbs but this mod is so simple i thought i would try it, especially since its completely reversable. Im gonna hold off on impressions but there is certainly an improvement in soundstage. I actually ended up accidentally touching the driver with one of the new metal grills briefly. It doesnt sound like anything is wrong so i think i got away with it. Just for future reference, I wanted to ask just how sensitive these drivers are, and can they be damaged from a hiccup like that?

@Mrmateohead: Honestly, if anything I think it would be the mesh that would impair the sound more. The whole purpose is to allow more air into the driver right? Something i did as part of a test to judge the benefits of this mod was to blow through each grill while holding my finger to the other sode to see which allowed more air to pass. As it turned out, the dust cover on the stock grills were the biggest obstacle to airflow.

 
EXCELLENT choice of color 

  Next up, try the felt mod.  As well as having some benefits, it'll look good from the outside... unless you prefer the silver showing through.
 
Nice work.

 

[jerg]

Well my grills magnetized to em so im guessing the driver magnet array? I never knew those magnets were so strong...it took me by surprise.

Well they are a bunch of neodymium magnets held by a rigid steel array in very close proximity to each-other.