I'm listening to them.
I've finished my strain reliefs for it, and I'm going to repair my HP1 and be back at A/Bing with my HP2i. I want to be clear whether I think it's an improvement or a side-step.
I'm fairly certain it's not a step backward though!
I need to account for the fact my HP1's headband has been bent to a previous owner's head and used badly, which made it considerably looser. It alters the sound balance when compared to a more rigid NOS pair headband.
Good news are that the improved flats do not get squished as much as the TTVJ, so the more pressure, the less comfortable, but the more intense the bass becomes and fuller the sound which I like (and highs remain present throughout). If you press against your head your two HP 1000 cups (with TTVJ flats on) the sound will become muddy and highs rolled off, but this effect, unless you press ungodly hard, doesn't happen with the upgraded flats. (which pads by the way I still love and recommend to everyone and for any Grados)
Photos:
Soldering job
(it held seemingly tight when I was handling the drivers)
Under the sheath of the ultra-wide bandwidth cable
He forgot my strain reliefs
Instead of using one tie-wrap and glue I used two tie-wraps. Make sure that the cubic head of the tie-wrap is facing the drivers (and not the metal grids); because of the design of the HP 1000 (the only Grado like that) the cable exits the cup just before the metal grid starts, they almost touch one another, and it's why there is not even a millimeter in between for the thick part of the tie-wrap.
I was looking for traces of a prying tool as a proof that he accessed and doped the diaphragm. This is what the driver looked like all around:
(these circles: theoretically a new set of 6 circles is created each time the driver is secured in; judging by this photo, this driver was inserted into a HP 1000 only twice -- I say "theoretically" because the driver can be held with only three screws tightened out of the six available, so this photo doesn't tell us anything anymore)
The infamous "black goo":
It's more like a cement, it's hard and rough to the touch; a bit like paint/gouache. There was nothing else in my cups, I hallucinated the supplementary oil / grease; I will put it in my first post.
A small bit fell off (not that I was trying to remove any really...)
I want to ask you guys if you can confirm me if Joe cleans the inner walls of the cups before doing the upgrade? (the stock HP 1000 comes with dark brown 'acoustic' grease lining inside the cups) Because I had cleaned mine before sending it to Joe... it was an error as it changed sound (made it brighter) and is part of the reason why I initially sent them (so that he hits two birds with one stone, repairs my mistake and do the upgrade).
I remember reading Joe was "cleaning the HP 1000s" he received for an upgrade... it make sense as it is a often a required step to make things adhere together, in this case the metal of the cups and the black cement / goo... / gouache.
Stock HP2: