[symphonic]

I'm back looking for more advice for my T50RP woodie project. I'm rather concerned about weight, but still want to use some wood. My Dad has a bunch of Meranti hardwood. 
 
I'm thinking now of making most of the baffle/cup one piece of wood so the headphone is more like a jar with a lid facing out than facing in. This way the baffle will be more rigid given less ear-side thickness. The walls should add a lot of rigidity. I noticed that Grado woodies are one piece of wood. I'll then have a lid on this baffle/cup combo.
 
I'm dead set on being able to swap out the damping/cup lid quickly and easy for different circumstances. (e.g. for the train).  
 
Is there any reason not to have a one piece baffle/cup?

 

[Armaegis]

Can someone tell me what the max power handling is for the SFI drivers? Just want to know ahead of time before I try hooking them up to speaker taps... 

 

[nick n]

Hope someone can tell you that. I assume you've tested them and they are working fine for you otherwise? Let me know if anything's up.
 
 Also for the woodies decided to take the plunge and go the next drill but size up. Went from 1/8 inch bass port to 9/64 and substantial increase in bass. Wouldn't want any more than this for the overall signature think this will be it.
 
Edit:  make that 5/32 now. I'd better stop.

 

[Armaegis]

This would be for the 120ohm SFI in my Sextett frame. That one's been on the backburner for a while now because it's just too quiet for me to be able to accurately hear anything, much less tune it.

 

[liamstrain]

Don't know about the max. The 8ohm version seem to be rated at 50 watts...
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/planars-exotics/145057-anybody-seen-type-planar-speaker.html

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

Hmm you should send them to me!    I reach for my YH3 most of the time.  As good as the LCD-3 is in many ways, there's something that doesn't sound quite right about the Audeze's to me. 

 
So I've been out of the loop for a while and taking a break from all the noise, but man, there's even something off for you in the lcd-3s?  Send them to me for uh, tuning, yeah, that's it, tuning...  Actually I just want to see how my super duper hybrid silver/copper Soloz cable does with them...
 


Quote:

Someone here the person who did a bit of staircase bidding on the ATH-2s a few hours ago?
 
I'd been eyeing the pair as my first (starter) ortho, but forgot for a split second and scheduled a date with the girlfriend for this evening, right for when the auction was due. Had no choice but to make a high early bid.

 
Oh well, the orthos can wait a bit longer, I guess.

Vid, send me a PM with your budget.  I have a pair of ATH-2s near mint with box that I'd love to unload.  Also have their VectorScan twin in the box.  Need to sell these two cans and then I'll probably put my last three pairs of matched SFIs up for sale too once the ATH-2s are gone.
 
Hoping to find some free time in bits and pieces in the next few months to make some new woodie cups and new pads for my RP18s, but the 'stats have really taking over for me.  Working on my build of a very special prototype 'stat amp and still working on the design of custom HE60s.  Once those two builds are done, I suspect I'll be putting all but the KH-83s and the TPs up for sale too...  And I'm probably going to go with Silk iron for my Poinz Magical Machine amp build.  That should be a good match with the RP18s right off the 8R taps.  Time will tell.
 
Only missing one key component to getting both projects done.  Time.  ~rimshot~  
 

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

 

 
 
This is the simplest (i e best) PMB cup construction I've seen - only two plastic pieces. It's a relief that dreadful PMB locking ring is not needed which makes assembly of the PMB, Telefunken, Dual et al such a tricky business. The clips of the baffle not only locks the cup, they're also part of the "decorative" design, doubling as acoustic vents. The cup's back is solid - the outer "net" structure is just a pattern moulded into the plastic.
 

 
 
 

 
Why is the piece of plastic in the back raised like that? Is it perhaps just glued on? They have used removable back plates before...
 
 
Quote:

DAC,
How do the old Magnat and Grundig GHDS224 compare to the Audeze?

 
Speaking of the Grundig, I repaired the headset today, and put it on. It's striking how comfortable it is - being on-ear - one of the most comfortable on-ear designs I have tried. It swivels easily and the clamp is just right - no problems to wear also with glasses on. 
 
Anyway, the sound is the typical PMB - mids and tones that sound just right, and a small but well defined headstage. This is one of those few open-back (well, half-open actually) designs with an air-damped driver (only foam in the stock design). I have added some dense felt at the grilles, but nothing on the driver. Not even foam.
 
Bass is somewhat rolled-off - but it is not cut off.
 
 

 

[wualta]

DAC, please post some further fotos of the Grundig, for I do love it so.
 
Armaegis, I'd go with the 100mw figure Radio Shack specified for the Pro 30. The ATH-2 spec is 1.0w @500Hz for 1 minute, which I'm gonna say is roughly the same thing. The 50-watt figure is for the severely band-limited life of a  tweeter. That is, 50 watts at the speaker terminals, with the tweeter only seeing power from say 3kHz on up, thanks to the crossover.

 

[MDR30]

 
Quote:

Why is the piece of plastic in the back raised like that? Is it perhaps just glued on? They have used removable back plates before...
 

 
The cup of the K3 is probably made of two pieces, the "grid" disc welded or heat forged to the cup. But I'm not inclined to remove it as the K3 sounds fine as it is.
 

 
Open orthos is a difficult thing... I keep experimenting with my Dual DK830 which had the most open sound I've heard so far from a vintage ortho (also compared to modern models). This design is open behind and at the sides of the driver which meant a lot of wonderful things, but also lack of bass. I've now sealed the baffle properly which makes for a good compromise - bass is back but airineness has suffered somewhat. Still very enjoyable.
 

 
The next step would be to go the "HD414" path, sealed baffle with flat foam pads. The naked drivers pressed to the ears actually sound very nice.
 
The kind of sound stage you get with the best dynamics, i e driver surrounded by fabric filter covered openings in the baffle that create those shades (frequency-depending time delays) that reinforces our perception of depth and width, seems not to be attainable with planar drivers.
 
But I was surprised the DK830 could produce bass, and I'm not done with it yet. The original pads with pleather gone still sounds best.
 



Quote:

DAC, please post some further fotos of the Grundig, for I do love it so.

 
I second this, the GHDS224 is a brown & golden beauty, with an added wish for driver/membrane pics. Fostex serpentine?
 

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

The cup of the K3 is probably made of two pieces, the "grid" disc welded or heat forged to the cup. But I'm not inclined to remove it as the K3 sounds fine as it is.
 
 
 
Open orthos is a difficult thing... I keep experimenting with my Dual DK830 which had the most open sound I've heard so far from a vintage ortho (also compared to modern models). This design is open behind and at the sides of the driver which meant a lot of wonderful things, but also lack of bass. I've now sealed the baffle properly which makes for a good compromise - bass is back but airineness has suffered somewhat. Still very enjoyable.
 
 
 
The next step would be to go the "HD414" path, sealed baffle with flat foam pads. The naked drivers pressed to the ears actually sound very nice.
 
The kind of sound stage you get with the best dynamics, i e driver surrounded by fabric filter covered openings in the baffle that create those shades (frequency-depending time delays) that reinforces our perception of depth and width, seems not to be attainable with planar drivers.
 
But I was surprised the DK830 could produce bass, and I'm not done with it yet. The original pads with pleather gone still sounds best.
 
 
 
I second this, the GHDS224 is a brown & golden beauty, widd an added wish for driver/membrane pics. Fostex serpentine?
 

 
I think you have two excellent vintage orthos there. Your K3 reminds me of my DUAL 720 that I unfortunately sold. It sounded great - especially with the pads removed it was fantastic for rock music. Your 830 must be a lot like my RT10 - your description of the sound seems to fit quite well!
 
This Grundig has the large PMB driver with large holes all the way out to the edges. But another grundig posted some time ago had a different driver, the one with fewer and smaller holes.
 
Quote:

DAC, please post some further fotos of the Grundig, for I do love it so.

Photos!
I'm still working on the ear pads - they might not end up looking amazing, but will be extremely comfortable.
Note - there is also a 217 model that looks almost like the 224 but which most likely has a dynamic driver.
 

 

 

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

Open orthos is a difficult thing... I keep experimenting with my Dual DK830 which had the most open sound I've heard so far from a vintage ortho (also compared to modern models). This design is open behind and at the sides of the driver which meant a lot of wonderful things, but also lack of bass. I've now sealed the baffle properly which makes for a good compromise - bass is back but airineness has suffered somewhat. Still very enjoyable.
 
 

 
 

 
I have a sheet of blutack here, but I hesitate to use it on the Magnat - the airiness really is something special. It looks like your Dual except that there is no bar over the back - it is completely open. In addition to the open back, it also has vents along the back edges of the baffle.
 

 

[NAYOSO]

Finally I get myself an ultrasone pad for my NAD RP18
the sounds is pretty similar with beyer DT880 pad and it's very comfortable compared to the stock pad
 

 

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDR30 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Fostex serpentine?

Nope, Grundig went to another OEM for the 224 model. It's classic top-tier-tweaker PMB [photo by DAC, spiffed up a li'l by me] --Look Ma, no clamps! :
 

 

[vid]

.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Here is the Magnat, as requested - with it's High Speed Ribbon Technology label. Which of course actually is a 55mm PMB driver.
 

 
Here is the open-back design. A fine wire mesh - and to be on the safe side - vents surrounding the edges of the cup as well.
I have also seen the same design - with vents surrounding the edges, but with a solid disc instead of the wire mesh - on one of the Burwen designs that was posted here way back.
Notice how the "right" label is on the inside of the headset, so that one does not have to wear stupid-looking left/right labels on the head in public. 
The headband appears to be leather - and I have added leather to the ear pads as well. Togehter with thicker foam. The stock pads were not nearly as fluffy as the DUAL830. The dual pads looks much more comfortable than the RT10 pads.
 
The PMB80 basically looks the same as the RT-10 but with a grille made of thick plastic bars (similar to the LCD2 actually). The inside of the cups are different as well, but both have the baffle vents.