post your grado mods....

[Drumsound Blvd]

After researching this forum, WE NEED TO BRING THIS CONVO ALIVE AGAIN!!!!... Respect

 

[Arty McGhee]

  It's hard! Well i might give up on the headband thing and focus on some wood cups or some other mods. I think the next step is to do something about the cable situation and get some shaft locks or whatever they are called

don't give up
 
we need a headband guy
 
guys will trade cups and cables for headbands
(i think maybe, not sure really.. sorry i..)
 
BEHOLD the closed-backed grado
 

 

[DavidA]

  Going in on a full Sennheiser HD25II / Grado SR325 Mod... Also, going to strip powder coat and polish the Aluminum on grado for final finish... Need recommendations on lambskin doughnut pads.. going to use for Dj'ing mostly unless they perform properly within the studio! I have already converted the cable top a red style 1/4".... going to swithch the drivers this weekend. (Ugh, Ive done so much research on people using the HD25II driver for a Grado SR325 mod driver and NOONE HAS PINCHED AT IT!!!.... IM GOING TO DO IT!
I prefer full sound structure!
BASS< MIDS< AND TREBLE!!!!
fully on board!!
Goin In..... 

 

 
 
If there is something I do not know before executing this mod, PLEASE..... come forth and explain!

Please don't use the neon green color for text, its really hard on the eyes

 

[fleasbaby]

  Going in on a full Sennheiser HD25II / Grado SR325 Mod... Also, going to strip powder coat and polish the Aluminum on grado for final finish... Need recommendations on lambskin doughnut pads.. going to use for Dj'ing mostly unless they perform properly within the studio! I have already converted the cable top a red style 1/4".... going to swithch the drivers this weekend. (Ugh, Ive done so much research on people using the HD25II driver for a Grado SR325 mod driver and NOONE HAS PINCHED AT IT!!!.... IM GOING TO DO IT!
I prefer full sound structure!
BASS< MIDS< AND TREBLE!!!!
fully on board!!
Goin In..... 

 

 
 
If there is something I do not know before executing this mod, PLEASE..... come forth and explain!

 
Are you planning to put the HD25II drivers in the SR325 metal cups? What sleeves are you using, the stock Plastic SR325 ones, or wooden ones?
 
If you want pleather pads, the best I have used on a Grado-style build are the EarZonk pleathers. The others all look kind-of odd when you wear the cans and don't sit well on the ear when used on a Grado-style build.

 

[Arvan]

So i was removing the grills today and also got rid of the branding...Put it all together happy as a clam.. Turns out my left driver suddenly has 0 bass.. Didn't touch the drivers really. Everything looks ok and they look identical. Does not really sound like a ground issue either. Is it randomly busted? 
 
I have modified and recabled plenty of cans and i'm not doubting my skills here..So anyone else had this issue? Is it a sign that i need woodies and third party drivers?
 
Anyways here is a picture. 
 

 

[DavidA]

@Arvan, how did you separate the cups? if you used a hair dryer its possible that the left driver got damaged by the heat.  Or its possible the thin wire from under the soldering pads to the magnet got damaged if you did a cable change.  If you just cut the grill off without separating the cups then a small piece of plastic/metal could have gotten stuck somewhere on the diaphragm.

 

[Arvan]

@Arvan
, how did you separate the cups? if you used a hair dryer its possible that the left driver got damaged by the heat.  Or its possible the thin wire from under the soldering pads to the magnet got damaged if you did a cable change.  If you just cut the grill off without separating the cups then a small piece of plastic/metal could have gotten stuck somewhere on the diaphragm.

I did use a hair dryer but I was very careful not to use to much heat. But it seems I failed. So yeah this is a write off unfortunately.

 

[GREQ]

I did use a hair dryer but I was very careful not to use to much heat. But it seems I failed. So yeah this is a write off unfortunately.

Not a write-off... only a driver-transplant waiting to happen.
 
Even a pair of cheap chinese drivers can sound great in a Grado housing, and there are so many options out there.

 

[Arvan]

Not a write-off... only a driver-transplant waiting to happen.

Even a pair of cheap chinese drivers can sound great in a Grado housing, and there are so many options out there.

Can you point me in that direction? I was thinking about finding another cheap set of drivers to put in there. Thanks!

 

[GREQ]

https://www.aliexpress.com/premium/40mm-headphone-speaker.html?spm=2114.01020208.0.0.CG7bbc&site=glo&groupsort=1&SearchText=40mm+headphone+speaker&g=y&SortType=price_asc&tc=ppc&initiative_id=SB_20170317003850&filterCat=200003109,63705,518
Here's a bunch to give you an idea of the prices and options for cheaper drivers.
 
These will take a couple of weeks to ship since they're on the other side of the world.
Just a few ideas here... unfortunately there are no 45mm options which would be ideal for Grados.... so you'd have to construct a ring adapter for these to mount properly, or glue them to a metal grill/mesh  of the correct size, which is what I did.
- http://www.head-fi.org/t/119314/post-your-grado-mods/7260#post_12780606
 
I didn't play around with a sealed mount adapter since the open-reflex mount with foam around it sounded so good already. 

 

[burgunder]

This is advertised as a gardo driver https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/44mm-speaker-unit-High-quality-unit/923848_32258908894.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.XJDgwW

 

[GREQ]

  This is advertised as a gardo driver https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/44mm-speaker-unit-High-quality-unit/923848_32258908894.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.XJDgwW

Haha, awesome find 

But HOLY [insert profanity of your choice] !!! that's not exactly cheap.... it's pretty much the average going price for a 2nd hand SR60i

 

[burgunder]

instead of producing that sea of drivers, the chinese manufacturers should focuse their efforts.They should be able to make some very nice drivers.

 

[Konstantin690]

  https://www.aliexpress.com/premium/40mm-headphone-speaker.html?spm=2114.01020208.0.0.CG7bbc&site=glo&groupsort=1&SearchText=40mm+headphone+speaker&g=y&SortType=price_asc&tc=ppc&initiative_id=SB_20170317003850&filterCat=200003109,63705,518
Here's a bunch to give you an idea of the prices and options for cheaper drivers.
 
These will take a couple of weeks to ship since they're on the other side of the world.
Just a few ideas here... unfortunately there are no 45mm options which would be ideal for Grados.... so you'd have to construct a ring adapter for these to mount properly, or glue them to a metal grill/mesh  of the correct size, which is what I did.
- http://www.head-fi.org/t/119314/post-your-grado-mods/7260#post_12780606
 
I didn't play around with a sealed mount adapter since the open-reflex mount with foam around it sounded so good already. 

 
99% of the headphone drivers that are on sale in Aliexpress are factory rejects bought by the pound and re-sell by the piece, I've spend quite some time and money trying to find a decent sounding driver for Grado builds, finally gave up.
 

 
 
Better stick to a reputable vendor like Symphones or Elleven Acoustica, money well spend.

 

[GREQ]

 
99% of the headphone drivers that are on sale in Aliexpress are factory rejects bought by the pound and re-sell by the piece, I've spend quite some time and money trying to find a decent sounding driver for Grado builds, finally gave up.

What were the biggest problems you found with using some of these drivers? Some of them look fairly similar to the ones I used, which gave good results.
The drivers I used were not purchased from Aliexpress, but certainly came out of China in the form of a dirt-cheap PC headset... so I don't know if I just got a good set of drivers, or just got lucky.