[elmoe]

Hair dryer probably. It takes some patience, but makes for a clean job.

 

[jsjh]

Hi,
 
Having read through a sizeable proportion of this thread, I've become suddenly appealed to the idea of building my own pair of Grado-stein headphones. All the posts in here have been really informative about the process and ideas!
 
Having looked at specifically what @wje did, I was thinking about using a cheap pair of headphones (urbanears, wesc) as donors for the headband and acquiring a set of sennheiser PX100's for the drivers. The biggest issue, however, I'm going to guess is acquiring/making the cups. Having followed a lot of the progress on here, I've got a good idea of the construction of the cups, but I unfortunately don't really have the tools or expertise to be able to replicate them. I also don't have a pair of grados to get the measurements from. I was therefore wondering if anyone on this thread had any spare or old wooden cups, and whether you would be interested in selling them to form the basis of a first time project. I am fully aware that places like Turbulent Labs and Martin Custom Audio do some fantastic work selling absolutely beautiful cups, but given their quality, the price is a little more than I can justify at this stage for a first venture into headphone modding territory!
 
Any advice with dimensions or on whether the size of px100 drivers would be compatible with grado cups would also be much appreciated!
 
Thanks, J

 

[JoeDoe]

  Hi,
 
Having read through a sizeable proportion of this thread, I've become suddenly appealed to the idea of building my own pair of Grado-stein headphones. All the posts in here have been really informative about the process and ideas!
 
Having looked at specifically what @wje did, I was thinking about using a cheap pair of headphones (urbanears, wesc) as donors for the headband and acquiring a set of sennheiser PX100's for the drivers. The biggest issue, however, I'm going to guess is acquiring/making the cups. Having followed a lot of the progress on here, I've got a good idea of the construction of the cups, but I unfortunately don't really have the tools or expertise to be able to replicate them. I also don't have a pair of grados to get the measurements from. I was therefore wondering if anyone on this thread had any spare or old wooden cups, and whether you would be interested in selling them to form the basis of a first time project. I am fully aware that places like Turbulent Labs and Martin Custom Audio do some fantastic work selling absolutely beautiful cups, but given their quality, the price is a little more than I can justify at this stage for a first venture into headphone modding territory!
 
Any advice with dimensions or on whether the size of px100 drivers would be compatible with grado cups would also be much appreciated!
 
Thanks, J

 
Contact @7keys or @fleasbaby for cups through the forum as both of those fine gentlemen often have an extra pair or two lying around. You could also check out Yew Audio on Etsy. Some of the most gorgeous cups I've ever seen on there for very reasonable prices. 
 
I believe @fleasbaby  posted the measurements for the Grado cup in both this thread and perhaps his profile if I'm not mistaken. 
 
Also, the PX100 drivers should fit in most grado cups, and if they're a touch too big, some sandpaper or a dremel will make quick work to get them to fit!

 

[kugino]

recabled an old grado sr60. the old hd414 pads i had on them were disintegrating so i switched the L-pads from another grado onto these (the other grado is getting some ttvj flats today!)...auvio headband. mogami cable, red paracord, switchcraft 3.5mm plug. nothing special...still think it sounds terrific.
 

 

[MrFaust]

  recabled an old grado sr60. the old hd414 pads i had on them were disintegrating so i switched the L-pads from another grado onto these (the other grado is getting some ttvj flats today!)...auvio headband. mogami cable, red paracord, switchcraft 3.5mm plug. nothing special...still think it sounds terrific.
 

That red paracord looks great. I think I'm going to borrow that idea for my SennGrados once I get them built. I plan on coloring the grills red.

 

[kugino]

  That red paracord looks great. I think I'm going to borrow that idea for my SennGrados once I get them built. I plan on coloring the grills red.

thanks! i'm usually not into the flashy colors, but for some reason i thought i'd do red this time. nice striking contrast...main thing for me is that the cord is so much shorter and lighter compared to the stock grado cable. 

 

[stratocaster]

Carried out some radical surgery on a battered set of SR-125 drivers/SR-325 cups I got for cheap. As the diaphragm of one of the drivers was coming loose, I had to 'decapitate' the driver to open it up and fix the issue. The next step was to make wood inserts for the drivers. Made some rosewood and limba ones and finally ended up using the limba set. Finally I applied some (serious) damping on the back of the drivers, since the drivers came with a comple hole-punch mod that completely bloated the bass. Sounds very decent.
 

 

[elmoe]

  Carried out some radical surgery on a battered set of SR-125 drivers/SR-325 cups I got for cheap. As the diaphragm of one of the drivers was coming loose, I had to 'decapitate' the driver to open it up and fix the issue. The next step was to make wood inserts for the drivers. Made some rosewood and limba ones and finally ended up using the limba set. Finally I applied some (serious) damping on the back of the drivers, since the drivers came with a comple hole-punch mod that completely bloated the bass. Sounds very decent.
 

 
Very nice, I've always wanted to try wooden sleeves like these with my 325is.

 

[MrFaust]

So, after a little work, I managed to get in touch with [color=#000000]kopral 21[/color] (AKA Gamja Labs)'s distributor in Indonesia. I had been inquiring about some cups the Gamja had made. They were all sold out of the older ones, but still had plenty of the Indonesian Rosewood cups. But then I lucked out. His distributor, Headphoneku Fammate, found 1 last set of the Spralted Tamarind cups. I jumped on the chance to own these beautiful cups. They almost look like they are made out of marble. I also picked up a lambskin leather headband. They still have some of the Indonesian Rosewood cups that Gamja made. I will warn you though, shipping is a little high, but to me it was worth the price to get these.
 

 

 

[7keys]

 

Some say spalted wood does very little for tone (if anything,) and is more a style consideration than anything else, as its natural state being semi-dead or all dead. 

If you have other cups you could do a comparison for us. 

 

[MrFaust]

I'll be honest, I got these more for their looks than anything else. But once I get my other cups back, I will do some testing. I need to get some more drivers. I don't want to take apart my SR225i's just yet. I do have a pair of Sennheiser PX 100-II that I plan to use for one set. I should buy another set since they are on sale on Amazon right now.

 

[7keys]

They do look beautiful.

 

[ttiradej]

I looking for some aluminium sleeve/chamber for my aluminium Grado build (ones that comes with the magnum drivers or a one-offs are fine) and also some Aluminium Gimbals and Rod/Blocks. I'm also interested in custom made aluminium cups. If anyone is looking to sell some please let me know or PM me. Thanks

 

[7keys]

 

[CJG888]

I'm hoping to add a little more "body" to the sound of my SR225i, and have decided to look at fitting wooden cups. The two options I have found are the Yew Woodworks cups (Cocobolo or Hawaiian Koa) and the obvious Turbulent Labs Vibros. Which of these options is likely to sound better? The Yew ones clearly look better....

Also, if I were to go for the Yew Woodworks cups, which wood would give a more neutral sound? Both are, AFAIK, tone woods. I think that Cocobolo is used in the manufacture of high-end woodwind instruments.

Finally, how easy will it be to liberate the SR225i drivers? Will I need to destroy the plastic cups to do so? What is generally the success rate? If it goes wrong, I will be left with a headband and gimbals to sell for spares....

....or I will need to buy a set of Magnum drivers from Turbulent.