post your grado mods....
Apr 7, 2019 at 6:43 PM Post #8,627 of 8,988
And I'm a little tired of Grado :wink:

So I found some vintage magnetic planar drivers from the 80s, excited to finish them and rebuild from the scratch =)

They are somehow Grado-planars for me, speaking of their sound-signature. I mean like old school Grado's, first models. Those familiar with the old Yamaha HP-1 will probably understand me.

I made almost everything to already start, even silver-plated wires (with the help of my friend), now-the question is.....how do I start all this haha

btw, this isn't a UFO lol

This is their new wooden home =)

I I hope I will find some time to finish them before May.

There are still a lot of questions left.

But they already sound good, like the bright side of Grado -plus it's more refined here and there.
Need more time to listen them =)

P.S. it's all started from this interesting article :o2smile: ;
https://www.headfonia.com/vintage-orthodynamics/2/

Any experience with any old headphones like these? Thanks.

Those old Yamahas are the business, and is that a Shou Sugi finish I see? Fantastic! Beautiful work as always
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 6:55 PM Post #8,628 of 8,988
Those old Yamahas are the business, and is that a Shou Sugi finish I see? Fantastic! Beautiful work as always

Thank you!! =]

Yes, you are right, this is it! :gs1000smile: But I still can't make some Grado cups like that..too hot:triportsad:... need to change their thickness, and I'm not sure is it a great idea....

btw, these drivers- are kind of "dark horse", but It is difficult to "calibrate" them, making right damping, etc...I''ll be happy to hear any suggestions from (pre-)owners. I'm still playing with them, I mean..messing with them, kinda funny experience :p
 
Apr 7, 2019 at 7:05 PM Post #8,629 of 8,988
Thank you!! =]

Yes, you are right, this is it! :gs1000smile: But I still can't make some Grado cups like that..too hot:triportsad:... need to change their thickness, and I'm not sure is it a great idea....

btw, these drivers- are kind of "dark horse", but It is difficult to "calibrate" them, making right damping, etc...I''ll be happy to hear any suggestions from (pre-)owners. I'm still playing with them, I mean..messing with them, kinda funny experience :p

There are some threads devoted to them here...basically you are looking for leather pads, that keep the driver closer to your ears, and a tight, well damped space behind the driver.

They definitely have a darker sound signature, but the pair I had for a while I loved.
 
Last edited:
Apr 8, 2019 at 7:08 PM Post #8,632 of 8,988
Please don't flame - I didn't check all the pages here, but I wanted to share my incredibly simple mod. :)

For me, The electrical tape mod makes Grado headphones too dark and wayyyyy too bassy. I looked for an alternative and found this:
Art Tape 0.25 inch: Looks and feels like electrical tape, only thinner.
For me, this tames the brightness enough to where I no longer need EQ, tames the highs just a touch, and adds a bit of bass impact while not being bloated.
WELL worth it, but if you don't like it, take the tape off!

grado_mod.jpg
 
Last edited:
Apr 8, 2019 at 8:41 PM Post #8,633 of 8,988
Custom earpads from eBay.

20190408_183853.jpg
 
Apr 9, 2019 at 5:12 PM Post #8,634 of 8,988
...if you guys haven't noticed yet, Luke at Vibro Labs is on fire. He's back with a vengeance...and its not only Grado cups, he's working on T50rp stuff too...the boy's a fabrication genius with that CNC of his...
 
Apr 10, 2019 at 3:21 AM Post #8,635 of 8,988
...if you guys haven't noticed yet, Luke at Vibro Labs is on fire. He's back with a vengeance...and its not only Grado cups, he's working on T50rp stuff too...the boy's a fabrication genius with that CNC of his...

Aaaah, always the T50rp ... maybe if there were more options for Fostex TH / Denon AH-D lovers that didn't want another set of Lawtons and didn't fancy taking their chances with Chan from E-MU ...
Maybe if someone were to produce open-backs for these headphones ...
 
Apr 10, 2019 at 11:33 AM Post #8,636 of 8,988
Aaaah, always the T50rp ... maybe if there were more options for Fostex TH / Denon AH-D lovers that didn't want another set of Lawtons and didn't fancy taking their chances with Chan from E-MU ...
Maybe if someone were to produce open-backs for these headphones ...

I see many attempts, but never hear of success. The T50 driver just isn't meant to be open-back, just like the Grado driver can never be closed...
 
Apr 10, 2019 at 11:46 AM Post #8,637 of 8,988
I see many attempts, but never hear of success. The T50 driver just isn't meant to be open-back, just like the Grado driver can never be closed...

& yet the trp series can still be very good with varying degrees of "openness" [20, 30, 40], yes?
Is there no chance at all, if not the Grado drivers themselves, but their other variants, Symphones, Nhoord, Epsilon / Ypsilon, Alessandro, etc might also sound "good" with varying degrees of openness / damping?
Since they are all tuned differently? Or are you saying that seem highly unlikely no matter what the tuning differences just because of the architecture?

Might be wrong thread now but the cross contamination seemed inevitable. Also just to be clear, I realize "good" is highly subjective. I mean close to original, perhaps with some of the spiky sparkle tamed / blunted?
 
Apr 10, 2019 at 1:41 PM Post #8,638 of 8,988
& yet the trp series can still be very good with varying degrees of "openness" [20, 30, 40], yes?

Varying, yes...none of those are "open" though. They were vents in the cups...

[QUOTE="Is there no chance at all, if not the Grado drivers themselves, but their other variants, Symphones, Nhoord, Epsilon / Ypsilon, Alessandro, etc might also sound "good" with varying degrees of openness / damping?
Since they are all tuned differently? Or are you saying that seem highly unlikely no matter what the tuning differences just because of the architecture?

Might be wrong thread now but the cross contamination seemed inevitable. Also just to be clear, I realize "good" is highly subjective. I mean close to original, perhaps with some of the spiky sparkle tamed / blunted?[/QUOTE]

I think its an architecture thing, but could be wrong. I've made closed cups for them before, and the only way to get any sort of bottom end out of them is to vent the living hell out of the cup....like make it swiss cheese with holes...
 
Apr 10, 2019 at 4:08 PM Post #8,639 of 8,988
The T50 driver just isn't meant to be open-back, just like the Grado driver can never be closed...

Even though it's said to never say never, some drivers were designed to live in a closed home:ksc75smile:

But then again, people into modding can be so creative at times...
 
iFi audio Stay updated on iFi audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/people/IFi-audio/61558986775162/ https://twitter.com/ifiaudio https://www.instagram.com/ifiaudio/ https://ifi-audio.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@iFiaudiochannel comms@ifi-audio.com

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top