[nickchen]

I always thought that MS2 and SR325 are the best looking cans out there. Too bad that I don't like their sound sig and wear feeling...

 

[dogwan]

Adding my SR125i's to the thread. Re-screened, vented, damped, quarter modded and de-logoed. All in about 1 hour worth of time. Really happy with the sound.
 
I did Dynamat the back of the magnet cover but reversed that mod as it killed the top end sparkle.
 
These are the new improved version and sanding off the logos meant popping out the rings and sanding down the ridges. I wanted to keep going to get rid of the 2 dimples you see on each cup but things were getting a little thin.
 

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

These are the new improved version and sanding off the logos meant popping out the rings and sanding down the ridges. I wanted to keep going to get rid of the 2 dimples you see on each cup but things were getting a little thin.

That's what I found when I sanded down the logos.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

So is anyone still making wood parts for the Grados? I have been reading this thread from the beginning but I am still in 2009...lol...so I was just checking. I am interested in a wooden chamber for my 325's. I want to keep the aluminum cups but I would like a new chamber that is deeper to possibly open up the sound stage. That is my only complaint with my Grados. I am also going to check locally to see if there are any wood workers...I don't know of any personally. I should be able to just give them the plastic chamber out of my headphones and they should be able to copy it to my specs? How much longer than stock would be a good starting point? I figure better to go too long...I can always sand it shorter.

 

[fatcat28037]

^  Try Jeremy at JMoney for wood cups. Have you listened to the HF-2? They're aluminum & wood.
 
http://www.jmoneyaudio.com/products.php 

 

[EddieE]

I don't think the cups you use do anything to soundstage (distancers will though), or to the sound at all really.
 
Wood cups sure do look nice though. Last I heard J-Money aren't making them at the moment, but Larry at headphile still is. Nickchen made mine (in my profile pic) and did an amazing job.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I have not listened to them but have read that they are really nice. I want to see if my audio guy can get a hold of a pair. I assume that they are not available anymore new? That is why I was kinda wanting to do the sound chamber rather than the cup in wood...that way I could get a little bit of the HF sound maybe out of my 325i's. Not that I don't like my 325's. I also figured that would be the easiest way to increase the soundstage hopefully without negatively effecting the rest of the sound signatures.
 
Quote:

^  Try Jeremy at JMoney for wood cups. Have you listened to the HF-2? They're aluminum & wood.
 
http://www.jmoneyaudio.com/products.php 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Is a distancer the same thing as the sound chamber? By sound chamber I am talking about the plastic part that the cushions attach too. I assume that sound chamber is the correct term for that piece.
 
I did see Larry's stuff. Super nice...but very expensive too. Perhaps if I was going the full woodie route I would go with him...I would love to try a V3'ed SR325i but at almost $700...that's kinda hard to swallow for me.
 
Quote:

I don't think the cups you use do anything to soundstage (distancers will though), or to the sound at all really.
 
Wood cups sure do look nice though. Last I heard J-Money aren't making them at the moment, but Larry at headphile still is. Nickchen made mine (in my profile pic) and did an amazing job.

 

[EddieE]

Never quite sure of my terminology for the part you're talking about there either, but I think sound chamber is right.
 
Yes any changes to that will definitely change sound, but the cup which simply goes on top of that, less so. I'm not going to say none at all - but any changes to that part are pretty hard to hear if they exist, objectively speaking.
 
But the distancer is an add-on to the sound chamber as seen here (the pic is the result of a google image search so not sure who to credit) -
 

 
They drastically increase sound stage.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Ok...yeah...that is exactly what I am talking about except instead of just it being a distancer I want to have the entire chamber made from wood. But yup...that is it. I can't imagine that would be too hard to make for someone that had the tools and some wood working skills. Thanks for the pic and clarification.

 

[EddieE]

[size=x-small]Larry at headphile does make chamber/driver housings out of wood - but that is for if you want him to woody RS1, RS2 etc as they are one-piece rather than cup and chamber so can't be modded further without some sever action… [/size]
 
[size=x-small]You could drop Larry an email and discuss it - you never know, if the price is right he might consider it.[/size]
 
[size=x-small]As suggested above, if you want a wooden chamber you need a HF-1, HF-2 or (breaking the bank) a PS1000 - as far as I know those are the only Grados that have wooden chambers with removable shells.[/size]

 

[Nubster]

I saw where he has an option to get the wooded chamber with a recable but it costs about $150 over the cost of the recable. I am hoping to just find someone to make the chamber that I can replace myself. I haven't really looked or asked around yet. I'll shoot him an email just to see. Worst that can happen is he says no or it costs too much.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Before doing a MS1000 style mod (distancers and G-Cush) you might want to experiment with some of the pad mods.  Some of the pad mods can give you a little more soundstage.  The pad mods are easy to undo.  No permanent mods to the actual headphone.  You may sacrifice a few comfies or bowls in the process but that's no biggie compared to the risks of doing mods that risk damage to the headphone.
 
Here are two styles of pad mods that I plan to experiment with in the near future:
AKG velour pads glued to comfies
Senn pads glued to reversed bowls
 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I did do Beyer 770 pads, didn't glue them, just sandwiched between my head and the bowls, but the effect was the same. It worked well, more or less the same sound I am getting from the G-cushions. More comfortable though. I am just wondering if the deeper sound chamber will extend the sound stage but preserve the mid range. That is my biggest concern. A new deeper sound chamber (not a distancer) would add space behind the driver, correct? So the driver would still be right there in your ear so the mids should still be unaffected, right?

 

[EddieE]

The MS1000 mod working relies on a few things -
 
1. felt lining the distancer - tames treble
2. small holes in the distancer - more hole, more mids
3. various filetering to combat treble (kitchen felt foams etc)
 
There are other mods which have made the MS1000 a much better set of phones
 
4. Hole punching - pretty much the only permanent Grado mod involved - punch out the felt covering four of the holes between the driver and airchamber for bass increase
5. pad lining - smoothes out the sound signature giving it more weight and a more tonally realistic sound.
 
Just putting a distancer on a set of Grados with G-Cush won't sound good. You need to do some fine tuning to your tastes, then the results can be incredible.