[purk]

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Is this really possible? I'd be willing to front the $950 if my Headphile CD3000s could come to be around 90-95% of the R10. Maybe Larry (The CD3k Master) could chime in here?

First, the drivers for the R10 is $700 and in order to replicate the sound of an R10, you will have to use the same wood type and the carving should be the same. I've owned a CD3000 in the past and has it modded with an R10s-shaped wood cups (purple heart) with Silver Dragon Cable...and I don't think I had 70% of the sound of the R10. IMO, the best improvement that you can do to your CD3000 is to get them recable with Moon Audio Silver Dragon.

 

[skyline889]

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Originally Posted by purk First, the drivers for the R10 is $700 and in order to replicate the sound of an R10, you will have to use the same wood type and the carving should be the same. I've owned a CD3000 in the past and has it modded with an R10s-shaped wood cups (purple heart) with Silver Dragon Cable...and I don't think I had 70% of the sound of the R10. IMO, the best improvement that you can do to your CD3000 is to get them recable with Moon Audio Silver Dragon.

The Parts Store lists the drivers at $477.58 each. Your impressions were with the standard CD3K drivers though right? Do you think the CD3K shell with R10 drivers, R10 style woodies, and a SD cable would bring them at least somewhat cloe to the R10s? I love the CD3Ks but right now they just aren't doing it for me, so if they don't have much room for more improvement, I might just stick them in them closet or sell them.

 

[Sovkiller]

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Originally Posted by skyline889 The Parts Store lists the drivers at $477.58 each. Your impressions were with the standard CD3K drivers though right? Do you think the CD3K shell with R10 drivers, R10 style woodies, and a SD cable would bring them at least somewhat cloe to the R10s? I love the CD3Ks but right now they just aren't doing it for me, so if they don't have much room for more improvement, I might just stick them in them closet or sell them.

I don't know of anybody that had tried that, you will be the first, and IMO even without the wood the drivers will make and improvement, they are superior drivers, and the position is simlar, so the chances are that even when it will not sound exactly alike, you will get some of the flavor at least...

 

[fureshi]

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Originally Posted by skyline889 The Parts Store lists the drivers at $477.58 each. Your impressions were with the standard CD3K drivers though right? Do you think the CD3K shell with R10 drivers, R10 style woodies, and a SD cable would bring them at least somewhat cloe to the R10s? I love the CD3Ks but right now they just aren't doing it for me, so if they don't have much room for more improvement, I might just stick them in them closet or sell them.

that's a pretty expensive experiment for results that aren't going to give you the whole R10 experience. for about $800, you'll be able to find some really great headphones. but that being said, if it turns out well you just might have a budget R10 on your hands.

 

[purk]

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The Parts Store lists the drivers at $477.58 each. Your impressions were with the standard CD3K drivers though right? Do you think the CD3K shell with R10 drivers, R10 style woodies, and a SD cable would bring them at least somewhat cloe to the R10s? I love the CD3Ks but right now they just aren't doing it for me, so if they don't have much room for more improvement, I might just stick them in them closet or sell them.

The key to the sonic signature of the R10s is a combination of more superior drivers, the timber of zelkova wood cups, and the internal carving inside the earcups. I doubt you can replicate the sonic of the R10s by just swaping the driver alone and replacing the cable. IMO, you will be better of investing that 800 dollars into the W5000 or something else.

 

[skyline889]

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Originally Posted by purk The key to the sonic signature of the R10s is a combination of more superior drivers, the timber of zelkova wood cups, and the internal carving inside the earcups. I doubt you can replicate the sonic of the R10s by just swaping the driver alone and replacing the cable. IMO, you will be better of investing that 800 dollars into the W5000 or something else.

So what do the R10 cups look like on the inside? I've never seen interior pics of the cups.

I know that rounded carving is often recommended for the interior of wooden earcups since technically there would be less angles for the waves to bounce and resonate off of but even on the highly praised L3000s, the interior of it's earcups are just routed out.

 

[khbaur330162]

Are you guys sure this isn't a case of "It didn't cost as much, so it can't sound as good"? The driver housings on my CD3K's are ginormous and probably close to the same size as the R10. If I had R10 drivers and a cable of equal or greater quality, you're trying to tell me that you honestly think the wood used and possibly the variations within the driver housings themselves would have more than a 5% influence (influence concerning their degradation, I might add) over the R10 sound? I find that hard to believe... Imho, when you put into account all the cash that it would cost to create an R3K or whatever you want to name it, and how much the real mccoy costs, it'd be a darn good bargain.

 

[J-Pak]

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Originally Posted by khbaur330162 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you guys sure this isn't a case of "It didn't cost as much, so it can't sound as good"? The driver housings on my CD3K's are ginormous and probably close to the same size as the R10. If I had R10 drivers and a cable of equal or greater quality, you're trying to tell me that you honestly think the wood used and possibly the variations within the driver housings themselves would have more than a 5% influence (influence concerning their degradation, I might add) over the R10 sound? I find that hard to believe... Imho, when you put into account all the cash that it would cost to create an R3K or whatever you want to name it, and how much the real mccoy costs, it'd be a darn good bargain.

Believe it or not resonance in a closed headphone will altar the sound dramatically. You would have to use the exact enclosure and wood type as an R10 to get similar sound.

 

[skyline889]

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Originally Posted by J-Pak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Believe it or not resonance in a closed headphone will altar the sound dramatically. You would have to use the exact enclosure and wood type as an R10 to get similar sound.

While I don't believe just combining the R10 drivers with a huge enclosure will replicate the sound of the R10, Zelkova (Keyaki in Japan) is quite similar to American Elm and also some species of Oak as well, so I would suspect that if someone could provide an image of the interior of the R10 cups, a close replica could be made with something like an Automach for much less than whatever Sony or Parts Store charges for them. My father has been working with wood for over ten years (Me for only around 5 or 6) as his primary hobby so I would imagine that either him and I, one of his woodworking friends, or Larry of Headphile would be able to recreate something similar to the R10 enclosures. Like Purk has stated, Larry has already done enclosures that are similar to the R10s (At least externally) so it would be more a matter of which of the Elms or Oaks to choose and what to make the interior of the cups look like.




Something like this, made out of one of the aforementioned Elms or Oaks, and properly carved, would almost certainly yield satisfactory results. (Though the $1500 or more it would take for modding is still a hefty price to pay a combo that may or may not yield good results. Perhaps someone with a larger bankroll than I would like to attempt this?

)

 

[iszatso]

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Originally Posted by fureshi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try Appliance parts, electronics parts & more from PartStore.com . i got new earpads and cups for my cd3k from them.

Is it easy to replace the earpads, as i ordered some from sony parts today for 18.00 per ear? I guess I just ease them out, but getting the new pads into that groove, how?