[Chinchy]

So, I'm giddy after just receiving my SR-225's in the mail. They're burning in on my head as I speak. But I have a quick observation/question. I looked at the bowl pads that came with my SR-225's and noticed that there are slits that look almost like the flat pads. Are the bowl pads now coming with slits in them? I'm just wondering seeing as how I had ordered some bowl pads previously from headroom, and they are slit-less...

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chinchy So, I'm giddy after just receiving my SR-225's in the mail. They're burning in on my head as I speak. But I have a quick observation/question. I looked at the bowl pads that came with my SR-225's and noticed that there are slits that look almost like the flat pads. Are the bowl pads now coming with slits in them? I'm just wondering seeing as how I had ordered some bowl pads previously from headroom, and they are slit-less...

I guess it all depends.. I've got three pairs of bowls.. one with slits and two without.. The one with slits was put on in January 2003, and one of the slit-less pairs was off a new pair not too long ago..

 

[blessingx]

My newly arrived 225's bowls have them. My better Senn replacements don't.

 

[Leo]

My new RS-1 have the slits in the bowls.

 

[soupy]

my old sr80's didnt' have slits, my old rs1 bowls didn't have them either. My old 225s from december of 2002 did have them. I'm guessing that recent bowls coming out of grado labs are getting slits whereas old ones don't. The ones you got from headroom were probably old stock before grado revised the bowls.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

Chinchy
HI: Congrats on your new SR 225s. My bought recently bowl pads don't have the slits in them also. I hope you enjoy the 225.

 

[Chinchy]

Quote:

Originally posted by LTUCCI1924 Chinchy HI: Congrats on your new SR 225s. My bought recently bowl pads don't have the slits in them also. I hope you enjoy the 225.

Thanks Lou! Actually, it was your thread on the comparisons between the Grados that inspired me to purchase the SR-225.. It was either that or the RS-1's, but I couldn't bring myself to forego the joys of upgrado...

Because it's all about the journey right?

 

[Chinchy]

So actually that brings me to the question... do the slits actually make any difference? It doesn't even cover the drivers or anything. Is there some purpose for the slits?

 

[LTUCCI1924]

Chinchy
HI: How do the 225 sound? Do you like then? How is the comfort? What are these replacing and are they a lot better than what you had? Gome on some info on them please. LOL

 

[wallijonn]

probably the slits do serve a function.

when you put the headphones on, the pads tend to slide back (even if it is at an angle). I would expect the slitted pads to be able to 'bend' easier. It will therefore 'lose' a little in the bass.

my own finding was that by putting a cardboard donut around the back of the pad, such that it rode inside the 1/4" groove, prevented the pad from being squished down, which prevented the driver from coming into contact with the ear.

theoretically, the slits could break up standing waves.

my pads do not have the slits. and since I used the Nortel cloth covers, the band inside the Nortel covers compressed the pads enough that it would not get as 'sqwished', which helped to produce a fuller sound.

 

[Chinchy]

Quote:

Originally posted by LTUCCI1924 Chinchy HI: How do the 225 sound? Do you like then? How is the comfort? What are these replacing and are they a lot better than what you had? Gome on some info on them please. LOL

Hi Lou! The 225 so far are a blessed return to the Grado sound which I enjoy. The whole story: I have the SR-60's and the KSC-35. The problem though is that my friend was thinking about purchasing some SR-60's, so I let him audition my headphones. This left me with the KSC-35's to listen to, which are not bad. Well, one week turned into 2, and by the middle of even the first week, I was in Grado withdrawal. By Week 2, it turned into something akin to severe headphone tension/Chinese water torture. While the KSC-35's are good, I just missed the whole Grado experience. Since I couldn't take it anymore, I ordered the SR-225, because you can never have enough headphones right?

Currently it's connected:

PC -> (Zu Cable Oxyfuel) Pink Floyd Xfeed Mk III -> (Signal Cable Analog 2) home meta42.

Initial impressions: something like Homer Simpson's drooling sound (i.e. Mmm... Pork chops.. Gaaahhhhhh...) Bass seems a little weak, especially coming from the KSC-35, although it is indeed tighter. Unfortunately I don't have enough experience to utilize the full complement of audiophile vocabulary at my disposal, but what I can say is that it has the forward sound that I like, and I love the overall warmth that it has.

After about 7 hours, I can already tell that the Bass is getting really nice. Everything just feels so smooth, and the whole range of sound is just so enjoyable. It's just so much clearer than the KSC-35, and improves on everything that the SR-60 has. I just like the fact that the bass doesn't override everything else like on the KSC-35. It's just more balanced. I did audition the SR-325 and found it to be quite bright for my tastes, so I was glad to read from the Grado comparisons that the 225 are not like that.

Only downside is that the headband clamps on my head a little tighter than my SR-60's, but that's easily remedied. My current plan of attack is to let it burn in and continue listening with the Bowl pads, and after the obligatory 50-100 hours, I'll try pad-rolling with the Senns and the small Grado comfies to see which ones I like better.

 

[Chinchy]

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn probably the slits do serve a function. my own finding was that by putting a cardboard donut around the back of the pad, such that it rode inside the 1/4" groove, prevented the pad from being squished down, which prevented the driver from coming into contact with the ear.

How big was your donut? Just the same size as the 1/4 inch extension? Slightly larger? And does the thickness of the cardboard matter?

Actually the first thought I had when I saw the slits... I thought of the rifling in a gunbarrel and thought that maybe it spiraled the soundwaves into the ear in a more focused manner. But logically speaking, that's absurd. It was a funny image though. Heh.

 

[wallijonn]

Chinchy,

if you remove one pad, lay it on top of a 1/8" thick cradboard, draw a circle around the pad onto the cardboard, then cut the cardboard circle out, then lay the pad on it again, and outline the inner pad hole, then cut the inner circle out, then put the cardboard on the driver, then slip the bowl pad on, the cardboard will keep the springiness of the bowl pad. it sould sound different. there should be less chance that the driver will touch your ear. with it not touching the ear, the high end should not sound as shrill (or what some would consider, better bass).

after awhile you will probably change over to thin plastic (1/32" to 1/16"), instead of cardboard.

I used Nortel cloth covers over my bowl pads for comfort. they can be gotten at municipal airports, in the pilot store; about $6 for a pair. If it stiffles the sound too much, cut a whole slightly smaller than the driver hole. the cloth will stretch over the oversized driver outer diameter.

 

[lextek]

Hey maybe I can get an answer here? I had commented that if you reverse the standard boel pads that they reproduce the flat pads. It moves the transducer closer to the ear. Does this make sense? My bowl pads do have slits. My old (7+year old) SR660s sound as good as my new generation SR125s. The cable on the 60s feel better than the new gen. I will flip the pads tonight.

 

[Duncan]

Lextek...

Flipping the bowls does indeed make them more like the flat-pads, but in terms of comfort, nothing (to my ears) beats the vwap senn pads... I can wear the RS1s all day without getting ear-bleeding pain from the pads... the cans / pads are genuinly comfortable

Never thought i'd say that about a Grado!