[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

So many different types of wood to choose from. Marty just pm'd me with suggestions. Since I won't be getting the woodies any time soon, I suppose I can save up and go for higher-end woods. I'll also be stalking guitar forums and stuff. I'll definitely be woodying up my 60s, unless I decide to move on to speakers... or should I get used 125 or 225s? Hm.. Decisions, decisions.

If you're going to woody them, get the 125's, I think the difference between the 125 and 225 is just the vent and grill which are going to be replaced anyway... that and whatever magic Grado puts in them, but Marty's work should give you much more...
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

So many different types of wood to choose from. Marty just pm'd me with suggestions. Since I won't be getting the woodies any time soon, I suppose I can save up and go for higher-end woods. I'll also be stalking guitar forums and stuff. I'll definitely be woodying up my 60s, unless I decide to move on to speakers... or should I get used 125 or 225s? Hm.. Decisions, decisions.

If you're going to woody them, get the 125's, I think the difference between the 125 and 225 is just the vent and grill which are going to be replaced anyway... that and whatever magic Grado puts in them, but Marty's work should give you much more...
 

 

[Carlosfandango]

Quote:

That's some nice mesh.  Seriously!
 

If I recall correctly I purchased it originally from here: (they do a nice looking ALUMINIUM mesh too)
 
http://shop.avicraft.co.uk/15056-copper-mesh-12ins-sheet-p-4030.html
 
Happened to find this link also:
 
http://www.crazywireco.co.uk/acatalog/Copper_Mesh.html
 
The sheet is going to Greentea today. I'm glad it finally got taken my a Grado Modder.
 
I'm perfectly happy to buy this mesh on behalf of any of you guys that cant source it locally and then ship it out to you.... after sorting out payment first of course.
 

 

[xaval]

Quote:

Hey now ... I used to work for a very large corporation that had lots of Sun computer equipment for just that very reason.  "Floating" the money in and out of various accounts day and night.  Those were the days ...
 
And, no, the company wasn't Bank of America or Countrywide Home Loans. 

 
 

Enron ftw

Quote:

You've just scratched the surface.  Trust me.  Also, regardless of the wood you choose, I'll bet a simple $35.00 mod will completely turn the sound on its head.  Again, trust me.  If I were you, here's the approach:
 

1. Purchase the SR-225i Grados.  You'll be glad you did.  You will never 2nd guess your decision.  If you buy the SR-125i, you will always think about what that extra $50 would have given you.
2. Pick a nice material for your cups.  Beauty = class.  But, sound = peace, relaxation and contentment.
3. Do NOT poke any holes in the drivers. 
4. Do buy the Todd The Vinyl Junkie "Flats" foam ear pads.  The bass will improve at least 70% over just the wood cups alone.  $35.00 + $5.00 postage.

 
That should do it.  When do we start? 

Well, I've been listening to these TTVJ flats and, to make it short, I give a thumbs up to these babies.
Please note that I already have 6 holes in. The effect is quite significant on the bass. Looking at other cans I play with, the bass on my MS1 comes a bit short on depthness and detail with the bowls. No lack of punch and articulateness. The flats give way more punch to recordings - Back in Black on my vynil spinner, when the kick drum starts kicking is an eye opener for sure.
 
The best part is really how I got more extension and articulateness. This is one area I "listen" to when the inevitable comparison pops up in my mind everytime I'm not 100% into the music. More texture also with double basses and acoustic guitars and this goes up and down from the bass region well into the midrange. A bit more top treble extension is what I'm hearing with the flats.
 
The only downside is a little less detail in the midrange - it doesn't recess, but micro details are less obvious.
 
I like both bowls and flats, but I prefer flats.


Quote:

If I recall correctly I purchased it originally from here: (they do a nice looking ALUMINIUM mesh too)  
http://shop.avicraft.co.uk/15056-copper-mesh-12ins-sheet-p-4030.html
 
Happened to find this link also:
 
http://www.crazywireco.co.uk/acatalog/Copper_Mesh.html
 
The sheet is going to Greentea today. I'm glad it finally got taken my a Grado Modder.
 
I'm perfectly happy to buy this mesh on behalf of any of you guys that cant source it locally and then ship it out to you.... after sorting out payment first of course.
 

Cool mesh!
 
 
 

 

[wje]

 
Quote:

Enron ftw

I like both bowls and flats, but I prefer flats.

 

Nope.  It wasn't Enron.  If it was, I woudn't  have any pension money for when I retire. 
 
To me, the flats produce the bass that the Alessandro MS-Pro headphones are capable of producing with the bowl pads.  I do agree the mids can get recessed slightly, but still enough detail on the top end is still there to make the music shine.  I think the SR-225i, wooden cups with Flats pads is a better combination than the Alessandro MS-Pro headphones at less than half the cost.
 
Again, though, that's just my opinion.
 
 

 

[lawrywild]

Just finished putting together my new Grado's in the walnut cups Marty made me. (alessandro ms1 drivers)


 Partially liberating the drivers from the horrible plastic. Went for the cut and peel technique.



Liberated drivers inside the claro walnut cups




Braiding the cable and making a new Y-Split.


 
Y-Split finished and read for soldering.




Clean joints.


 

 Finished

 

[JamesMcProgger]

^ very neat and clean job Larry 

. I fancy some low profile cups like those.

 

[xaval]

Those low profiles look interesting for a truly portable setup. How do they sound vs the more regular cups?
 
Congrats on the new setup

 

[lawrywild]

Yeah, the idea was to make them as lightweight as possible for portability whilst doing it as cheaply as possible hence why using a shortened stock cable. I also cut the gimbal rods down to the right size for my head and stuck a collar on top which can just be seen in the 2nd photo, I think it looks much cleaner than having the rods sticking out the top. I had a problem with that actually as I used 3mm bored collars on my aluminium grado's (using MS1i parts), so ordered the same for these but turns out the non-i Grado's use slightly thicker gimbal rods and they wouldn't fit on so had to dremel the top of the rods down a bit to fit them on.
 
 
I can't really compare the difference the lower profile makes compared to a deeper cup because my other Grado is the huge aluminium ones in my avi. But whatever the difference, they sound great.

 

[wje]

I'm starting to miss the smell of solder vapors in the morning *.  I'm starting to get the D.T.'s because I've been away from the upgrade process for a few weeks. 

 
 
* = Quote taken from Apocolypse Now and was modifed from: " I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

I'm starting to miss the smell of solder vapors in the morning *.  I'm starting to get the D.T.'s because I've been away from the upgrade process for a few weeks. 

 
 
* = Quote taken from Apocolypse Now and was modifed from: " I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

 
A more correct paraphrasing would be...I love the smell of solder vapor in the morning (big breath)...it smells like modding
 
or you could go with...
 
I love the sound of Grados in the morning...it sounds like (fill in the blank)
 
BTW I had my T50's open about 20 times before I sent them to Marvin, they're a tinkerers dream. Just out of curiosity how do flats an quarter modded comfies differ. I almost pulled the trigger on them last night, but wanted to see if I could get a little better feel for the construction.

 

[xaval]

It smells like... victory.
The original line can't be beat. My favorite movie ever!
 

 

[Jables280]

Just got my leather headband in from jinteddy7, I love it! Looks great, feels great, and smells fantastic! Worth every penny! Thanks again jin!

 

[wje]

Quote:

BTW I had my T50's open about 20 times before I sent them to Marvin, they're a tinkerers dream. Just out of curiosity how do flats an quarter modded comfies differ. I almost pulled the trigger on them last night, but wanted to see if I could get a little better feel for the construction.

I'm reading lots of lovely things on the T50s.  Someday.  Someday.
 
The flats vs. the quarter modded comfies:
 

1. The comfies are just made of a single type of foam; the flats are 3 different types of foam (just like the donut pads.)
2. The flats retain a good level of thickness when in place and on your head; the modded comfies with the lighter weigh foam would collapse down and slowly cause a less comfortable listening session.
3. The flats because they retain much of their thickness provide for the bass consistency; the comfies with compressing down too far tend to not really distinguish themselves in a bass sense.

 
I do think that someone who owns the comfies could work with the pads and probably come up with a pad construction would would be near that of the flats.  It might take the process of adhering some layers of felt under the foam level to keep it from flattening down too much.  Once one gets a pair of flats in their hands and can view the construction from many angles they can see and feel the denseness of the pads.  The pictures don't really, or can't really depict what one is really getting with the flats pads.  Though I do think they are worth ever cent of $35.00 that they cost.
 
Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of how the flats compare against the quarter modified comfies.
 

 

[Danthrax]

I was just thinking does the backplate need to be there what does it do?