[Kent0]

Should i do this mod on SR225i?

 

[Kojaku]

Should i do this mod on SR225i?

You're gonna have to be more specific, sonny.

Kojaku

 

[Kent0]

Quote:

You're gonna have to be more specific, sonny.
Kojaku

Oh my apologies, I mean the mod when you remove the grill cloth, and you poke holes onto it

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

Oh my apologies, I mean the mod when you remove the grill cloth, and you poke holes onto it

I hope you didnt do that, first removing that grill cloth is irreversible, and it doesnt really have any discernible benefits. The benefits the grill cloth provides outweigh any sort of placebo effect that accrues from removing it. Second the hole punch mod requires that you separate the driver housing from the cup. The holes in question are accessed on the rear side of the driver housing. You can separate the driver housing from the cup by removing the ear pads, and using a hair dryer to soften the glue that holds the two pieces of the ear assembly together. Once you've warmed the assembly up a bit, the two pieces can be separated by pulling them apart. My 225 doesnt have any holes punched anymore.The hole punch mod is reversible btw, so if your feeling adventurous give it a go. 2 or 3 is what most found to be ideal.

 

[Kent0]

Quote:

I hope you didnt do that, first removing that grill cloth is irreversible, and it doesnt really have any discernible benefits. The benefits the grill cloth provides outweigh any sort of placebo effect that accrues from removing it. Second the hole punch mod requires that you separate the driver housing from the cup. The holes in question are accessed on the rear side of the driver housing. You can separate the driver housing from the cup by removing the ear pads, and using a hair dryer to soften the glue that holds the two pieces of the ear assembly together. Once you've warmed the assembly up a bit, the two pieces can be separated by pulling them apart. My 225 doesnt have any holes punched anymore.The hole punch mod is reversible btw, so if your feeling adventurous give it a go. 2 or 3 is what most found to be ideal.

Thanks

 

[americandreaming]

I have a pair of sr-60s that I had planned to sell but decided to mod instead. So far I have removed the grill cloth, vented the holes and added felt to the magnet. Any advice on what to do next before putting the cups back on? Is it worth the cost of recabling or wooden cups?

 

[Brooko]

Just for anyone reading through the thread - my advice to first time modders .....
 

• Don't remove the grill cloth - it's there for a reason (to keep the driver free of dust / hair etc).  Removing it does virtually nothing to the sound.  Leave it intact.
• Felt / putty etc on the back of the driver also seems to do very little (if anything).  It's reversable - so try it both with and without, and see if you can actually spot a difference.
• To anyone venting the driver - start small.  Go two holes (one each side) first.  Then increase to 4 (2 each side) if you need to.  This mod is reversable (you can carefully put some thin cloth/porous paper back over the holes if you need to), but the reversal is tricky.  Better to start small and get sound right - rathern than venting 6+ holes and regretting it later.

 
Quote:

I have a pair of sr-60s that I had planned to sell but decided to mod instead. So far I have removed the grill cloth, vented the holes and added felt to the magnet. Any advice on what to do next before putting the cups back on? Is it worth the cost of recabling or wooden cups?

 
If you're keeping the plastic cups - you can also:
 - remove the rear grill, and replace it with a metal mesh
 - damp the inside of the cups with a bit of stick-on felt (I found this helped on the aluminium cups more than it did on the plastic)
 
If you're going wood instead - you don't need to worry.  If wood - look at the headphone lounge cups.  Advantage of wood is aesthetics, weight (very light), and they do take the edge of the sound a little (IMO tames the highs just a little, and adds a little more timbre - pardon the pun).
 
Cable is personal choice.  I don't believe it adds anything sonically (YMMV).  I did my recable purely because I couldn't stand the Grado cable (always twisting at the Y split).  It's not difficult to do yourself either (good learning experience).
 
The biggest change you'll get sonically is pad changes.  Worth trying:
- Rev mod Senn414s
- Bowls
- TTVJ flats (increase bass presence)
 
For lower end Grados, avoid the Jumbos (G Cush).

 

[parbaked]

If you don't want to change out the grills, you can just remove the buttons which will let 'em breath a bit more. I always thought it funny that Grado states improvement on the 225 by adding metal grills for more airflow, yet continue to button the lower models. Maybe one reason people prefer MS1 and MS2 to corresponding Graods. All my Grado's are 'unbuttoned'.
 
SR60
 

225i
 

 

[Kojaku]

Quote:

I have a pair of sr-60s that I had planned to sell but decided to mod instead. So far I have removed the grill cloth, vented the holes and added felt to the magnet. Any advice on what to do next before putting the cups back on? Is it worth the cost of recabling or wooden cups?

Oh no...We had many issues with the venting mod causing a ridiculous amount of upper-bass bleed. Recabling and wooden cups are the last 7.5% of your sound (even less, according to some folks), so if you're strapped for cash, then wait up on those two.
 
Kojaku

 

[americandreaming]

Quote:

Just for anyone reading through the thread - my advice to first time modders .....
 

• Don't remove the grill cloth - it's there for a reason (to keep the driver free of dust / hair etc).  Removing it does virtually nothing to the sound.  Leave it intact.
• Felt / putty etc on the back of the driver also seems to do very little (if anything).  It's reversable - so try it both with and without, and see if you can actually spot a difference.
• To anyone venting the driver - start small.  Go two holes (one each side) first.  Then increase to 4 (2 each side) if you need to.  This mod is reversable (you can carefully put some thin cloth/porous paper back over the holes if you need to), but the reversal is tricky.  Better to start small and get sound right - rathern than venting 6+ holes and regretting it later.

 
 
If you're keeping the plastic cups - you can also:
 - remove the rear grill, and replace it with a metal mesh
 - damp the inside of the cups with a bit of stick-on felt (I found this helped on the aluminium cups more than it did on the plastic)
 
If you're going wood instead - you don't need to worry.  If wood - look at the headphone lounge cups.  Advantage of wood is aesthetics, weight (very light), and they do take the edge of the sound a little (IMO tames the highs just a little, and adds a little more timbre - pardon the pun).
 
Cable is personal choice.  I don't believe it adds anything sonically (YMMV).  I did my recable purely because I couldn't stand the Grado cable (always twisting at the Y split).  It's not difficult to do yourself either (good learning experience).
 
The biggest change you'll get sonically is pad changes.  Worth trying:
- Rev mod Senn414s
- Bowls
- TTVJ flats (increase bass presence)
 
For lower end Grados, avoid the Jumbos (G Cush).

Thanks for the response... I guess I should have read through the whole thread before attempting surgery. I've already removed the grill cloth and opened all the vents, albeit with small holes. I put the felt on the back of the driver, which may not do anything. Up to this point it looks as though I've not affected or negatively affected these sr-60s???
 
If the wooden cups only add a bit a flavor it doesn't seem worth it to spend upwards of $100 to have them shipped to Europe. I was hoping it would turn these frogs into rs1s. ;^)
 
If I decide to recable, is there a consensus on a cable to use? In the op's mod an expensive silver cable is used. I do have some navships wire left over from some amps I built a while back, so that may be worth a try.
 
As for pads, I had already tried the senn414s, quartermods and TTVJ flats. The pads are getting old and, especially the TTVJs, releasing tons of dust. As for sound, I preferred the 414s to the TTVJs, which added bass but flattened the sound. I am definitely underwhelmed with the sr60 sound.

 

[americandreaming]

Quote:

If you don't want to change out the grills, you can just remove the buttons which will let 'em breath a bit more. I always thought it funny that Grado states improvement on the 225 by adding metal grills for more airflow, yet continue to button the lower models. Maybe one reason people prefer MS1 and MS2 to corresponding Graods. All my Grado's are 'unbuttoned'.
 
SR60
 

225i
 

Thanks, I forgot to mention that I popped these off as well. Looks like I finally got something right! Will have to put the cups back on to see if I can detect any change in sound for better or worse.

 

[americandreaming]

Quote:

Oh no...We had many issues with the venting mod causing a ridiculous amount of upper-bass bleed. Recabling and wooden cups are the last 7.5% of your sound (even less, according to some folks), so if you're strapped for cash, then wait up on those two.
 
Kojaku

Oh well, these cans never had much bass to bleed but I will listen for it.
 
Yeah, for the price of wooden cups and recabling I could pick up a nice set of mid tier phones or nice iems.

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

Thanks for the response... I guess I should have read through the whole thread before attempting surgery. I've already removed the grill cloth and opened all the vents, albeit with small holes. I put the felt on the back of the driver, which may not do anything. Up to this point it looks as though I've not affected or negatively affected these sr-60s???
 
If the wooden cups only add a bit a flavor it doesn't seem worth it to spend upwards of $100 to have them shipped to Europe. I was hoping it would turn these frogs into rs1s. ;^)
 
If I decide to recable, is there a consensus on a cable to use? In the op's mod an expensive silver cable is used. I do have some navships wire left over from some amps I built a while back, so that may be worth a try.
 
As for pads, I had already tried the senn414s, quartermods and TTVJ flats. The pads are getting old and, especially the TTVJs, releasing tons of dust. As for sound, I preferred the 414s to the TTVJs, which added bass but flattened the sound. I am definitely underwhelmed with the sr60 sound.

 
If the SR60is still sound OK to you then you definitely haven't harmed them
 
Re the wooden cups - I started with MS1i, added aluminium at one stage, then wood, then changed the drivers to SR325i.  I've been through all of the different pads.  I guess all up, I've probably spent around 300-400 with different mods - but I would have got half of that back through sales to others of the bits/pads/housings I didn't want.  So for maybe $250-$300 outlay all up (including the original MS1is), I now have a sweet sounding pair of modded 325is.  Do I regret the wood - no way!  How close is it to an RS1i - I have no idea.  Hoping to find out though one of these days.  In the meantime these sound great just the way they are.
 
Re cable - I just used Mogami mini-starquad and made it myself.  Cheap, functional, and a great learning experience.
 
BTW - you could also put up a WTB in the FS section - looking for either 325i or 225i drivers.  You may find someone who's done a magnum upgrade that might want to sell the drivers only.  then you're really in business.
 
FTR - here's my 325is - Cabillas fwj, Headphone Lounge headband, diy cable - few basic mods on the inside.
 

 

[VaryCold]

amazing, this is so exquisite, i wish i could do the same thing one day

 

[Kojaku]

Quote:

amazing, this is so exquisite, i wish i could do the same thing one day

It's a shame that Cabillas doesn't do these old cheap cups anymore...But Headphone Lounge provides all the modding you'll need. More standardized quality-wise, but slightly more expensive. Run by an old grado-head from this thread actually...
 
Kojaku