[Kiiskinen]

Hoo boy, I'm getting the ol' "You know, I bet I could do that" virus. Need to steer away right now.
 
Still, cheers. Great thread, will probably try some of the mods in the future.

 

[eclein]

I really, really wish we all lived closer so we could hear all these cool headphones we are making...some of this stuff is fricking awesome looking and for me the sound gets better and better.
The following is a list of all the mods I have done to these SR125's that a friend on audiocircle sent from Australia..these are the cans I had with me during the hospital stay and now Bill's Cocobolo Shells..so here is the list:
 
1) Took off White Linen
2) Replaced earpads with the Large bowl pads from headroom at $25 ish shipped
3) Opened the shells and put holes in all ten spots..started wuth four but now its ten
4) A friend here sent me some Dynamatt that I put on the back of each driver.
5) I removed screen and logo button from each shell in tact and before Bill shells arrived I used the screen and logo button to push up against a thin layer of foam at the end of the shell making the little chamber that has proven to be
 a key in elevating the sound for whatever reason.
6) Released from my Hospital stay and Bills Cocobolo Shells  arrive and the fun really begins..
7) I put on Bills shells but I don't own a soldering iron so I asked Bill if he could make a notch in each shell so I could just replace, he in fact made the shells with an inner lip so that the plastic driver tray wouldn't crush the cable and he also installed some screen mesh on each cup because he is "what a guy!!!"
8) So I put it all together and it sounds bright-sometimes too bright so I install the thin foam behind the screen and everything starts to fall into place. The sound is wonderful and being the nut I am I want better so I start talking to a friend who owns Wywire--they make interconnects,cable, new guys and the stuff sound excellent---I have his cable everywhere on my main rig.
9) Last night I said in a fit of anger because this health thing is a real pain in the ass and I start kinda throwing stuff around and I can't open DVD cases or soda cans because my hands hurt so much...then the "light bulb" in my head turned on.
10) I installed the EVS Ground enhancers one in each shells connected to the negative wire of the driver and wrp excess around the the radius of the driver back inside the shell hidden by the mesh screen and put everything back to gether...Holy Moly!!! Sound is just coming from the air around my head, the earpads make it feel like nothing is on my head and now music is just out there in space around my head and I'm like.."Thank You God"...LOL
 
The most impactful mods were the Dynmatt-just takes the edge off--amazing subtle change, the foam inside the shell creating a little dampening chamber, Bills Cocobolo Shells using that same foam idea inside his shell behind the screen mesh and the EVS sound enhancers in each shell attached to the negative terminal on each driver. 
 Only other thing I might consider is replacing the cable but for now...I have the finest sound from headphones and with Bills help and everyone who sent me little extra Dynamatt, encouragement, I have some special Headphones and with a wonderful fun story behind them about people helping people for no reason other than to make life better for them in some small way--this my friends is what Life is about!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!! 
 

 

[KneelJung]

Good stuff Ed.
 
I gather that EVS thing fits right in the cup and how did you attach it?
 
And is that the mod the black helicopter guy from Grado was curious about and what did he want to know?
 
I should just be satisfied with my stuff the way it is but it's like I've been infected with some sort of bug. The modded 60's sound great and I have an awesome pair of headphones hanging right next to them; but for some reason I feel compelled to partially liberate the driver and get rid of some of the plastic on the driver housing.
 
That and I want to do something with a pair of 225's now, and down the rabbit hole I go.

 

[mcgsxr]

The east indian rosewood cups I am using now are 1 inch deep.  They are working for me, though visually I would probably love 1/4 more depth.  The 1.75 deep bubinga cups I made did not work, the bass was missing.  Just my experience.
 
I am going to carve up a set of the African Blackwood cups too, since I have the wood, and all the tools - before I put the drill press away, I figure I might as well just for fun to compare to the east indian rosewood.

 

[Saintkeat]

How many of you actually experienced an improvement by removing the white linen on the front?
I'm going to do the dampening of the magnet but not the foam/felt on the inner shell, since I'm not venting the drivers.. I'm quite hesitant to vent the drivers since it's irreversible..
Zebrawood cups coming soon =D

 

[BobSaysHi]

lol at ground enhancer.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

The east indian rosewood cups I am using now are 1 inch deep.  They are working for me, though visually I would probably love 1/4 more depth.  The 1.75 deep bubinga cups I made did not work, the bass was missing.  Just my experience.
 
I am going to carve up a set of the African Blackwood cups too, since I have the wood, and all the tools - before I put the drill press away, I figure I might as well just for fun to compare to the east indian rosewood.

East Indian rosewood is great stuff.  Of the three woods I am most happy with, I would say they're Brazilian rosewood, cocobolo and East Indian rosewood - with cocobolo as my favorite practical choice (cost, availability, beauty, sound).  Any wood is better than plastic and some woods, while not at the top of the list, are pretty spanking good, including African paduak and zebrawood.  One wood that's really pretty but which I am not having a good time with is blood wood.  I think it's a wonderfully beautiful wood but it lacks the durability of cocobolo, Bolivian rosewood or even poplar, pine, whitewood and red oak.  I may have a piece that's too dry but I've been getting cracking, which is devastating when you spend this much time trying to make it perfect.
 
The rosewoods - Brazilian, Bolivian, East Indian and Mexican (cocobolo) are oily, which is annoying when cutting.  Not only does it take a while to cut through the hard wood but the oil gunks up the saw blade, which has to be cleaned repeatedly to get a clean cut.  That said, I now have a newfound appreciation for that oil, which keeps the wood supple.  Admittedly, it was a strange thing, one day, to finish a cut and to find a puddle of Penzoil forming beneath the lumber but the proof is in the pudding, and I guess I like my pudding oily.
 

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

How many of you actually experienced an improvement by removing the white linen on the front?
I'm going to do the dampening of the magnet but not the foam/felt on the inner shell, since I'm not venting the drivers.. I'm quite hesitant to vent the drivers since it's irreversible..
Zebrawood cups coming soon =D

Venting is not irreversible, a bit of felt/dampener/electrictape (haha yeah I used that) over the vented hole puts things back to rights.

 

[Danthrax]

I'd probably leave the white linen on front if I did it again especially if you have longer hair it can hit the driver and make an annoying sound.  Also venting the driver is kind of reversible you just recover the holes with felt or dynamat again. Just be careful and don't push through to the driver itself.

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

I'd probably leave the white linen on front if I did it again especially if you have longer hair it can hit the driver and make an annoying sound.  Also venting the driver is kind of reversible you just recover the holes with felt or dynamat again. Just be careful and don't push through to the driver itself.

On my first pair of grados, which were abused for about a year and a half, hair in the driver rattled quite loudly. On my new pair, which I've taken great care of, the hair doesn't rattle, but mutes the driver to some extent (hard to explain).

 

[Bilavideo]

 

How many of you actually experienced an improvement by removing the white linen on the front?
I'm going to do the dampening of the magnet but not the foam/felt on the inner shell, since I'm not venting the drivers.. I'm quite hesitant to vent the drivers since it's irreversible..
Zebrawood cups coming soon =D

 
A little dynamat will reverse any venting you make, but once you hear the drivers vented, even with a couple of holes, the process will truly be irreversible as you'll never go back.  Early on, when it was just crazy ol' Bilavideo talking about the mod, I heard lots of water-cooler talk about how it was going to make the bass flabby but my experience has been quite different.  Where, but on a headphone driver, would anybody seal the basket in felt, thereby reducing the volume?  It's the kind of move one would make to damp a tweeter to prevent it from ringing - even at raising the Fs and narrowing its useful range.  Look at any loudspeaker and you'll see a diaphragm (like the Mylar diaphragm of the Grados) suspended over a voice coil and magnet, and held into place by a basket.  Baskets are not typically sealed, either by a non-permeable or semi-permeable damping.  Damping of the cabinet takes place within the cabinet, not right behind the diaphragm.  The real reason to damp with felt is to compensate for the horrible acoustics of a plastic air chamber.  Once you vent the driver, you become immediately aware of the limitations and imperfections of your plastic violin.  In its top models, Grado vents the drivers - but those models involve mahogany or mahogany and aluminum, not plastic.
 
As for removing the grill cloth, I think it improves airflow, which improves both the bass and the treble.  Most importantly, it removes a source of downward modification - like the faux air chambers on the old iGrados.  One way to make a lower Grado sound less clear and transparent is to slop something onto the grill cloth.  I'm not saying Grado does this.  I just know that every time I remove my grill cloth, I get better performance out of my Grados, especially if I've also vented the drivers.
 
Just a thought.
 
 

 

[Saintkeat]

Thanks bill! Nice write up!
I'm just worried I won't like the sound after I vent the drivers and can't go back! To be honest I find sr80s slightly veiled with a lot of sibilance. I think the bass response is decent. With the zebrawood cups they should be even more so. Just not sure if its worth the risk if I could possibly be satisfied with the sound... I won't know till I install the cups though..

Exciting times ahead!

 

[eclein]

Quote:

Good stuff Ed.
 
I gather that EVS thing fits right in the cup and how did you attach it?

Ok...Here are some pics of the insides, they may  look rough but they sound pretty cool and everything is temporary so we can try new stuff...here goes and if your reading this and you work for Grado please do not look at these pictures...LOL.

 
 

 

[eclein]

Quote:

Good stuff Ed.
 
I gather that EVS thing fits right in the cup and how did you attach it?

Ok...Here are some pics of the insides, they may  look rough but they sound pretty cool and everything is temporary so we can try new stuff...here goes and if your reading this and you work for Grado please do not look at these pictures...LOL.

 
 

 

[mcgsxr]

Are those rear cups a friction fit to the front plastic stock ones, or are you using something (I am using blu-tack) to hold the 2 cups together?