[Mochan]

Personally I found that the dampening doesn't enhance bass, just takes out the glare in the treble. 
The holes in the back felt didn't *seem* to do much but it might just be that all the other mods I made on my pair made it too hard to discern the difference the holes made.
 
I think maybe to get more effect for bass, instead of punching holes maybe you can remove the entire black felt-like thing around the drivers instead of just punching holes. Punching holes didn't make much of a diff on my already heavily-modded pair.
 
The mods I found that added a lot of bass were:
 
Pleather Pads.I found some Pleathers that I was able to wrap around the normal bowls, comfies or flat pads of the Grados. This *really* added a lot of bass.
 

 
Distancers -- adding distancers seems to enhance the bass response probably because of the greater space for the air to move. This works great with the Pleather Pads mentioned above.
 
Any other mods I did didn't really affect the bass as much. But the one biggest upgrade in bass I got was from pad rolling.
 
Quote:

Likely... 

 

 

[Bilavideo]

 

Well now that you've tested a variety of different things with the SR60's are you going to try with a pair of SR225i's next time?

I have a pair of SR225i's that I've recently acquired.  I vented the drivers, which brought out the bass as I had hoped it would.  The bass now has a kick to it that more closely matches that of the PS1000.  I wouldn't go back.  The next steps will be to upgrade the housing and recable with silver.  I look forward to taking these headphones to the next level.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

Personally I found that the dampening doesn't enhance bass, just takes out the glare in the treble. 
The holes in the back felt didn't *seem* to do much but it might just be that all the other mods I made on my pair made it too hard to discern the difference the holes made.
 
I think maybe to get more effect for bass, instead of punching holes maybe you can remove the entire black felt-like thing around the drivers instead of just punching holes. Punching holes didn't make much of a diff on my already heavily-modded pair.
 
The mods I found that added a lot of bass were:
 
Pleather Pads.I found some Pleathers that I was able to wrap around the normal bowls, comfies or flat pads of the Grados. This *really* added a lot of bass.
 
Distancers -- adding distancers seems to enhance the bass response probably because of the greater space for the air to move. This works great with the Pleather Pads mentioned above.
 
Any other mods I did didn't really affect the bass as much. But the one biggest upgrade in bass I got was from pad rolling.

 
Just a couple of points in reply:
 
1. Damping does enhance bass, just not directly.  A large spike can force you to turn down the volume to smooth out the spike.  If you can find another way to do that, you can turn the volume up, which also brings up the bass.
 
2. I know you've said - repeatedly - that venting didn't work for you.  On the other hand, I've tried it - repeatedly - and found it to work just fine.  It's not the only way to bring up the bass, but it's an effective way to get it without having to amp up.  My M^3 will force the airflow needed to hear that bass, but venting helps me bridge the gap unamped.  At this point, the debate is not really whether venting works but how many holes to vent before discovering the law of diminishing returns.  Grado vents its top cans, but sticks to four holes.
 
3. Removing the entire black felt is not a suitable solution.  That black felt serves a useful purpose.  It damps the hard, plastic ring on the driver back.  There's no benefit to removing it where doing so would provide no venting at all.
 
4. With respect to the pleather pads, pleather does maximize bass but at a cost.  I've always found it to *really* muddy up the presentation.  I prefer the more breathable Grado cushions and velour pads from beyerdynamics.
 
5. With respect to pad rolling, you get more bass as you scale down, but you also get a smaller soundstage.  The advantage of venting is that it lets you produce more bass, enabling you to use the jumbos, which have a lot more soundstage than the flats.

 

[Mochan]

The Flats are indeed my fave, I like how it smoothens out the HF actually, so I don't need to make any mods to it.
 
While moving down to flats does remove soundstage, the use of the Pleather Pads actually increases soundstage as it actually adds distance due to their size. I do agree it muddies the mids up, though.
 
I'll take your word that venting increases the bass. All the stuff I put in probably made it less noticeable. 
 

 

[Bilavideo]

 

The Flats are indeed my fave, I like how it smoothens out the HF actually, so I don't need to make any mods to it.
 
While moving down to flats does remove soundstage, the use of the Pleather Pads actually increases soundstage as it actually adds distance due to their size. I do agree it muddies the mids up, though.
 
I'll take your word that venting increases the bass. All the stuff I put in probably made it less noticeable. 
 

Every action has a consequence and every choice a tradeoff.  The flats really do enhance bass and, with a little surgery, can do so without sounding muted.  I usually take a millimeter or two from the center ring.  One thing I like about the flats over the jumbos is the lower profile and greater stability.  With jumbos, you really have a helmet.  Flats bring the experience down to a cozy level.

 

[earthpeople]

So I attempted to do some modding earlier this morning on my SR80s. I poked out a few of those holes in the back, lined the inside of the cups with some blutak (or handitak in this case), and put some on the back of the driver and behind the button. I was originally going to remove the button, but it's not hot glued on and I didn't want to risk breaking it.
 
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few.
 




(I tried to put the pictures in spoiler tags, but it didn't work out)
 
Basically it's like the felt thing from earlier in the thread, except I used different stuff.
Haven't had any thorough testing, but I did test it out on a few songs that I remember feeling were too hot up top. It seems to have tamed the treble a noticeable degree, but it may also be because it was still early in the morning. I'll have to listen more.
 
I only poked out four of the venting holes so far, figuring I would go slowly and increase if I want more. I'm planning to open them back up for a recable in the next week or two and I think I will do a few more at that time. I'm not sure though, as I'm still planning to make some wooden chambers for them and I'm not sure how much that will affect the sound.

 

[zero7525]

Quote:

 
Basically it's like the felt thing from earlier in the thread, except I used different stuff.
Haven't had any thorough testing, but I did test it out on a few songs that I remember feeling were too hot up top. It seems to have tamed the treble a noticeable degree, but it may also be because it was still early in the morning. I'll have to listen more.
 
I only poked out four of the venting holes so far, figuring I would go slowly and increase if I want more. I'm planning to open them back up for a recable in the next week or two and I think I will do a few more at that time. I'm not sure though, as I'm still planning to make some wooden chambers for them and I'm not sure how much that will affect the sound.

Very clean stuff! Nice job. I did the same but using dynamat on the drivers and it did cool down the hot treble, on my sr 225.
 

 

[Bilavideo]

Beautiful!  I like your tak.  It not only does the job but I think it does it better since it uses up less space than the adhesive felt.  Well done!

 

[inteificio]

I put bluetack on the back of the buds like above, but could not notice a single bit of difference.
 
Lining the sides too, nothing!
 
So am leaving bare plastic with a bit of foam in the end to stop dust.
 
Anything I put in there seems to cause distortion

 

[zero7525]

Quote:

I put bluetack on the back of the buds like above, but could not notice a single bit of difference.
 
Lining the sides too, nothing!
 
So am leaving bare plastic with a bit of foam in the end to stop dust.
 
Anything I put in there seems to cause distortion

I don't know what you are talking about, but I notice a great difference when i applied dampening tar on the drivers.
I didn't put it on the chambers or button, but I sure as hell noticed a difference right away, and a good one at that. 

 

[Bilavideo]

UPDATE
 
It has been a busy weekend.  Thanks to my wife, who wanted me to be happy for my big 4-5, I now have a drill press. 

 
Now, I'm truly dangerous, though also safer than I was when trying to hold my drill steady without taking off a leg with a hole saw.
 

 
My son calls it the Death Star because it has "laser sighting."  In truth, it's that center hole, driven in by the drill bit, itself, that keeps me grounded.
 

 
The cool thing is that this machine likes to make shells.  It pops them out like doughnuts - and I haven't lost a finger yet.
 

 
This oak is a little harder than what I started with and it comes out of the drill press looking fairly decent.
 

 
Absent the herky-jerky of doom, which I try to avoid, I get pieces I can sand down with a dremel, another piece of equipment I acquired today.
 

 
I'm still working on these.  After sanding them smooth and getting rid of any sharp edges, I brushed them with a light stain so they would settle into something still light enough to show off the grain.  Tomorrow, I'll throw on the second coat.  When they dry, I'll hit them with lacquer.  I'm hoping they'll candy up with some TLC.

 

[Anaxilus]

LOL!  Is that set up in your dining room?!  You better treat her to a nice evening out if that's the case.  Haha!!

 

[Bilavideo]

LOL!  Is that set up in your dining room?!  You better treat her to a nice evening out if that's the case.  Haha!!

I couldn't resist.  She was out buying a dress.  I got my son to come home and help me put it together.  He brought a buddy.  They went to town on it.  When they were done, I just had to fire it up.  I made 7 shells out of a half-sheet of oak.  When it was over, we all rushed around to remove every trace of the sawdust Hell we had created in what will always be "her" house.
 
I still got busted.  She could hear me sanding when she called.  It didn't take long to figure out that where there's sanding, there's cutting.  But it was worth it.

 

[baka1969]

Damn that looks good!

 

[nickchen]

I must confess, that laser thing is extremely cool.