[JamesMcProgger]

very impressive cups, i want to see the final mod already 

 

[xaval]

Great job Chris! Like a lot...

 

[eclein]

Chris--you have been holding out on us you dog, are they yours?? If so I'm really jealous, nice work my friend!!!!!!
 Pre Med could always be Pre-Master Woodworker, probably better money the first ten years considering loans, insurance and of course more insurance and then there is always more insurance......every doctor I know thinks its crazy to become a doctor right now so I applaud your upstream swim Chris, we need Doctors no doubt, you'll be fine because your a sharp guy!!!!

 

[schwallman]

*ahem*
 

 

 
I'll just leave these here. 

Marty is awesome. You get what you pay for.

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

*ahem*
 

 
I'll just leave these here. 

Very nice Chris...what kind of wood is that?
 

 

[Bigrock2150]

Quote:

*ahem*
 

 

 
I'll just leave these here. 

Great craftsmanship. Mahogany? Just a little friendly suggestion, you may want to shorten the length. I started my first generation of cups at about that length and I had a lot of customers request that I shorten them. I still believe that deep cups change the sound in the most drastic way (bass, and soundstage) ; but there's definitely a compromise with weight, comfort, and looks while on the head.
 
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

Quote:

Great craftsmanship. Mahogany? Just a little friendly suggestion, you may want to shorten the length. I started my first generation of cups at about that length and I had a lot of customers request that I shorten them. I still believe that deep cups change the sound in the most drastic way (bass, and soundstage) ; but there's definitely a compromise with weight, comfort, and looks while on the head.
 
 

yeah, the jaben alumunium cups are pretty deep and heavy, tho the heavyness comes from the PS1000 like back, but yes the fact that they are deep makes the bass more boomy, which ic a goos thing for some (most) of grado fans. im sure the wooden ones are less heavy
 

 

[Cheeznuklz]

Hello!  I've been lurking in this site and thread for a few days now and had a few questions.  Firstly, this thread is astonishing.  I just bought a pair of SR60i's this week (upgrading from a pair of the $130 Bose over-ears) and the more basic mods here have raised the sound quality from superb to downright breathtaking.  That said I'm very interested in re-cabling and/or buying an amp (FiiO E11 perhaps).  In my very basic understanding the silver wire and amp essentially perform the same task - getting more power to the drivers.  Is one more advantageous than the other, or are the improvements mutually exclusive?  I mostly listen on a 4th Gen iTouch, if that matters.
 
TL;DR:  Rewire or amp?
 
Thanks!

 

[sml1226]

Hello!  I've been lurking in this site and thread for a few days now and had a few questions.  Firstly, this thread is astonishing.  I just bought a pair of SR60i's this week (upgrading from a pair of the $130 Bose over-ears) and the more basic mods here have raised the sound quality from superb to downright breathtaking.  That said I'm very interested in re-cabling and/or buying an amp (FiiO E11 perhaps).  In my very basic understanding the silver wire and amp essentially perform the same task - getting more power to the drivers.  Is one more advantageous than the other, or are the improvements mutually exclusive?  I mostly listen on a 4th Gen iTouch, if that matters.
 
TL;DR:  Rewire or amp?
 
Thanks!

All Grado cables are pretty nice to begin with, even being flimsy compared to the 125 and up cables, the SR60i has a nice cable. I'd get an amp first.

 

[Hennyo]

Just a *hopeful* note on wood choice. Here's a man who would really like to see Brazilian-Tiger-Mahogany used for  cups. I think it is an absolutely stunning wood that speaks volumes for itself, but it's also a very durable wood. I believe Janka places it at 2nd hardest, right behind Lignum Vitae. I'm not sure how this would make for sound, but regardless, whoever has cups of Brazilian Tiger Mahogany wins a trophy in my book.
 
Brazilian-Tiger-Mahogany:

 

 

(I'm really having an affair with BTM.) Only wood I'll ever..... Please experiment somebody! Astonishing, I would almost pay for some pictures of the cups!
 
 

 

[BossBorot]

Quote:

Hello!  I've been lurking in this site and thread for a few days now and had a few questions.  Firstly, this thread is astonishing.  I just bought a pair of SR60i's this week (upgrading from a pair of the $130 Bose over-ears) and the more basic mods here have raised the sound quality from superb to downright breathtaking.  That said I'm very interested in re-cabling and/or buying an amp (FiiO E11 perhaps).  In my very basic understanding the silver wire and amp essentially perform the same task - getting more power to the drivers.  Is one more advantageous than the other, or are the improvements mutually exclusive?  I mostly listen on a 4th Gen iTouch, if that matters.
 
TL;DR:  Rewire or amp?
 
Thanks!

Although it depends on the device that you are outputting from and the recording quality of the output; as an electrical engineer who has designed a few op amps I can say that unless there is something horribly wrong with the cable an amp will be a much better investment in sound quality especially with the price of silver these days.
 
Also you can recable fairly cheaply in copper and make a reasonable cable unlike the grado cable which seems to be designed for the green giant on pea cans.
 
edit: The point of an amp is not necessarily to get more power to the drivers. The point of an amp is to amplify a signal. Almost all audio source products have some form of an amp onboard and all consumer grade portable devices certainly do. There are many factors to take into account for amping including size, temp, tolerances, cost, frequency dependence, phase gain margin, phase shifts, and delay to mention a few all of which affect the end design of the device. Essentially you are amping a device when you increase the volume and without an amp you likely couldn't hear any output. By amping externally from the device you can have a better sounding signal for any given volume above the initial input. This happens because when you amp externally you circumvent many of the design considerations of amping in the player. You can use better quality components which are larger then those typically used portably, are not as limited by cost, are not as space limited, and can work at higher voltages all of which translate to a closer to ideal amping process compared with onboard designs.
 
Basically by amping externally you can have a less distorted signal for any given volume past that of the input into the op amp.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

very impressive cups, i want to see the final mod already 

They should be all put together... sometime this weekend, maybe a bit later.
 

 
My beautiful cable.. <3 Stefan.
 


Quote:

Great job Chris! Like a lot...

 
Thank you and I didn't make them. Marty is the man. Wish I could take credit though! I did make a shelf once...


Quote:

Chris--you have been holding out on us you dog, are they yours?? If so I'm really jealous, nice work my friend!!!!!!
 Pre Med could always be Pre-Master Woodworker, probably better money the first ten years considering loans, insurance and of course more insurance and then there is always more insurance......every doctor I know thinks its crazy to become a doctor right now so I applaud your upstream swim Chris, we need Doctors no doubt, you'll be fine because your a sharp guy!!!!

They are mine and they should be in the mail tomorrow. I didn't do the work. I'll just stick to cutting up people and leave the wood to the pros. Lol 
 
 
 
Quote:

Very nice Chris...what kind of wood is that?
 

That is Bloodwood. It seems to be a kind of lighter bloodwood than what you typically see. I'll update with more pictures if it turns out to be darker than what it seems in the pics. Which would be fine too. I really like both rose and bloodwood. 
 
Quote:

Marty is awesome. You get what you pay for.

Agreed! 


Quote:

Quote:

Great craftsmanship. Mahogany? Just a little friendly suggestion, you may want to shorten the length. I started my first generation of cups at about that length and I had a lot of customers request that I shorten them. I still believe that deep cups change the sound in the most drastic way (bass, and soundstage) ; but there's definitely a compromise with weight, comfort, and looks while on the head.
 
 

Bloodwood. I think you might be getting it mixed up. These are single stage cups. So what you see is exactly what I'll be putting the driver in. They don't seem to terribly long to me. I guess they do stick out about a good cm more than stock cups. Anyhow, I love the look. I think they will look great no matter if they have bowls or jumbos. It is kind of a reversed 325 into rs1 shell. I love the angle towards the inside of the cup. They are certainly original. 


Quote:

Hello!  I've been lurking in this site and thread for a few days now and had a few questions.  Firstly, this thread is astonishing.  I just bought a pair of SR60i's this week (upgrading from a pair of the $130 Bose over-ears) and the more basic mods here have raised the sound quality from superb to downright breathtaking.  That said I'm very interested in re-cabling and/or buying an amp (FiiO E11 perhaps).  In my very basic understanding the silver wire and amp essentially perform the same task - getting more power to the drivers.  Is one more advantageous than the other, or are the improvements mutually exclusive?  I mostly listen on a 4th Gen iTouch, if that matters.
 
TL;DR:  Rewire or amp?
 
Thanks!

In my opinion Amp>rewire. In fact, I don't really think you need to rewire. I bought an 8 conductor silver cable. Well, mostly because I wanted to. I will comment on whatever effects I think it has, but I'm not expecting night or day. Just for it to maybe put the icing on the grado cake for me. Also seeing as you are using an iTouch.. LOD LOD LOD.. I highly suggest you look into getting a LOD into an amp, I think you will see more improvement with a LOD and amp than anyone has ever seen with any cable. 
 
 
Quote:

 
Brazilian-Tiger-Mahogany:
 

(I'm really having an affair with BTM.) Only wood I'll ever..... Please experiment somebody! Astonishing, I would almost pay for some pictures of the cups!

 
BEAUTIFUL WOOD.
 
 
Here's to completing my grado mod (at least mostly, who knows if I'll decide to further customize it a bit here and there. But, the gist of it is done)
 
BTW: A link to marty's page.. In case anyone else is interested in cups by him. http://www.head-fi.org/user/mlantinen
 
I don't really know what his intentions are as far as making more cups or prices or anything like that. But, I think the shells I've got on the way are pretty gorgeous. More impressions when I actually get them.
 
Now, the question is.. Do i do the recable and woodies one at a time? or both? It would be convenient to do both. I think I'll just borrow a soldering iron and do it in two stages. AFTER I get my amp too. So i can give the best impressions possible. It's not gonna be easy to resist. Especially with this lovely cable staring at me.

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Just a *hopeful* side note on wood choice. Here there's a man who would really like to see Brazilian-Tiger-Mahogany used for  cups. I think it is an absolutely stunning wood that speaks volumes for itself, but it's also a very durable wood. I believe Janka places it at 2nd hardest, right behind Lignum Vitae. I'm not sure how this would make for sound, but regardless, whoever has cups of Brazilian Tiger Mahogany wins a trophy in my book.
 
Brazilian-Tiger-Mahogany:
<SNIP>
 

My mind staggers just trying to imagine how expensive that floor must be.
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

My mind staggers just trying to imagine how expensive that floor must be.
 

 
and to think.. they are spending money for wood they are going to walk on. They aren't even building cups out of it!
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Soooo. Which method am I going to use to partially liberate my drivers?