[wje]

Quote:

Thanks again guys.
 
So am I safe to punch holes in my 325is?

Yes, you should be OK.  The rumor is that the 225i and 325i use the same driver (or, they're selected the same - 0.5 tolerance levels).  I have a few 225s with the rear holes opened - the improvement is noticeable.  Plus, as Chris said earlier, one can reverse the hole tricks - to a degree by covering them again with some muslin fabric.  I've used felt before to cover them - as it seems to retain the bass, but not allow it to be overwhelming if you're opening 10 or so holes.
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

GO BILL!!
 
We're gonna pitch in for a diamond drill bit for you and help you launch your own line of power tools:
 

That was a cruel trick to post some cheers for Bill - and a picture of lathe.  Hopefully, he's hard at work, but then the rational side of me kind of creates a feeling of indigestion at this point in time.  

 

 

[one19]

I'm holding out hope that bila will soon show up and get things right. He's working hard right now to make amends... I don't know that for sure, I'm just demonstrating my optimistic side.

 

[radio-head]

either way, everyone gave bill so many chances but he still didn't pull through.
i just want my headphones back.
i hear usps never takes longer then 9days so that tracking # was never a real one.
why even bother doing that is my question.

 

[wje]

Quote:

either way, everyone gave bill so many chances but he still didn't pull through.
i just want my headphones back.
i hear usps never takes longer then 9days so that tracking # was never a real one.
why even bother doing that is my question.

I'd submit requests to get your money back to him via PayPal - if that's the method you used to pay.  I think if he starts to see a dozen or so requests for money back, something might trigger in his mind to make good - awfully fast.
 
Believe me, it pains me to see this go on.  I've had some good conversations with him via PM.  He's got talent and great ideas - but, most of all, he isn't afraid to try something.  However, all of that "trying" must have proven something by now and he should be able to turn out some standards on a regular basis.  Then again, he might have worked through all of his materials at this point.  He did mention a few months back that he had 90 Lbs. of wood on order.  I'm sure with the lathe issues, he might have had to cut some cups two or even three times - which may have meant that the materials went pretty quick.  Trust me, I don't mean to criticize the guy - I do believe he has it in him to make good with the customers.  However, it would be nice to see one or two orders popping up every few days in this thread - but, we're not even seeing that.

 

[wje]

OK, the real reason that I came back to the thread tonight wasn't to talk about Bill's cups.  Instead, I want to talk about liberating Grado drivers.  We've had discussions on hammers, chisels and even sharpened mini screwdrivers to get the drivers separated from the small plastic cup.  There's another method that I've figured out - and, it preserves the little plastic cup in the event you ever need to reverse this modification.  What is the secret?  Brute Force.  Yes, brute force.  First of all, you set the back cups of the drivers on a soft cloth on your workbench.  The driver with the screening should be facing up.  With a clean 1 1/4" socket, you set it on the front surface of the driver.  You then get your rubber mallet out and smack it about 5 times.  Wham-O!  The driver is liberated and the mini cups can be put away with your other headphone parts pile in the event you need them in the future.

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

either way, everyone gave bill so many chances but he still didn't pull through.
i just want my headphones back.
i hear usps never takes longer then 9days so that tracking # was never a real one.
why even bother doing that is my question.

I wonder if he inadvertently sent your stuff to the wrong customer. Just a thought. My experience with Bill was a lot different. So different that it's hard to believe we're having this discussion; but too many people are saying the same things. I woodied mt first set of headphones with his cups because of this thread I source an expensive piece of African Blackwood and paid somebody to turn it, again because of this thread some PM's I exchanged with Bill, and his enthusiasm. Never at any time did I ever think he was anything but a great guy with a generous spirit that started something special with this thread. I have no idea what's going on but he needs to provide an explanation, make restitution, and ask for forgiveness. I think wje's suggestion is agood one. PM him and demand your money and your gear back.
 
 

 

[one19]

WJE, your comments describing bila's strengths and weaknesses, his drive and apparent scatter-brained approach to project management -- all your words remind me of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. As celebrated and brilliant as he was, he was also a scoundrel, often borrowing from one project to complete another. He left a trail of lies, debt, destruction, and broken hearts with colleagues, clients, and especially, his family.
 
I saw that on Inside the Music on VH1... NO! Just kidding, but it does sound like the story of a broke-dick rock star, doesn't it? I guess my point is that talent and madness often live in close proximity within the very creative...
 
Anyway, I digress. Kindly accept my apologies for hi-jacking this thread momentarily.

 

[wje]

Quote:

BTW: I'm anxiously awaiting your "Woodied Grado Review" 

Yeah, me too.  

   I'm not too sure when I should start writing the review.  See, my views - or, hearing might be a bit jaded at the moment being there's a pair of Alessandro MS-Pro headphones in my house at the moment.  I hope that I will be able to be as objective as possible.  Though, I will admit, the differences in performance when taking such a leap in price doesn't always equate to and equal amount of performance gain.  Then again, that has been brought up many times here on the forum through the various discussions.
 
Unfortunately, this week, I'm pulling the work / family / hobby balance and trying to keep everything straight.  Tomorrow, I have to wake up a bit earlier to head out and get donuts for the group as well as the HR guy that was responsible for working on the re-write of the job description that I've moved into.  I realize donuts are not nearly enough, but I need to at least show a bit of appreciation for his efforts.  
 
I did take my burls and Sapeles into work today.  There's a co-worker that was very interested in the wood that I had described to her.  Typically, she uses ear buds with her iPod.  I connected the cable between her iPod to my FioO E11 while I had to go and work with some clients.  She played through her favorite songs and tried both headphones out.  She was quite impressed.  I don't recall which she said she like better - it may have been the burl pair.
 
In this world of Bose, it's amazing how people can react when you offer up some real gear that can perform ... and, usually cost a bit less than Bose.  They actually are quite impressed.
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

OK, the real reason that I came back to the thread tonight wasn't to talk about Bill's cups.  Instead, I want to talk about liberating Grado drivers.  We've had discussions on hammers, chisels and even sharpened mini screwdrivers to get the drivers separated from the small plastic cup.  There's another method that I've figured out - and, it preserves the little plastic cup in the event you ever need to reverse this modification.  What is the secret?  Brute Force.  Yes, brute force.  First of all, you set the back cups of the drivers on a soft cloth on your workbench.  The driver with the screening should be facing up.  With a clean 1 1/4" socket, you set it on the front surface of the driver.  You then get your rubber mallet out and smack it about 5 times.  Wham-O!  The driver is liberated and the mini cups can be put away with your other headphone parts pile in the event you need them in the future.

*noted*
 
P.S. I've managed to get my hands on a sizeable vinyl collection and player. I've got it kind of rigged up right now to my headphones. Nothing above mid fi as far as the player goes. but, its still really neat. I'd kill for the chance to hear a good high fidelity vinyl set up. I can definitely say that is on my list of things to acquire in life.. Right behind a home. I got some really neat vinyls, a nice copy of thriller, a signed copy of blizzard of ozz, the all pink vinyl Stoner Witch by the Melvins. It's nice to start up a collection this way, but I know they are going to tempt me throughout college. We'll see what I end up doing.
 
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

*noted*
 
P.S. I've managed to get my hands on a sizeable vinyl collection and player. I've got it kind of rigged up right now to my headphones. Nothing above mid fi as far as the player goes. but, its still really neat. I'd kill for the chance to hear a good high fidelity vinyl set up. I can definitely say that is on my list of things to acquire in life.. Right behind a home. I got some really neat vinyls, a nice copy of thriller, a signed copy of blizzard of ozz, the all pink vinyl Stoner Witch by the Melvins. It's nice to start up a collection this way, but I know they are going to tempt me throughout college. We'll see what I end up doing.
 
 

 
Wow, that's great.  What I'm finding even more amazing is the companies out there that can clean an album to restore most of its true fidelity.  As most of us know, when albums were being played "back in the day", one didn't always take the best care of them - especially in the wee hours of an all-nighter party.   

 
 

 

[kongmw]

Quote:

OK, the real reason that I came back to the thread tonight wasn't to talk about Bill's cups.  Instead, I want to talk about liberating Grado drivers.  We've had discussions on hammers, chisels and even sharpened mini screwdrivers to get the drivers separated from the small plastic cup.  There's another method that I've figured out - and, it preserves the little plastic cup in the event you ever need to reverse this modification.  What is the secret?  Brute Force.  Yes, brute force.  First of all, you set the back cups of the drivers on a soft cloth on your workbench.  The driver with the screening should be facing up.  With a clean 1 1/4" socket, you set it on the front surface of the driver.  You then get your rubber mallet out and smack it about 5 times.  Wham-O!  The driver is liberated and the mini cups can be put away with your other headphone parts pile in the event you need them in the future.

I wish I had a set of sockets for this, and the quarter mod too!
What I found out was that by first removing the eight little plastic nubs on the inside of the plastic cup, behind the driver, and then sticking a knife to the crease in front, around the circumference, the driver can be pushed out from the front without too much hassle, and the little plastic cup is more or less in good shape, if you need to go back to it later. 
This is probably nothing new though, I watched bila's videos on youtube and saw somebody suggesting removing the nubs first, so i just sort of combined both of them, although there would be no hammering involved at all. (mainly cuz I was first doing this late at night and didn't want to wake up the neighbors as i live in an apt building)
 

 

[schwallman]

A thing I noticed with Bill is he portrayed himself as someone that will tell you want you want to hear even if its not true,. Come on he was a lawyer! When my one day turn around turned into almost two months. With every PM came promises they were in the mail the next day. He would always throw in something to lighten up the situation. I didn't care for it but I went along with it since he had my hf2 cups.
 
So I finally got something in the mail that resembled a cup and was made aware they were only prototypes. News to me. They weren't even the same shells he sent pics of two weeks prior(when they were done?) Also in the box, because of the long wait was two random shells that to me were just some crap he grabbed off the bench and threw in the box.
 
So I was not happy and he knew it. We went back and forth in pms and he wanted to redeem himself. So I gave him the chance. The next set were not any better. I went with a local guy to get my headphones back together. It cost me more money but the guy knew what he was doing.
 
So Bill saw I was unhappy and sent me a refund and demanded his shells back. Since I didn't ask for a refund, I didn't feel the need to waste my time on getting him his shells back. I also didn't appreciate how I was told to return his shells. Now they sit on my desk. One of them holds a nasty blob of dynamat I took off of a sheet.
 
I have given him feedback on the shells he sent and see none of it was used. In some of his last pictures posted of alot of shells with lacquer plastered all over them was a hint that he didn't care for the feedback.
 
I think he was always trying to come up with the next great thing and was never really good at just making decent cups. If he tried and focused on one thing at a time he could probably produce some nice work. The pine shells he showed off some time ago has some promise and I really do hope he does get his act together and get everyone what they paid for and just get back to sharing good info.
 
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

I wish I had a set of sockets for this, and the quarter mod too!
 

The good thing about a set of sockets that are over-sized is that you can actually find one to make your "quarter-mod" slightly bigger than the quarter, which will give you more open driver area for your ears to hear without being baffled by the foam ear pads.   In my case, my regular sockets don't work for those over-sized quarter mods, nor the 1 1/4" for liberating the driver.  I actually have to pull out my sockets designed for use with my torque wrench as those tend to feature the larger sizes that are needed.
 
 
 

 

[shipsupt]

I noticed my girlfriend had some Cheap napkin holders made of thin sheet metal. Seemed they would be perfect for cutting the quarter mod in one shot as the edge is pretty sharp. Another alternative to using a socket... I'll try to see if I can grab one and post a pick and also find out where she got them...