[EddieE]

I might be way off, but not for the reason you suggest.

Grados are open phones - a massive part of their sound is based around air flow.

Put your hand over the grills and you close them. They weren't designed to be closed phones and will sound awful.

The same goes for RS1, MS2i or SR60 - Wood, "Metal" or plastic.

I think we are talking at cross purposes here.

Of course I agree the material the sound bounces off is important - I've heard how lucuious RS1s sound compared to their plastic brethren in the SR series.

My point was simply that the notion that the SR325/MS2 are "metal" may be over stated, since the sound never actually touches any metal besides the grill.

EDIT:

To try and be clearer - here is the picture I am talking about:

See what I mean? Where does the sound have a chance to "bounce off metal"? Looks to me like this is a myth and the SR325/MS2, just like every other SR is a plastic based set of phones.

Now Rhydon removes that plastic ring inside and replaces it with one made of his spec metal, making it a real metal Grado - metal driver housing and metal insert for it to slide into.

Presumably whether Rhydon receives plastic, wood or "metal" phones, he places this insert inside, which makes the magnum sound.

So why would it make a difference which phone you send him? Same driver. Same driver housing. Same insert for the driver housing to slide into. Same phone.

I could imagine that the extra weight of the "metal" models might make a subtle difference, as might the grill material, and the size/shape of the air chamber, but I don't imagine these changes would be as big as the ones the magnum mod itself brings about.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

^ A question John maybe able to answer..

 

[EddieE]

Semi Audiophile,

I don't beleive it does travel straight out either... my point is that, based on the photograph Ryhdon posted of the inside of the MS2i, there is no point on the interior of the stock MS2i or SR325i where the metal outer housing is exposed.

It's all plastic.

See the image above.

 

[ScottieB]

Ah ok I gotcha fair enough... isn't this the point of this mod, though? Or is there still that much plastic in there?

 

[sydneyaudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xan7hos /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think if Rhydon or some other head-fiers finds a way to make them compatible with the GS/PS1k jumbo pads, much like how the MS1000 operates, then you'll be able to get the best of both worlds. But I know from a fact that the pads are very picky as to what Grados they go on..they particularly do not do so well on very bright headphones

Interesting discussion.
Just had a look at the MS1000 thread - well the pictures anyway!
If there is any way to source distancers for the SR60i I would give it a try with my lite mods.
Not sure if anyone has done it before?
Are the distancers permanently attched, or are they removable?

 

[ivanrocks321]

Can be either way, I used blue tack to put them on.

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottieB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah ok I gotcha fair enough... isn't this the point of this mod, though? Or is there still that much plastic in there?

Yep, along with the new driver treatment that is the point of the mod - this is a fully metal Grado Ryhdon is presenting, a pretty special product!

Looks beautiful too I have to say.

I'm impressed with his pricing for the Lite mod too, it's rare to find someone in the audio-appreciator world not out to rip others off.

When you consider that he returns the original driver - that is an entirely new driver and bespoke metal housing for $200! Great value.

Hats off to you Rhydon!

Am personally going to wait for f.o.t.m. syndrome to die down and see what the lasting impressions are, but at this point I can definitely see a magnum in the future for my MS2i.

 

[xuan87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EddieE /img/forum/go_quote.gif I might be way off, but not for the reason you suggest. Grados are open phones - a massive part of their sound is based around air flow. Put your hand over the grills and you close them. They weren't designed to be closed phones and will sound awful. The same goes for RS1, MS2i or SR60 - Wood, "Metal" or plastic. I think we are talking at cross purposes here. Of course I agree the material the sound bounces off is important - I've heard how lucuious RS1s sound compared to their plastic brethren in the SR series. My point was simply that the notion that the SR325/MS2 are "metal" may be over stated, since the sound never actually touches any metal besides the grill. EDIT: To try and be clearer - here is the picture I am talking about: See what I mean? Where does the sound have a chance to "bounce off metal"? Looks to me like this is a myth and the SR325/MS2, just like every other SR is a plastic based set of phones. Now Rhydon removes that plastic ring inside and replaces it with one made of his spec metal, making it a real metal Grado - metal driver housing and metal insert for it to slide into. Presumably whether Rhydon receives plastic, wood or "metal" phones, he places this insert inside, which makes the magnum sound. So why would it make a difference which phone you send him? Same driver. Same driver housing. Same insert for the driver housing to slide into. Same phone. I could imagine that the extra weight of the "metal" models might make a subtle difference, as might the grill material, and the size/shape of the air chamber, but I don't imagine these changes would be as big as the ones the magnum mod itself brings about.

what you said is right. however, the sound/air still have to pass through the grille, and the material of the grille for the MS2 and SR60 ( for example) are different ( i think). So it is POSSIBLE that the sound will be different, but i highly doubt that anyone will be able to hear the difference. The only reason why i send in a SR325is instead of a cheapo SR60i was that the SR325is looks better, not that i believe it will sound better.

 

[Currawong]

Don't forget that one of the major purposes of modding Grados has to do with damping them from resonances in the housing. Like speakers, headphones benefit when the driver is secured well and the housing damped sufficiently. Obviously with the original full mod, Rhydon was going for as solid a headphone as possible for maximum SQ benefits. A useful question is, how much of the full mod do you still get with just the aluminium driver housing and custom drivers.

 

[EddieE]

That is a good question, it might well be that the extra weight and density of the metal outer-cup of the MS2i and SR325i do play a part in the end sound, how much is anyone's guess. I guess it'll be a while before two magnum owners cross each others path at a meet to find out. Maybe Ryhdon could post his thoughts, since he has listened to every model made yet?

One thing that crosses my mind given the "plastic revelation" regarding SR325/MS2 is whether HF-2 actually has sound hitting metal, or whether the wooden driver hosuing inserts into plastic too.

Any HF-2 owners out there had a look inside yet?

 

[EddieE]

Sorry for the consecutive posts, but this one is of a different nature.

Ryhdon,
For the future, would you consider selling the gimble assembly and rods separately to people who have already bought the lite mod? I ask as this could let a user on a budget buy it in two stages - get the lite mod to start with and then follow up with the gimble assembly when funds permit?

 

[Rhydon]

I do plan on making the gimbal assemblies available as a separate package, eventually.

The outer ear cups have little effect on sound quality compared to the mesh type.

 

[Rhydon]

We will be starting the next run of Magnum & Magnum Lite enhancements very soon. The order cut-off date for this production run will be March 27th.

If you would like to be a part of this production run we will need your order no later than March 27th. Orders received by this date are scheduled to ship early-mid april.

Please post your order details below if you are interested.

 

[baka1969]

Hi,

I just received my 80i Magnum Lite today. Will post pics and impressions later this evening.

Peace,

 

[baka1969]

Hi,

I just received the 80i Magnum Lite (ML) today. Without any benefit of burn in I listened to them. So, I've been comparing the 80i Magnum Lite to the HF-2. Just briefly I just want to say all the music is off my netbook in .wav format using the DacMagic and GLite. Both will have bowls on them.

I've listened to all my usual suspects when first testing out a headphone. Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here', 'One of These Days', 'Echoes'; Nirvana's 'Rape Me'; Miles Davis' 'So What' and several others.

Before I go into how they sound I wanted to say that the work seems to be first-rate. Since Rhydon doesn't work with the same quantities that Grado does he can spend more attention to detail. And it seems to show. It sort of highlights Grado's crudeness in comparison.

To be fair, the 80i ML has no break in and the HF-2 have several hundred hours on the drivers. I'll start off by saying the clarity and detail retrieval are excellent. Slightly better than the HF-2 but not yet approaching the 70x. Other than that, so far, I like the HF-2 better. The bass seems to be further extended and with more impact. The mids seem to be fuller on the HF-2 and the highs better extended. For some reason the ML seems to sound more rolled off, thinner on top and more sibilant all at once. At this time the HF-2 sounds warmer and has a deeper soundstage.

Remember those are my initial impressions and I now have the 80i ML burning on my iPod on shuffle. I will report back after they have 24 hours on them and run through the same tests and give more detailed impressions.

These are all my opinions with my ears. So YMMV.

Peace,

Ross