[grokit]

As far as the "hole mods" for Grado drivers, they got into that pretty well in the second half of this recent thread, starting on about page 5.

 

[Anaxilus]

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[SemiAudiophile]

Drivers arrived today, just finished assembling back the Magnum with stock Grado cable. My impressions pretty much mirrors what the others have noted. They sound pretty much like the version 1 drivers but a tad smoother and slight more full bodied. They definitely don't sound as thin or "clear" as before possibly because of the added bass. Definitely going towards a more neutral sound. Will post more impressions later as I run them in for a few days. 
 
I would still recommend this upgrade for any true Grado fan out there. Just have to be patient and expect a delay...

 

[Currawong]

By holes in the back, I'm talking about the ones in this picture from that thread, but only 3 holes (not the ones in the metal cover for the voice coil):

 

 

[shawn_low]

Bilavideo's mods seem to bear some resemblance to the Magnums mentioned here (punched out holes in driver back, cloth baffle cover removed).
 
Reading over all the mod threads, he's done some interesting mods and ripped up a fair share of Grado drivers...
 
Me? I've got a pair of MS1s here waiting to be ripped open and modded.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Anyone else find the bass boomy? They sound a bit boomy on certain tracks, kind of distracting to me. Kinda reminds me of the HF2 bass when I first had them. They don't seem to sound as detailed  as before either. Don't know if it's because of the tamed treble or because I'm used to hearing them with the APS cable. 

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

Anyone else find the bass boomy? They sound a bit boomy on certain tracks, kind of distracting to me. Kinda reminds me of the HF2 bass when I first had them. They don't seem to sound as detailed  as before either. Don't know if it's because of the tamed treble or because I'm used to hearing them with the APS cable. 

What pads are you using, that can make a difference as well.

 

[feckn_eejit]

I am finding the bass totally overbearing all the time, using bowls... I absolutely adored the Series Is, not sure why I chose to eff with perfection...........

 
Quote:

Anyone else find the bass boomy? They sound a bit boomy on certain tracks, kind of distracting to me. Kinda reminds me of the HF2 bass when I first had them. They don't seem to sound as detailed  as before either. Don't know if it's because of the tamed treble or because I'm used to hearing them with the APS cable. 

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Quote:

 

What pads are you using, that can make a difference as well.

Bowls..hopefully it will smooth out with further burn-in. 
 
I suspect the bass is also masking the detail that were easier to hear before. 

 

[XXII]

I'm starting to agree with this. From memory, I think v1 with flats sounds a lot more balanced and better than v2.
Quote:

I am finding the bass totally overbearing all the time, using bowls... I absolutely adored the Series Is, not sure why I chose to eff with perfection...........

 

 

 

[tim3320070]

Tell us what pads you are using- they make your impressions much more educational to us!
Bowls with stock MS2i drivers were very nice to me- bowls with V1 drivers were less warm and less enjoyable to me than stock (but more detailed). I am hoping bowls with V2 drivers will be MS2i-like but better otherwise my money is wasted.

 

[feckn_eejit]

Got about 50 hours (of all my bassiest material on a repeat playlist at outrageous volume) on them now.  Haven't touched them in at least 36, and just put 'em on.  Tried a bunch of material and found a few things that didn't make me want to jettison them, which was impossible last time, so maybe a bit of improvement... Echo's _Ocean Rain_ sounds like someone dumped a techno kick drum all over it however, so back to the playlist from hell!  But, definitely a good lesson not to mess with perceived perfection--I really couldn't find anything I didn't absolutely love about the Series Is...
 
edit: just tried faffing about with the EQ in itunes: cutting the lower frequencies, especially 64hz (around 5db) makes them sound pretty darn good.....

 

[theryaner]

hmm. so is the v1 drivers better than the v2?

 

[Currawong]

Unless there are other changes, the changes are just tonal.  With some tracks, the extra bass is good, with some it's a bit too much. The happy medium would have been somewhere in between I reckon. 

 

[sydneyaudio]

Quote:

Unless there are other changes, the changes are just tonal.  With some tracks, the extra bass is good, with some it's a bit too much. The happy medium would have been somewhere in between I reckon. 

 
Agree something between V1 and V2 would be best. But perhaps we can tune the tone to our own preferences.
Have you tried plugging 1 or 2 of the holes/ports?
If we could do this these drivers may give a lot more flexibility.
Have not opened min yet.