Kees
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2006
- Posts
- 4,619
- Likes
- 26
Hi all.
I just want to share another very easy mod I did on my SR325i.
The mod is easy, the consequences are not.
First the mod itself though.
Materials used:
Standard Grado bowl
2 plastic pins (pins used to cover screws, cut around the edges to prevent them from sticking out).
2 round bits cut out of a cooking hood filter. (the white foamy bits, I also cut a hole in the middle).
Dark audio Liberators. The liberators work really well. Only reason I didn't like them was the honky/echoing effect they have. The "cookin hood filter bit" as damping material fixes this. All echo is gone, without affecting the rest of the sound.
Thick rubber rings used to fit washing basins to the pvc pipe underneath. 48 mmm inside diameter.
Not in this picture: some very thin cloth to cover the Liberators with the foam inside.
First put the liberator on the cup (first remove bowl of course), and put the foam inside.
Next put the pins in the holes on the rim of the liberator. This prevents it from falling off. In the original construction this is done by the pins of the forks that are (re-)placed over the libarators. In this mod we leave the forks exactly where they are. To make things a bit easier in the next step: put some cellotape over them to hold them in place.
Place the rubber rings over the rim of the liberator (over the pins, it holds the pins in place). The rubber ring makes the liberator produce more detailed bass by eliminating excess vibration and adding mass.
I also covered the top with a very thin piece of cloth, to keep dust out and the foam in. Fixed it with an elastic band.
Put the bowls back on and you're ready to go.
Now, what does it sound like:
No sibilance.
Deep detailed bass.
Soundstage (not extremely wide, but it is there).
Overall impression: Lively, impactfull, balanced, musical.
I am not going to do a full scale review here about my listening sessions with these.
Just to give an impression: I listened to:
Summerwind (Ray Brown et.al.)
Graffiti Bridge (Prince)
The Dance (Fleetwood Mac)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant (Belle & Sebastian)
The Girl In The Other Room (Diana Krall)
And a lot more...
Used gear:
Marantz CD/DAC 12 LE
AVM V3 (preamp)
Rudistor NX-33 and MF X-can V3 (Pinky mods & Little Pinky).
Now for the difficult part.
I have a pair of PS1s on loan.
I compared them carefully A/B.
I prefer the modded SR325i.
In comparison the PS1 sounds 2 dimensional and less musical. Less detail too, especially in the bass, which is very much a "one note bass".
Ray Browns bass in Summerwind was very revealing.
Well this is just what my ears tell me. YMMV.
But I think it's worth a try.
Have fun.
Kees.
EDIT: pics were lost. I added these. They were taken after the mod (july 2008).
I just want to share another very easy mod I did on my SR325i.
The mod is easy, the consequences are not.
First the mod itself though.
Materials used:
Standard Grado bowl
2 plastic pins (pins used to cover screws, cut around the edges to prevent them from sticking out).
2 round bits cut out of a cooking hood filter. (the white foamy bits, I also cut a hole in the middle).
Dark audio Liberators. The liberators work really well. Only reason I didn't like them was the honky/echoing effect they have. The "cookin hood filter bit" as damping material fixes this. All echo is gone, without affecting the rest of the sound.
Thick rubber rings used to fit washing basins to the pvc pipe underneath. 48 mmm inside diameter.
Not in this picture: some very thin cloth to cover the Liberators with the foam inside.
First put the liberator on the cup (first remove bowl of course), and put the foam inside.
Next put the pins in the holes on the rim of the liberator. This prevents it from falling off. In the original construction this is done by the pins of the forks that are (re-)placed over the libarators. In this mod we leave the forks exactly where they are. To make things a bit easier in the next step: put some cellotape over them to hold them in place.
Place the rubber rings over the rim of the liberator (over the pins, it holds the pins in place). The rubber ring makes the liberator produce more detailed bass by eliminating excess vibration and adding mass.
I also covered the top with a very thin piece of cloth, to keep dust out and the foam in. Fixed it with an elastic band.
Put the bowls back on and you're ready to go.
Now, what does it sound like:
No sibilance.
Deep detailed bass.
Soundstage (not extremely wide, but it is there).
Overall impression: Lively, impactfull, balanced, musical.
I am not going to do a full scale review here about my listening sessions with these.
Just to give an impression: I listened to:
Summerwind (Ray Brown et.al.)
Graffiti Bridge (Prince)
The Dance (Fleetwood Mac)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant (Belle & Sebastian)
The Girl In The Other Room (Diana Krall)
And a lot more...
Used gear:
Marantz CD/DAC 12 LE
AVM V3 (preamp)
Rudistor NX-33 and MF X-can V3 (Pinky mods & Little Pinky).
Now for the difficult part.
I have a pair of PS1s on loan.
I compared them carefully A/B.
I prefer the modded SR325i.
In comparison the PS1 sounds 2 dimensional and less musical. Less detail too, especially in the bass, which is very much a "one note bass".
Ray Browns bass in Summerwind was very revealing.
Well this is just what my ears tell me. YMMV.
But I think it's worth a try.
Have fun.
Kees.
EDIT: pics were lost. I added these. They were taken after the mod (july 2008).
