[7keys]

 


Yours look great too 7keys, gotta try closed cups some day.

 
They only work if you have some leather ear pads. I lent a pair to JoeDoe to test against the open cupped version. We'll see what he thinks.

 

[7keys]

 
 

 
New plussound headband for the SGs. No padding but still much more comfortable than the stock band. 

Nice! The wood looks like Cherry.

 

[TroyS]

I have a question about the px100 ii drivers. I plan to built the entire senngrado headset without the grados. I picked up a used set from a dealer on eBay and question if they are good or not. I am currently using a laptop with a little bear p-1 with all of the mods except the seperate heater and my preferred tube is a rca black plate on my current ath-at400's, with this setup it has a very good sound to me with plenty of good clear bass. With the senns, The bass and mid bass is so heavy that it overrides everything.

I can make them sound great but I have had to put in my cleartop tube that basically removes most bass and have turned on the eq in the laptop with most of the higher frequencies set at about + 10 db. They don't sound blown and when setup right sound very clear, but is this how they should normally sound? I have plugged them into my htc one and they also sound pretty horrible with out using the eq.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I did order another set new from best buy just in case, figure I'll just return them if they sound the same.

 

[michauczok]

Stock PX100 II sounds really bad imo. Dark muddy sound with lots of sub and kickbass, and no treble at all. But in woodies they really start to shine, the difference is like night and day.

 

[TroyS]

Thanks for the reply Michauczok, seems crazy hearing reviews of how even and precise the sound can be when it sounds so far from that. My cups should be here any day so looks like I am good to go ahead then.

 

[TroyS]

Woohoo gotter done . I have the drivers recessed about 1/4", I sanded the driver plate for a press in fit and run a small amount of rc-56, or canopy glue for the rc flyers, to secure the grill and drivers, after finishing everything I filled the wire holes with hot glue so that I wouldn't need zip ties.

First thing I have to say is WOW, what a difference in sound from the stock headphones. I am still using my cleartop tube, seems to sound the best, but my God, where did all of that missing range come from, and with the eq completely defaulted. I've been experimenting with the ear pieces and have come up with some results.

With just the ear zonk g cush, I have an incredibly clear mid and high range, even a little to much on the highs.
Lost a lot of bass though, had to hold the cushions against my head to help some. So I slid just the cushions from the avio's on, they went right back to the original terrible stock sound. The open foam of the g Cush definitely opens the drivers up. Amazingly enough, the g Cush are so big that I was able to slip them on over the avio cushions. We have a winner, the avio's seem to corral the bass and the center foam tames the highs just enough before passing into the openness of the g Cush.

I'm sure I'll experiment some more with some different cushions down the road, but for now I'm a happy camper. The double set of cushions also made up for the looseness of just the g Cush so there is a nice solid fit now.

[/URL]

 

[fleasbaby]

Woohoo gotter done

. I have the drivers recessed about 1/4", I sanded the driver plate for a press in fit and run a small amount of rc-56, or canopy glue for the rc flyers, to secure the grill and drivers, after finishing everything I filled the wire holes with hot glue so that I wouldn't need zip ties.

First thing I have to say is WOW, what a difference in sound from the stock headphones. I am still using my cleartop tube, seems to sound the best, but my God, where did all of that missing range come from, and with the eq completely defaulted. I've been experimenting with the ear pieces and have come up with some results.

With just the ear zonk g cush, I have an incredibly clear mid and high range, even a little to much on the highs.
Lost a lot of bass though, had to hold the cushions against my head to help some. So I slid just the cushions from the avio's on, they went right back to the original terrible stock sound. The open foam of the g Cush definitely opens the drivers up. Amazingly enough, the g Cush are so big that I was able to slip them on over the avio cushions. We have a winner, the avio's seem to corral the bass and the center foam tames the highs just enough before passing into the openness of the g Cush.

I'm sure I'll experiment some more with some different cushions down the road, but for now I'm a happy camper. The double set of cushions also made up for the looseness of just the g Cush so there is a nice solid fit now.

[/URL]

 

 
Gorgeous. Mr. Keys' work is always delightfully elegant and clean.

 

[michauczok]

Great job, try l-cushions and stock px pads in front of driver, your configuration may be less open and more bassy than bowls mod - thats why your cleartop tube sounds best atm. But that's pure guess ; ) Also, what kind of wood is that? That matters a lot.

 

[TroyS]

They're black cherry. I'll give the l- Cush a shot and see if it makes a difference. I have noticed something a bit strange though, on bassier songs the higher frequencies sound like they are vibrating with the bass, hope I didn't blow the drivers the first night! It sounds so good I can't help pushing the volume.

 

[7keys]

I like the black Cherry with the PX100 as it's neutral sounding and doesn't add to bass or treble. I switched over to black cherry from Lapacho and find the highs are almost in control.

 

[TroyS]

Got my new set of px100's yesterday to compare to the used pair I've been using, the difference in sound as portables was very noticeable. They were still very bassie , but the new units had plenty of highs and sounded very enjoyable. It was as if the entire range was shifted higher.

I noticed when I was switching them out that the first pair was marked minisys, which appears to still be senn, and the new pair was marked sennheiser. Other then that they looked identical.

In the cherry cups, with bass aside, both have the same amazing sound change. The new units being even brighter then the first. I think I actually preferred the first pair for slightly less brightness. On the bass side, I still have the buzzing or vibrating bass on songs like chrystallize. The bass is a little cleaner with the new drivers, so I guess I didn't blow the first pair.

I tried rolling through a few of my favorite tubes but the bass is way to heavy on anything other then the rca cleartop. I have a 1/4 to mini adapter coming so I can try bypassing the amp, also a set of the l cush and yellow senn pads to see how they change things.

I received a used set of sr60's yesterday and gotta say they sound pretty good, not quite as open and not really as much bass. I switched to the amperex bugle boy to bring up the bass and it seems to be a really good match. Of course I had to try it with chrystallize, the bass was very clear and not vibrating at all. I did notice that the driver sets very loosely in the holder with just the two glue stops holding them in so I will experiment with dampening the plastic to see if I can get the bass under control a bit more.

 

[TroyS]

Figured I'd post a follow up, been going through my test music playlist and think I have them sorted out. My new cushions came in and I ended up liking the l Cush with an open center.

I cut thin strips of electrical tape and ran a single layer all around the inside of the lip that the driver slides into, it tightened the driver up enough that it took a little pressure to work them in place. I also left them about 1mm out in case the driver was hitting the face of the holder under heavy bass.

On the outside of the lip I cut a thin strip if double sided car molding adhesive, it's like a grey gooie tape about 2mm thick. I had some navy blue self stick felt so I cut a thin strip that I covered over the molding, figured it would help hide the grey and add a little more dampening. I also cut a circle out to cover the center of the driver.
Currently the driver sits about 2mm in the cup.

The highs sound great, not over powering at all with nothing covering the driver. The bass seems to have been greatly reigned in. The bass is still way deeper then the grados, and still has a bit of a boomy sound but the vibration appears to be gone. I may try moving the driver farther in the cup at some point but I'm really happy at this point.

I gotta say thanks to everyone for the help along the way, this was a great project. Now I have to save up for the project ember amp and a mini mac.

 

[JoeDoe]

Open vs Closed SennGrado Review 1
 
Open-Back:
 
I’ve written a review in the Head Gear section (http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-grado-hybrid-a-k-a-senngrado/reviews/11027) that goes into more detail but here’s the summary.
 
The SennGrado is very similar in sound to the Grado RS1i. As a matter of fact, I rate the bass of the SG as better, along with the soundstage. The RS1 has the upper hand in the mids, while the trebles are comparable, although the wider soundstage thrown by the SG makes it touchy to make a fair comparison. All in all, the SG is an awesome mod that requires very little expertise, can be done for under $100 and achieves a sound in the $500+ range. 
 
For more accolades, check out the non-Grado driver thread and the Music City Meet 2014 thread where I had several other head-fiers check ‘em out. They’ve been praised through and through for their performance regardless of price. 
 
Closed-Back:
 
Well, the closed back cups do exactly what closed versions of cans are known for: more bass slam and a more intimate soundstage. 
 
I had to listen back and forth between the two for a few hours because I didn’t believe how similar they were, but they really would serve quite well to give inquirers an idea of how a closed back differs inherently from an open-back headphone. The closed bass hit harder, especially in the mid-bass. Think EDM kind of bass compared to Jon Bonham’s bass drum. The mids for both  didn’t change to these ears, although the smaller soundstage of the closed SGs may change how they’re framed. The treble seemed to be more aggressive, which makes sense as it sounds closer to the ear. 
 
The biggest change, which has been mentioned was the change in soundstage. The open SGs have a nice wide soundstage that makes instrument location and separation easy. The closed pulls everything in much tighter. Some might say congested, but muddy would be going to far. Everything was clearly still separated, but just didn’t have the space. 
 
I think I should also mention that 7keys sent his closed SGs with a pair of L cush pads that he’d wrapped with a leather strap much like the tape mod. I did not have regular L cushes to listen to so I can’t comment, but I’d assume that if they were removed, we’d have a little less bass. He’s written more in the aforementioned threads.
 
Anyway, I hope these comments have generated some more interest in an extremely capable and musical modified headphone. 7keys and I are putting together a pair of open-back SGs for touring purposes (much like the Great Grado Experiment for those of you who participated) so more of you guys can hear the awesomeness that is the SennGrado. If you’re interested, shoot him a PM. 

 

[fleasbaby]

...30 minutes into doing a SennGrado vs Magnum X comparison at the office while doing busy work....am using my personal Magnum Build (Lignum Vitae cups) and the Tour SennGrados mentioned above.

Gentlemen, this is very, very interesting...

 

[MrFaust]

Don't cry too much because the SennGrados cost as much if not less than the Magnum drivers