[veritas]

Hi, I recently acquired around 75 pairs of old (aluminum) Grado SR325s. However, they are in various states of disrepair. I know that there are a lot of experts on these forums and I would like to implore your help. So here's the situation:

-ALL 75 pairs have spliced wires at the ends, no plugs. These would all have to be replaced.

-About 40-45 pairs do not have headbands. Since Grado does not sell headbands separately, I hope someone can be creative with a suggestion.

-Since the wires are spliced at the ends, I don't know whether all, or any for that matter, of the drivers work.

So what I'm asking is for some help. I will need someone who is willing to splice plugs onto all the headphones (and preferably test them in the process). So please PM me if you have any suggestions on the headband or would like to help. Thanks a lot!

Cheers!

 

[strohmie]

Interesting purchase -- where'd you manage to find those? I'd volunteer to help with this but I'm moving back to Illinois in two weeks, so things are in a state of flux momentarily.

With the spliced wires, it should be rather simple to solder new plugs on -- the more important part is using a good plug (I generally prefer 1/4" plugs to 1/8" with 1/4" adaptor plugs) and good solder. The regular Grado adaptors are molded onto the wire, but a layer of heatshrink over the new adaptor would maintain the illusion. ^_^

As for the headbands, I seem to recall Grados having a relatively simple leather-and-wire headband (haven't owned one myself in over a year)...it seems almost blashpemous to use a more generic Beyer or Ultrasone-esque band, though.

Do you plan on doing a bulk resale of these phones once they're repaired?

 

[ayt999]

what happened to the other thread?


anyways, where do you live? I should have a few weeks before school starts again (and hopefully by then have a nice DIY kit) to work on something like this so count me in.

 

[veritas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strohmie Interesting purchase -- where'd you manage to find those?

I managed to find this needle in a haystack auction on eBay

Quote:

Originally Posted by strohmie Do you plan on doing a bulk resale of these phones once they're repaired?

Yes, I am. However, to avoid violating the no advertising rule (which is why the original thread was rightfully removed), all I will say is that when I do sell them, there will be a legitimate Mall-Fi ad.

 

[ayt999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veritas However, do avoid violating the no advertising rule (which is why the original thread was rightfully removed)

okay.

I can help out with the organizing and sorting of the drivers if needed though.

 

[veritas]

Hi, someone just PMed me with a rather good idea and I was wondering if someone here would be so kind as to help me execute it. What the person suggested is essentially a 1/4" plug that wires out to two alligator clips. Then I could test each headphone without necessarily splicing (and potentially wasting) a full 1/4" jack and time spent working. Please PM me if you think you can help me out. Thanks!

 

[rayofsi]

are you sure grado doesnt sell parts? grado labs is only 5-10 miles away from me

i dont think soldering plugs is the hard part

the headbands are quite simple as well and finding a replacement shouldnt be that hard.

 

[00940]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veritas Hi, someone just PMed me with a rather good idea and I was wondering if someone here would be so kind as to help me execute it. What the person suggested is essentially a 1/4" plug that wires out to two alligator clips.

be sure to use a stereo jack even if you test one channel at a time. Mono jack short the right channel to ground.

But an adapter with three alligators (left, right, ground) would even be better, since it'd allow to check if the balance is ok

 

[Onix]

About the headbands. I seem to recall that someone had his badly beaten vynil headband substituted by a leather one he got at Grado. IIRC, the new headband retails for around 50 bucks. I don't really have time to check it out now, but I think it was Neil Peart (the head-fier, not the drummer) who got the change. Anyway, once you get it, it's pretty easy to install yoursef.

 

[ayt999]

grado isn't shipping out replacement headbands though anymore... at least that is the case for the RS-2 headbands. (look at some of the later threads on the subject for more info) maybe they will for the headbands used for the lower end models but most likely the only way to put grado headbands on them is to send them the cups so they can put the headbands on and ship it back to you.

you should definitely call grado about it and see what they will do for you.

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onix About the headbands. I seem to recall that someone had his badly beaten vynil headband substituted by a leather one he got at Grado. IIRC, the new headband retails for around 50 bucks. I don't really have time to check it out now, but I think it was Neil Peart (the head-fier, not the drummer) who got the change. Anyway, once you get it, it's pretty easy to install yoursef.

they got wind of it and came down harder than a ton of bricks.

ps: ALL THE BEST!!

 

[intlplby]

at a fabric store like jo-anns or hancocks you can purchase a stiff plastic sheeting that is commonly sold to be used in purses to give them rigid flat surfaces.

i would lay out a pattern for the r1 size head bands and cut out 2 per headphone

go to the area of the store where they carry vinyl and find the thin foam that looks like car headliner (1/4 inch thick, low density)

cut out 2 or 3 pieces of same sized foam perhead band

sew 3/8 of an inch from the edge all the way around like so

foam
plastic
{metal headband wires slide through here}
plastic
foam
foam


once you have that sewn cut out the same pattern out of your desired fabric or leather but add 1/4 inch seam allowance

put the fabric or leather pieces on top and below and tuck them in between the 3/8" edge from above

fabric
foam
plastic
{metal headband wires slide through here}
plastic
foam
foam
fabric


sew around again


if that doesnt work try omitting the top piece of plastic and/or the bottom piece of foam


use needle size 18-20 or so or else you are goinna break a lot of needles

 

[einolu]

I would be willing to fix some out just to hear how the 325s sound for a few days. Im pretty good at soldering and electronics so PM me if you have a place for me.

~EO

 

[dip16amp]

Some people may want to make balanced headphones with these so you may want to hold off on putting standard stereo plugs on most of them. They may want either two plugs (one for each earpiece) or a four wire plug.
Testing them with three alligator clips to a stereo plug is a good idea.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayt999 you should definitely call grado about it and see what they will do for you.

He already sent them an email, to which they responded that they have no interest in supporting the project (most likely because it will harm their sales).

I think this sounds like a fun project though, I already told Veritas I was in on the other derailed thread. I wanna rewire the phones from scratch and possibly build a headband out of leather. Definently be entertainment for a rainy day.