[Justin Uthadude]

No implications, just a simple question.
It seems every day someone is modding the cables of their headphones. Senns, Beyers, etc. Heck, I think I read a post where a head-fier put some kinda canares star quad cryo frozen oxygen deprived something or other on a pair of KSC75s. But never Grados.

I've been expecting to see a "everything I hated about Grados went away when I put xyz cable on them and now they're the bomb" thread. But no. Just the occasional make the cords detachable or one-sided mods or pad switching. Is there a reason, or do I need to learn the search function better?

 

[koven]

What about the Headphile mods?

http://www.headphile.com/page15.html

 

[DanielCox]

Maybe Grado fans aren't as gullible?

 

[majkel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanielCox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe Grado fans aren't as gullible?

Correct.

I tried one pair of Grados recabled with a well known cable, and it was no improvement, actually a small step back, simplifying the music reception by cutting off slight nuances. In lesser system it could be perceived as "better clarity" but the signal was actually less complete. I had a week to test two pairs of GS1000 side by side to confirm this. BTW, the Furutech jack plug is bulky and way too heavy. On the other hand the Grado UHPLC cable is a good cable, having its own sonic signature but being sonically complete, IMO.

 

[progo]

You know, Grado equips the headphones with good cables in the first place. Perhaps there's simply no need to beat that.

 

[apatN]

The Grado cable is good enough. And to say you can't find modded Grados is crazy. They are one of the easiest phones to recable and there are loads of pictures of them here.

 

[tintin47]

Ask headphoneaddict about cable upgrades to grados. That said, grado cables are notoriously difficult to change. You have to actually melt the glue to be able to do any thing. A lot of people just aren't willing to do that.

 

[kmhaynes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ask headphoneaddict about cable upgrades to grados. That said, grado cables are notoriously difficult to change. You have to actually melt the glue to be able to do any thing. A lot of people just aren't willing to do that.

The wooded and metal Grados may be harder to get into, but the black plastic Grados are easy to get into, even for DIY noobies, and several methods can be easily found. Using a simple blow drier for 5 minutes will melt the small amount of glue holding the cups together.

I've thought about recabling my MS-1, but the time and expense to replace a very good cable with a better cable would probably result in a sonic gain of 5, maybe 10% gain depending on the quality of the cable. I don't want to spend $175 on a cable for a $110 headphone!!

 

[03029174]

I've just ordered a Black Dragon Cable from Drew for my PS-1s so il post back here when i've fitted it. One of the reasons to change the cable must be to get rid of the useless Grado Y splitter. It looks like its going to split any second and thats on brand new phones

 

[Darksyde]

The new "i" Grados (125i's and up) have 8-conductor cabling, vs the 4 that most other cables offer. Also, Grado makes quality products, which means no cheap cables.

 

[Xan7hos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Grado cable is good enough. And to say you can't find modded Grados is crazy. They are one of the easiest phones to recable and there are loads of pictures of them here.

x2. Check out Moon Audio's Sponsor forum, there's a thread about what their brand of cables will do to the sound signature of Grado headphones. IMO the Grado cable is really good, especially the new 8-conductor ones (compared to other manufacturers).

Generally, a recable is an attempt to correct a flaw in sound signature. Hence you see all those "new cable lifted veil off my Senns" posts. Also, Senn cables are detachable, so there is definitely a market for "cable rolling" due to ease.

 

[Dinan]

I use TARA Labs Zero/Omega in my audio system and just had them build an RSC headphone cable that I am fitting to a pair of MS1s to try and then to my PS1000s when they arrive if the MS1 transplant sounds good.

I should get the swap done on Monday and as good as the Grado cable is, I expect it to get thrashed.

 

[Justin Uthadude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xan7hos /img/forum/go_quote.gif Generally, a recable is an attempt to correct a flaw in sound signature. Hence you see all those "new cable lifted veil off my Senns" posts. Also, Senn cables are detachable, so there is definitely a market for "cable rolling" due to ease.

Perhaps I worded my original post poorly. I didn't mean I couldn't find any examples of recabled Grados, or there weren't claims by vendors of the wonderfullness of their products, but the kind of thing that Xan7hos so astutely pointed out. Like "new cable eliminated harsh trebles". Maybe I was just secretly hoping some innovative head-fier had found a wire to turn SR60s into SR225s. lol

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ask headphoneaddict about cable upgrades to grados. That said, grado cables are notoriously difficult to change. You have to actually melt the glue to be able to do any thing. A lot of people just aren't willing to do that.

Difficult? Blow-dry around the cup for a minute or two, and they come right off. You can even blow-dry the glue again before you stick them back together to re-glue them. Comparing to soldering the cable, the glue's a breeze.

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Uthadude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe I was just secretly hoping some innovative head-fier had found a wire to turn SR60s into SR225s. lol

Replacing the plastic grill with something more permeable and damping the drivers with blu-tack or dynamat xtreme will do much more than a cable ever will, at a fraction of the price.