I've been a headphone user since the late 1960s and one of my first tasks when I started back into my current hifi journey was to get a good set of headphones to replace my broken Technics set that had seen me through the '80s. In 1997 a trip to Colin Walkington Audio got me a pair of Senheisers to audition but they did absolutely nothing for me so Colin then set me up with some Grado SR60s and joy, they ticked the right boxes. Yes, they were a bit raw at times but I liked the fact that they placed me front and centre in the music, not stuck at the back of the hall.
Fast forward to mid 2021 and those same Grados are still with me, surviving various purges over the years and even a long stint with my son. 
At that stage I was down to five sets of phones, three of them magnetic Planars , Audeze and Oppo. Good as these phones are there were times when I missed that extra bit of excitement that Grados give me and so the SR60s were dragged out for a session or two. 

Wasn't long before a problem appeared, the phones would cut in and out on one channel and at first I suspected a wire adrift from a driver which had happened with my previous SR225 Grados but a bit of online research suggested at problem with the 3.5 mm cable plug and a bit of trial seemed to confirm that. A trip to Jaycar supplied a 6.5 mm tip and a few minutes soldering and I was away.
That was the good news, bad news was during my research I had chanced upon a page offering all sorts of ideas and links for the Grado modifier.

www.headphonesty.com/2018/02/introduction-grado-modifications-ear-cups-driver/ 

I've long harboured a taste for wooden headphones and seeing some of the wood ear cups available it didn't take much time before a set of Rosewood cups was on the way from Indonesia.
Since I'd already taken the first step the rest seemed easy. Replace the hard and cheap vinyl headband with a proper leather one from a seller on Amazon USA.
The much reviled Grado cable had to go as well so it was back to Koala Cables in Perth for a custom set. I was happy with the XLR cables they made for my LCD3 and their pricing is reasonable.
By this stage I was looking very seriously at replacing the SR60 drivers as well but in truth I wanted to keep at least something Grado in the phones so a stay of execution for them seemed reasonable until I started once again having problems with a missing channel.

By now I had separated the inner and outer plastic cups of the phones(held together with hot glue) so it was easy to measure the drivers and where I should have been getting a 32 ohm reading one driver appeared to be dead. More in hope I contacted Grado and asked if I could get a new pair of drivers and to my surprise they put me onto Addicted to Audio in Melbourne who supplied a NOS set of original drivers. Frustrating while I was waiting for them my errant driver started working again after I redid the solder connections. OK, happy thoughts that I would have a spare set of drivers until the day when I fitted the originals into the new wooden cups and bugger me, one side dead again. 
Back to plan B and fit the new drivers which had arrived from Aus. While most after market cups are designed for a snug fit there was a little free play in mine and not wanting to do a Grado and glue them in I followed an online suggestion and used Blue Tak which makes things fairly easy to dismantle in the future if needed.

So now I had new drivers, new cups, new headband , new cable which only left the cheap plastic gimbal/rod block holders and this far down the hole it wasn't a big decision to get a set of cnc machined replacements from www.shipibo.audio/ in Poland.  Beautifully made with the ability to control the movement of the rod in the holder via two screws so no more twisted cables etc.
By now I was loving the finished product, still a Grado SR60 in my eyes as I consider the driver to be the main element in the sound. 
I would like to say I was now finished but there remained one fairly major bug and one familiar to all Grado owners, no matter which model they have. Gardo have used virtually the same foam earpads since day one and they aren't designed to encourage long sessions. The foam does soften a little over time, usually just before it falls to bits, but no matter which pad design and shape they are all uncomfortable. Half an hour was sometime my limit .  
Online searching drew me to a NZ site, Beautiful Audio, who do a range of earpads using both leather and Merino wool in various combinations www.beautifulaudio.biz/good-to-know.  These do appear to be expensive but for any long term Grado owner well worth considering.  The reviews were positive about the comfort benefits and of course I ended up getting two sets of their hybrid leather/merino pads , one for the SR60 custom and one for my newly acquired Grado SR325X. Any local interested in these should contact Silvian for a much better shipping price. The BA pads come with at least two sets of inner foam of various density which you can change to modify the sound to your liking.  

Now that particular journey has come to an end. I have what is in all probability a unique set of headphones which still retain the essence of my old SR60s. I have had the occasional thought about sourcing a new pair of after market drivers  but that would mean the Grado soul and sound would be gone and maybe a step too far.....for now. For the money that has gone down this particular pit I could probably have got a new pair pair of the Grado RS2 but then would have missed the enjoyment of putting this pair together.
Will throw in some photos below.

Custom SR60s, love the Rosewood cups.


 





The BA hybrid ear pads. Larger soundstage while retaining the classic Gardo virtues. And they're a pleasure to wear.

Selection of earpads and BA inner foam for their ear pads. Top row are the BA inner. Didn't like the open black mesh foam so much, found it a little bright for my tastes. There are two different types of the white foam and it appears I have both pairs of the unmarked foam currently in use so can't show them.  Three sets of original Grado pads including a new pair of L pads on the left which now appear to use a dual layer of different foam, original SR60 S pads in the centre and the new very shallow pad on the right which now comes with the SR325X. Don't like the feel of these as it places the diver right on your ear. Not comfortable and if I had to use a Grado pad it would probably be the L which is similar to the pad I used on my old RS1s.

As well as their ear pads Beautiful Audio do an adapter set that enables you to do away with the unwieldy Grado cable and gives the ability to swap cables as desired.  The lower end Grado SR models from the SR60 to the SR225 aren't that difficult to pull apart and modify but once you get to the SR325 and above with their single earcup its real fingers crossed time getting the drivers out in one piece to set up for a removable cable. I have seen video where it appears it can be done if the drivers are hot glued in but my experience with the SR60 suggest that they have used other glues that are more like a super glue and definitely don't respond to heat like hot glue. 

The BA adapter does mean cutting the original cable but i would suggest much less stressful There's a how to do page on their website.

 www.beautifulaudio.biz/grado-cable-adapter 
My set ready for post Christmas attack on the horrible cable on my 325X.  Holding off for the arrival of a new soldering iron Christmas prez to replace my current 40 year old iron. 


 

Close up of the alloy gimbal rod block showing the scew set. One to hold the steel headband inner and two to control the adjuster rod. These two screws work on gel pads to protect the rod surface.
The rubber caps on the top of the original rods that have a habit of coming loose are replaced by alloy caps.
Nice touch, the gimbal set also comes with a spares kit which includes pads and screws and the appropriate allen wrench.


  

Dec 21, 2021 8:47:20 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

Custom SR60s, love the Rosewood cups.


 

Great work Cooks - artisan work!
The Rosewood cups are stunning in the 'real'.  I can confirm the BA earpads are also excellent and benefit (tailor) the sound for Cook's Grados. 
I listened via Cook's Violectric ss amp and my Mapletree tube amp. Easily recommended 

    

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

Yes, that rosewood looks stunning!

Dec 21, 2021 9:03:58 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

As well as their ear pads Beautiful Audio do an adapter set that enables you to do away with the unwieldy Grado cable and gives the ability to swap cables as desired.  The lower end Grado SR models from the SR60 to the SR225 aren't that difficult to pull apart and modify but once you get to the SR325 and above with their single earcup its real fingers crossed time getting the drivers out in one piece to set up for a removable cable. I have seen video where it appears it can be done if the drivers are hot glued in but my experience with the SR60 suggest that they have used other glues that are more like a super glue and definitely don't respond to heat like hot glue. 

The BA adapter does mean cutting the original cable but i would suggest much less stressful There's a how to do page on their website.

 www.beautifulaudio.biz/grado-cable-adapter 
My set ready for post Christmas attack on the horrible cable on my 325X.  Holding off for the arrival of a new soldering iron Christmas prez to replace my current 40 year old iron. 


 

Burst of courage this afternoon and chopped the cable on the SR325. Took me a couple of hours to complete the fitting of the adapter set with plenty of test fitting. Removed the horrible plastic braid from the bit of cable left into the chamber and found a reasonably pliable wire underneath. Very similar to older Grado cable. The 325 uses four wires per side, two live, two ground. This makes it a bit tighter fit than the two wire cable on the cheaper models.
For a change soldering was quickly accomplished thanks to a new iron and almost looks like a pro job.
Although double sided tape is fitted to the adapters I didn't use it as the modified gimbals hold them securely in place.
Currently using my original Grado SR60 cable suitably fitted with male plugs.
Compared to the cable it replaced it's flexible and tangle free.
That's almost it for the SR325 although tempted to get a suitably modded metal gimbal/holder set. These are made to fit the Beautiful Audio adapters. Might be my 2022 audio purchase, don't need anything else.

Nice work, Cooksferry, must be fun and very satisfying. The rosewood looks fab.

AMR-iFi R&D

Dec 26, 2021 21:39:08 GMT 12 colinf said:

Nice work, Cooksferry, must be fun and very satisfying. The rosewood looks fab.

Cheers Colin. It was a fun project and I think the sound quality is above that of the original SR60. I put a lot of that down to the BA pads and ability to tune them some what.
Always admire the DIY projects on the forum but with limited knowledge and abilities this was well within my reach.
When Grado oked a pair of new drivers I did harbour a hope that I might get a pair of the latest X series items, but happy to get the NOS pair. Getting aftermarket drivers would have been a leap into the unknown,and quite a lot more expense.

Stripped the plastic braid from the original 325 cable and fitted a pair of 3.5 mono plugs. Without the braid it's more flexible and now a good length for the bedroom system.

I now have four cables of various types and lengths to play around with. As well as the original SR60 and SR325 cables that I've reterminated there's also a Meze Classic cable and an Audeze cable.
The Audeze cable is an older flat ribbon type that was my balanced cable for the LCD3. When it died at one ear jack I replaced it and have now repurposed the Audeze cable to fit the Grado. It's a good length for the music room and quite pliable. Can't detect any loss in the sound. Plenty to play around with.

Sounds like I really need to get a set of those BA pads for my Grados!

Dec 28, 2021 13:50:37 GMT 12 Citroen said:

Sounds like I really need to get a set of those BA pads for my Grados!

There's a 30 day right of return. You've nothing to loose by giving them a go. Your experience may differ but I'm sold.

Nice mods.

I too went through a process of Grado SR60 mods a few years back making custom wooden cups etc.

A guy I work with took it a bit further and machined his own aluminium rod blocks and earcup yokes, looked very similar to the ones you have.

www.jeremyyoungdesign.com

Jan 18, 2022 18:22:02 GMT 12 jerm said:

Nice mods.

I too went through a process of Grado SR60 mods a few years back making custom wooden cups etc.

A guy I work with took it a bit further and machined his own aluminium rod blocks and earcup yokes, looked very similar to the ones you have.

It's been a lot of (expensive) fun. Just finished customizing the SR325 today. Wanted to keep the metal cups but as mentioned above have added the cable adapters and hybrid earpads from Beautiful Audio and today the modified gimbal rod holder set arrived from Poland. These are cut to fit the BA adapters and are now fitted along with a larger, better padded, leather headband. Since the metal set is a slightly different fit to the chopped down original plastics I did use the double sided tape as extra security in fitting the adapters. They're now currently in nightly use in my bedroom system using the original SR60 cable. This is a good length and much more flexible than the braided cable the 325x came with.
I returned to my long term Oppo PM3 for a few nights and they sounded darker and less revealing than the metal Grado which is now my go to headphone and without wishing to keep repeating myself I give much of the credit to the new earpads.

Will get a few pics up soon.

A couple of shots of the completed Grado SR325x showing the Beautiful Audio cable adapters fitted along with the modified metal gimbal set.  The adapters don't look out of place. The angle of the cable exit is fairly similar to my Audeze LCD3.


  

  

the new XL size headband fitted showing the smaller original. Width is slightly wider than the LCD3.  Since the 325x is a heavier phone I decided it deserved the bigger band but in hindsight maybe the smaller size as fitted to the modified SR60 may have been enough.

  

That's me finished on both sets of Grados. I did have a small voice telling me to get another custom cable from Koala Cables for the 325 but I already have 4 usable cables for it now, so maybe enough already.

The ear pads look lovely. Do they fit over or on the ear?
Nice to be able to swap cables easily now. I’m always swapping mine. Are your cables terminated in the standard 1/4” plug?

AMR-iFi R&D

Jan 19, 2022 20:50:42 GMT 12 colinf said:

The ear pads look lovely. Do they fit over or on the ear?
Nice to be able to swap cables easily now. I’m always swapping mine. Are your cables terminated in the standard 1/4” plug?

My ears fit inside. The inner part of the pad is bowl shaped rather than a straight wall. Not a million miles away from the shape of the Grado L pad but deeper so the ear doesn't touch the driver.
All four cables for the 325x are terminated at 6.5 mm amp end and 3.5 at the phones.

Decided I didn't like the wider headband I'd fitted to the SR325 so swapped it for the slimmer band from the SR60.
I've always enjoyed the slightly distressed brown that some higher end Grados had but couldn't get a genuine item without buying a complete rod block/gimbal set which I didn't need.
Eventually found the item shown from a seller in Malaya . It's nicely made and looks the part with more padding than the genuine as well. Not cheap at around $100 but as long as the quality is there the pain soon subsides.