It is a little quiet out there, but Elleven Acoustica and Symphones are still running...they're worth a go...

You can make a decent grill from a mesh pencil holder if you use some tin-snips to cut it up. You're going to need to get the drivers out though, and push the grill in from the driver side...

Short answer, yes...there will be enough wires in there to go balanced :). Check out Grado's product page for the PS2000e: https://gradolabs.com/headphones/professional-series/item/69-ps2000e The cable has 12 conductors. For some reason they are pretty sure that the more cables they stuff into...

@7keys Amen..plenty of options. @DomDOMT I've never seen any of the Beyer drivers in a radically open-backed design like the Grado one. Usually even the 880 have some damping behind them. Be prepared to possibly spend a good amount of time experimenting with damping in the chamber behind the...

The cups look great. The lack of bass is could be because you don't have a chamber directly behind the driver (notice how normal Grado cups are essentially a driver stuck in the end of a tube), it could also be because of the drivers' distance from your ear. The further away, the thinner the...

The reduction in volume in the chamber behind the driver, and the narrowing of the vent hole in the outside face, might also be getting you that cleaner bass. If its worthy of "final configuration" status, and you want them one day, let me know the dimensions and I can likely turn cups with the...

@ShaolinGrump Fun to see more pics of this build...haven't been lurking on Head Fi much lately, pleasant surprise to see this thread :)

Any time :), happy to talk mods all day. Regarding the lathe, yes...I use one, but there are lathes designed for woodwork, and lathes designed for metalwork.

Unfortunately I don't have the tools to greatly reduce a metal cup. I only focus on woodwork. I can sand and maybe do a little bit of shaping (at the expense of my poor chisels designed for woodwork being abused for the job). To take a significant amount off I'd need different chisels, and a...

...I think it might be time for me to sacrifice a driver and send the cover to a friend for them to model in 3D for me...

What a great find :)...what did you use to protect the diaphragms, or are they simply exposed to the ear? That's one item I need to try and find a 3D model for. A decent housing for drivers that protects the diaphragm.

You should check out Larry's "Vixen" build that he sells: http://www.headphile.com/page13.html Same concept...marriage of Grado drivers and Beyer frame...

I wonder how soon until Grado starts doing detachable cables. Can't be far behind. I think its the last thing modders do they haven't picked up :D

Agreed. I guess us aftermarket guys will need to get creative and start with the next series of innovations... For that older Grado signature, Elleven Acoustica already does their P1 driver, which is meant to emulate the HP1 headphone. Its definitely something worth keeping an eye on...

Well, it took a few years but the new RS1x and RS2x look remarkably like the layered cup design that has been floating around the DIY community for a while now: https://gradolabs.com/headphones/reference-series/item/133-rs1x?mc_cid=a0097f9e12&mc_eid=ccfe07510c...