I wouldn’t have my Grados with anything else. I’m certain you’ll enjoy.
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Yeah, I’m glad I finally bit the bullet and ordered them.
I’ll post some pics once I get them
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Sorry to offend sensibilities, but here’s my fuggly modded Grados (try to ignore the burn netting headband, they’re a little sensitive about it)
Basically they’re stock 125 (pre-i) with a new baffle fitted to accomodate other earpads. I originally was using thicc cork for the baffle, but finally realized I had the baffles from a long dead pair of Soundmagic HP150 that I was too lazy to do a driver transplant on. Turns out it was a nearly perfect press fit with the Grado earcups (how perfect depends on how much of a PITA it’ll be when it comes to removing them). I used some memory foam held in place with the burn netting (stuff I happened to have laying round) for extra headband padding.
In the pic they’re using a pair of Brainwavz pleather oval pads, mostly because they’re in less awful condition than the Brainwavz velour I was originally using - I do need to get some new earpads.
I saw the ZMF adapter thingies a few post back and am thinking about grabbing a pair, probably get a better headband solution too (Geekria makes headband replacements for HD6xx that are pretty cheap and should do the trick)
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Thank you Zach for putting some life back into my very first headphone. These are my 25 year old Grado SR325’s with the new ZMF pads & adapters and also a pilot pad I already had. They are now super comfortable - I had grown to hate the on-ear fit of these.
Sound wise the bass seems to have more impact. They are nicely detailed. They don’t seem to have that treble bite that they had before. But, I need to be honest, I had not listened to these for quite a while before this change because of their fit. So my judgment is not going to be as valued as others. I will say this… I will be listening to the 325’s much more often now.
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So, the ZMF adapter just slide over the front of the baffles without much effort? Just wondering since my 125 are plastic not aluminum and I wouldn’t want to crack them.
I really don’t think you need worry. It may be the easiest audio install ever. Just pop off the old pad, put the adaptor where the pad was, then install the new pad over the adaptor. There is no strain or pressure in any way - at least on my 325’s
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Awesome, that was just the info I was looking for. Basically the same way I installed the cork adapters I made. I was a bit surprised to see they were more oval shaped than I expected - I assumed they were pretty much round. I’ll definitely watch the rest of the vid later to get a complete rundown.
The question now is if I can get a pair shipped to Canada without having to pay 3x the adapters price on shipping
Hello i’ve been reading about cassette tape and cassette player lately、i used to have grado sr80e añd from what remember how it sounds、wouldn’t cassete player + grado headphone be match made in heaven? That’s just my theory though、if it turns out to be true i might need to save up for cassette player and new grado
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Not a big fan of cassette even though I used one for years. Why do you want one? Even with CrO2 tape and Dolby or other noise reduction they have hiss. The thin tape and 1.75 inches per second speed is just too limiting.
Do you plan to record? If you are going to use tape a 15 ips or faster reel to reel is better, or even a HQ VHS deck
Later note: I don’t think that the prestige series Grados would be particularly good with a good cassette — they have treble peaks in the hiss range. A bad player may roll off treble and avoid the emphasis problem.
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Oh it’s not a good pair? That’s unfortunate、i thought they’d go together well since they both although imperfect they both sounds quite charming imo. I think that treble peak might get unpleasant to my ears so if i really want to i really need to be careful when choosing cassette player but seems that Chromium tape turns out to be hard to find around here、the majority thats in the market is iron oxide. i heard that HQ VHS can produce good quality recordings、i should read further into this
Thank you for the advice
Cassettes were originally intended for office dictation / voice recording. They were a step down in quality from records. They always hissed and always had severe quality limitations. HQ VHS is now several decades old and obsolete too.
You might use the limited treble of old tape technology to control (reduce) the treble of the Grado, but I don’t see the point. Under the best of circumstances you’ll have mediocre performance, and a modern system with an equalizer could achieve the same thing. Cassettes were abandoned quickly after recordable CDs became common in the 1990s.
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Yes, as @generic says, both recording technologies are obsolete. I pointed out the alternative because I have no idea what your objective is, where you are, what you budget is, and what is available near you.
There is nothing wrong with the SR80e Grado. It’s not the top of the line, but it’s a lot of fun for the money. Many people do the “Tape Mod” for about 2 cents, you can go a long way toward taming some of the treble harshness. Use the Search function here for Grado tape mod.
Fitting other pads to the Grados can also help. I favor the “Beautiful Audio” hybrid pads, but they’re a bit pricey for the SR80e. I have an SR60e that I just do the tape mod, and it’s fine. Or you can get the pad conversion shown several posts above us here for less - the ZMF mod.
If you like Grado and were going to get another pair, I’d ask someone like @Lothar_Wolf for advice on what has the current best price/performance. I’m a strictly mid price guy, and like the RS1e.
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Just noticed that Dekoni has Grado pads. Anybody try them?
As @ValentineLuke has posted, Silvian of Beautiful Audio is my go-to for Grado earpads. Really high quality leather and merino wool earpads and they ship with replacement foam which you can replace yourself years and years down the line when the original foam is unusable (instead of buying new earpads AKA Focal).
I have both the brown and black earpads for my Grado GS1000i, they look fantastic and retain most of the original sound signature. Each one was $145 USD but I’ve had my GS1000i for a decade and they deserved the upgrade. Treat yourself and your headphones! 
Dekoni I feel don’t use quite as nice a quality of leather, that may have been due to me mistreating my Focal fenestrated sheepskin earpads from them, but notwithstanding, Silvian’s earpads are of top quality.
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When it comes to my Grado sr60, I am personally fond of Geekria pads. I think they are quite pleasant both in terms of comfort and the effect on the sound.
I’m currently trying out Yaxi S-pads, which are also quite nice, and they are more similar to the standard pads that come with some of the “prestige” series grados.
The Beautiful Audio Silvian pads look very nice, and I like the shape, but the price is a bit higher than I expected. Maybe next time I have some disposable income that I feel like dumping on headphones I will consider such an upgrade 
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Grado GS1000 have been my first serious headphones many years ago.
I’ve bought them with no consciousness about headphones and in a time when in Italy the alternatives were two: Grado or Sennheiser.
I’ve no doubt today I’d buy different headphones but GS1000 are there and I have a strong emotive connection with them: when my father died music was the thing that helped me stay strong and my GS1000 come in in that time.
It was a lot I wasn’t using them.
I had to change the pads and bought a pair of Geekria G pads instead of Grado’s official.
Some weeks ago I put them on and took some time to shape the headband so that it fits my head.
I have to say that the improved clamping force and the different pads changed positively my experience with the headphones: improved bass quality with good punch, good mids and smoothed highs.
I’ve paired them with my Mogwai OG using Electro-Harmonix 6CA7 as power tubes and for free jazz, free improvised music and hard bop they aren’t so bad.
Still not the most spectacular headphones possible but very enjoyable and comfy.
I like the idea of appreciate what I have and of trying to get the best out of it.
Happiness sometimes is just this.
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They were probably the first really high end headphone that I listened to also. Prior to the mid 1990s I was a stereo hi-fi guy. Someone I worked with was into headphones and into headphone amps. It was the time of tiny. Tiny phones. Stuffing headphone amps into Altoids tins. Or even smaller tins. And my friend Bret from work was a headphone geek. First version of STAX IEMs, and the GS-1000. Sennheiser HD-600. (I bought the 580…). But I do recall those Grados, vividly.
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Thank you @Lothar_Wolf. What other pads have you tried? The Beautiful Sound are so customized to your pair of phones that I don’t think you would find them interchangeable except on the Prestige series.
I could see you producing a graphical matrix review guide with animated GIFs in the lookup squares.
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Prettied up my Grados a bit (OK a lot). Added a proper headband pad - geekria HD600, and grabbed a pair of Dekoni Earpadz Jersey.
Hows they sound? Overdamped. As an experiment I tried using my Fidelio X2 earpads to see what’d happen. Good things happened. They got their air back and stopped sounding so distant and smothered. Now, where can I get another pair…
begin rant
Not from Philips! Seriously, why design your headphones to have removeable earpads if your not going to sell replacements 
end rant
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The replacement pads from Beautiful Sound are very good and improve sound.
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