Steampunk Grado with Turbulent X Drivers

I've heard plenty of good things about the Turbulent X drivers made to fit Grado Labs and Alessandro headphones, so I thought it would be fun to build a new pair. Anyone who's modded a pair of Grados and ran a few Google searches knows that there are hundreds of options out there, from Sennheiser pads to aftermarket leather headbands, to wood cups from numerous manufactures large and small. So if you don't want your Grado to look like everyone else's Grado, there's nothing stopping you from some serious customization.

I'm no stranger to modding Grados, my last being an Alessandro with custom wood cups and a cable made from Cardas copper. This time I decided to do something that I'm pretty sure no one else has tried, a Grado with copper leafed mahogany cups. Copper leafing is process where you put down a base coat of paint, sand, then put down adhesive sizing, then lay extremely thin sheets of copper down and burnish them onto the wood, then cover with some protective sealant. You'll see some other examples of this in my custom built tube amplifier bases.

I began with a pair of mahogany wood cups and performed the copper leafing process. You'll note that the look is not perfect, it has a unique weathered look that make it nice for a steampunk-esq look. It actually weathers over time a bit as well, which only makes it look better in my humble opinion.

Copper leafed Grado cups

Inside the cups, I'd be using some unique grating I had powdercoated a copper color. This was cut for a tight fit and affixed with adhesive.

Powdercoated grates

Since Zynsonix is known for it's audiophile quality wire, I wouldn't be using any run of the mill cable, but some really impressive wire that was custom-made for Zynsonix, particularly for headphone and portable cable applications.

Custom Zynsonix Trebuchet wire

This is a special 24 gauge wire with high flexibility and low memory properties called the Trebuchet. It uses a high-flex clear PE dielectric and ultra pure ohno continuous cast copper for the finest sound quality. 

The mini connector is the well-made Amphenol 3.5mm. Unlike many other mini connectors, it works well with portable DAPs and iPhones in thick cases. This was braided into a litz, then into two twisted pairs, one for each cup. 

Each wire was run into the cup, soldered directly to the Turbulent X driver, then test fit to verify where the wire would fall. The wire was then secured with a zip tie and some hot glue. If it's good enough for Grado, it's good enough for me ;) It is nice to use hot glue as it is removable later for future mods. 

Turbulent X Drivers - Green marks positive in this case

I needed a donor pair of Grados, this would be a pair of used SR-60s I located online.

Some of the best value cans out there, the SR-60

The headband was removed with a twist of the plastic, then the Turbulent Labs headband was installed. This is much comfier than the stock headband, although not the finest Grado headband I've used. That honor would go to JMoney. I do like the color on this one though. 

Next was the process of removing the stock SR-60 cups and installing the copper leafed cups. The forks on the stock unit needed to be dremeled down a bit for adequate clearance, but other than that, pretty straight-forward.  

Well now I have a very unique Grado build with some great sounding Turbulent X drivers and the superlative Zynsonix Trebuchet wire, a match made in heaven for my ears. The sound is crisp and detailed yet full-bodied and dynamic. 

Please feel free to contact Zynsonix if you'd like your headphone recabled with the Trebuchet wire, or if you'd like a custom cable made from it, you won't find it anywhere else.

The Fine Print: The above steps detailing the recabling of a headphone are for entertainment purposes only, and not to be performed under any circumstances. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt the process posted and cause physical harm to yourself, your surroundings or your property. Please keep this in mind.

Modifying the Musical Fidelity X-10 v3

Interestingly enough, there really aren't too many audio buffers out there on the market. Typically a buffer will help match the high output impedance of a source such as a cd player or preamp to the low input impedance of an amplifier, especially solid state. They can also be used, in the case of the Musical Fidelity X-10, to add the warmth of tubes to a solid state source like a DAC (digital audio converter).

Musical Fidelity sold these half width components as a series. You could get a miniature CD transport, the tube buffer, the DAC and headphone amp and stack them all up :) Below is a photo of someone's system showing what the collection could look like.

Someone's nice Musical Fidelity System

The Musical Fidelity v3 series is no longer being produced, and hasn't been for a few years now. I owned the DAC for a time, which was very good but lacked musicality and depth in my humble opinion. The most appealing component is the aforementioned tube buffer, mostly because there really is little competition in the price range for an equivalent product. The only other tube buffer I know of in this price range is the Yaqin CD1, CD2 and CD3 which I have not tried yet. The impressions I've read so far range from middling to very good.

Going back to the Musical Fidelity X-10. The circuit is based on two miniature pencil-sized 6112 tubes with leads that go directly to the board. That means that you can't replace them unless you're willing to solder ;) Add this to the fact that the unit does not have an on/off switch and that they haven't been produced for years and you'll find that most of the units in circulation could probably use a new set of tubes. Pricing fluctuates wildly, and is typically based on whatever the item was last listed for on Audiogon. You'll typically see them listed for $125 to $250, or selling on eBay for $80-120.

A Stock X-10 v3

In the interest of adding some warmth to a solid state CD player. I picked up a pair of units on the cheap, each to modify a little differently. Opening it up revealed relatively generic parts like Jamicon caps in the power supply and signal path. I decided to replace all parts of interest with some more audiophile-type parts from PartsConnexion. I also noticed on the back side of the board that there was some discoloration from heat near the MOSFETs. I saw that user PinkFloyd over at RockGrotto Forums had installed heatsinks to dissipate some of that heat. He also sells parts kits to modify nearly all of the Musical Fidelity X series components (no affiliation). I opted to go my own route, as usual ;) Below are some photos of the two units, please click to enlarge.

Unit 1, Note the red Black Gate non-polar caps

Unit 1

Unit 2, Note the large Mundorf non-polar caps mounted on standoffs

Unit 2

Unit 2

Unit 1 features:

• Nichicon FineGold Caps to replace the Jamecons
• Black Gate NP and power supply caps
• Kiwame and Takman resistors in signal path and PS
• Neotech PCOCC Copper in Teflon hookup wire
• GE NOS tubes
• Heatsinks on the MOSFETS

Unit 2 features:

• Nichicon FineGold Caps to replace the Jamecons
• Mundorf Non Polar Caps
• Elna Silmic power supply caps
• Kiwame and Takman resistors in signal path
• Neotech PCOCC Copper in Teflon hookup wire
• GE NOS tubes
• Heatsinks on the MOSFETS 

Both sound quite a bit more detailed than stock, with notably more separation. The tubes seem to make most of the difference. The non-polar caps, I'd imagine, would be the next most important.

The Fine Print:

Please remember that modifications can be dangerous to you and/or your surroundings and should only be performed by a certified technician. The owner of this blog and all associated parties in this thread can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt a posted modification and cause physical harm to yourself or your surroundings. Many electronics contain high voltages that can kill, and mods, if performed improperly, can be a fire hazard. Please keep this in mind.