A couple of weeks ago Head-Fi DIYer Kojaku sent in a pair of heavily modded Grado SR225i headphones. I'm not really a fan of Grados ... okay, I really dislike them, but these modded cans were very good. The best sounding Grados I've had the pleasure of hearing.

I asked him to tell his story ...

Editors Note: When I invited CNET's Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg to write an article for InnerFidelity, he thought for a bit and made this suggestion: since InnerFidelity is about getting right down to the nitty-gritty truth about how a piece of personal audio gear sounds, why not make some recommendations for reference quality sounds to start with. Great idea! I think I'm going to have to write a similar article with my reference tracks one of these days --- not surprisingly, his list and mine contain some of the same albums.

Click on the album images to go to the source page. Rightio Steve, we're listening!

In preparing my article “How Planar Magnetic Headphones Work” I became enamored of the work being done by DIYers building their own Orthodynamic cans over in the "Orthodynamic Roundup thread on Head-Fi. The blood, sweat, and tears invested in building and modifying vintage Yamaha Orthodynamics, and cans like the Fostex T50RP is simply stunning, but more striking is the sense of fun and camaraderie so clearly evident in their headphone play that I simply can’t resist trying to find a way to enter into the party in some way.

I think I’ve figured out what I can do.