Make a GS3000e Premium Wood Over-Ear Open Back Headphone

This is a project inspired by Grado GS3000e, an $1,800 premium price audiophile class headphone. Using the EDL GS3000e DIY kit, you can easily reproduce same sound and quality in just a few hours.

Grado Labs GS3000e got 5/5 all star rating on What’s Hi-Fi (Review): And you can see more in the YouTube video.

The Grado GS3000es need a listening room. That sounds like an odd thing to say about a pair of headphones, but get a pair and that’s exactly what you’ll wish for. The GS3000es are an open-backed design. They not only leak out lots of sound but they let in everything too. Voices, traffic noises, kettles boiling, you name it – all will intrude on your listening experience to varying degrees. During testing, it isn’t long before we see the look of disapproval from anyone sitting near us, once the high-frequency ’tiss-tiss’ emanating from the rear of the headphones starts getting on their nerves. The solution? Go to a quiet space, away from anyone likely to disturb or be disturbed. A dedicated listening room, for instance.

See attached video and frequency response measurements to know about GS3000e.

Supplies

You can order most components here or on www.EarphoneDIYLabs.com. You will also need simple tools like screw drivers and instant glues.

Step 1: Know About the Components

As shown in the pic below, the kit includes

2 X Grado GS3000e drivers
2 X Mahogany wood cups, preinstalled with cup holders (brackets)
1 X headband
2 X G-Cushions, 2 X L-Cushions and 2 X S-Cushions
1 X cable with 3.5mm jack and Y splitter

Step 2: Wiring

As shown in the pic, the cable is red/blue labeled. You’ll need to push it through the 4mm hole on the cup.

Step 3: Fine Tune Driver

Headphone drivers need to be fine tuned based on the acoustic structure of the headphone shells, etc. Normally it requires special expertise and professional instruments. Grado headphone shell is fully open and makes the tuning very easy and straightforward.

Step 1, locate the 2 holes (in red circles) at the back side of the driver. they are covered by the black gauze.

Step 2, remove the black gauze on the 2 holes and you get below. You can use the tip of your soldering icon to burn it open, but be very careful not to hurt the diaphragmdown below! If you want more bass, you can open up the 3rd hole between the 2 holes.

Step 4: Soldering

Solder the wires to the soldering panel on the driver.

Note:

The right-hand side pin is positive. Make sure you make it right.
Solder it as quick as possible (<3s). The soldering panel is very fragile and easily broken when heating for long period.

Step 5: Gluing

Apply some instant glue at the edge of the drivers (be careful not to get glue on to the front cover), and push the driver into the cup. Wait >1h or longer until the glue fully dry.