Existence of HD25-1 cable upgrade?

[Daroid]

Originally Posted by Chinchy

Great to know that driver orientation doesn't affect the sound!

And I know the results of the upgrade may not be substantial, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'll let you know if there is a difference at all. Hopefully Larry will take a listen and see if he detects anything as well.

Oh yes please do!
I thought about upgrading the cable also, and saw that Cardas had cables for nearly all Sennheiser headphones - just write them an email. Guess the HD25 is one of those exceptions.

When ordering the 3.0m cable, bes sure to check that you don't order a coiled cable instead. Those exists too, and are 1.5m unstretced.

If this works out fine and there are improvements (e.g. refined more less-agressive treble) I must have one of those cables . Will Larry be able to ship the cable overseas, so I can custom fit it, you think ?

EDIT:

Found this earlier today, first time I have seen a HD25-1 Silver
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...tem=3824319728 - fresh looking IMO

[Chinchy]

Update: Once received, my headphones were in and out the door from Headphile in like 2 days. Very quick! Too bad I was on vacation when they arrived back, but in any case they're in my hands now.

As stated before, the final configuration: The driver cups have been turned upside down to allow for a dual entry cable. The stock cable was cut an inch from the pins, and then the new cable spliced onto it. The new cable is a solid wire, silver I believe, that is covered with a soft cloth cover. The new cables are definitely less microphonic than stock, but still microphonic. I don't think there's any solution for it due to the design of the headphones, but in any case, when the wires rub on your clothing or get tapped, it's now more muted. The cable is very flexible, but since it's solid wire, it would be bad to get it kinked. I had it terminated with a straight switchcraft 1/8" plug.

My initial impressions:
Comparing from memory to the stock cable, the headphones definitely sound less tinny. I'm hearing more details, and the sound is clearer. At least to my ears it doesn't sound like they're closed phones anymore, and the isolation really helps to accentuate the cleaner sound. I'm still burning these in as Larry tells me that it should take about 100 hours to reach full potential. All I can say at this point is that I am definitely enjoying the music coming out of these babies more than the pre-op condition. I'll report back and let you all know.

Pics will be up maybe tonight since I don't have my camera on me now.

[Daroid]

Oh no... the temptation! Thank you for doing this, it is much appreciated, and glad it all turned out well. How much did the upgrade cost you ?
Could you maybe do a short comparison between the new HD25s and the SR-225s, or maybe even the HP-2s when you have the time - just very brief ? (The HD25s are said to be very Gradoey in stock form...)

[Chinchy]

Each recabling is essentially a custom job, and your pricing may vary depending on what options you pick and how difficult it is for recabling the headphone. For mine, the cable is approximately the same length as the stock cable (approx 6 feet or 2 meters), terminated in a switchcraft mini plug. Larry at Headphile will recable any headphone, so each inquiry could get a different price, which is approximately proportional to the CD3000 recable. As far as I know, he doesn't have any set pricing on the HD25-1s. Just to give you a sense of what your price will be, the original quote for me was about $100 shipped. I believe Larry gave me a discount since mine was the first HD25 that he's done, so I got either a Guinea-Pig discount or a Nice-Guy discount. My price was about 20% less than that. If you go full out with exotic plugs and woody options and other what-nots and doohickeys, then you might pay a little more. So there's your approximate range.

In any case, it was a no brainer for me since the recabling is reversible, and I can buy a new stock cable at any time and swap it out.

[luukas]

For some reason, I suddenly feel that not having the HD25 around right now is a good thing

Are the pins on the HD25 cable identical to 580/600 ones? Provided I get the headphones back in time for our local meet, I might try some of the other cables.

[Chinchy]

I haven't compared them directly seeing as I don't have the 580/600/650, but I don't believe they are the same. At least I think the housings are different... Anyone else have both and would like to verify?

[Daroid]

The HD25 pins are different , else people would buy the cheap cables for HD580 and up, instead of the 1.5 m of the Senn HD25 cable that costs more (nearly $30 at SennUSA).
I have tested this just now, it doesn't fit.

[Xanadu777]

Originally Posted by luukas

Are the pins on the HD25 cable identical to 580/600 ones?

No, they are not the same. The red and black plastic are thinner and the pins are half flattened. The cable itself is stranded steel, ugh...

[luukas]

Ah, good to know that. Thanks everyone.

I suppose I might buy an extra cable, the replacement parts don't seem to be that expensive here.

[luukas]

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but I'd be curious to know your impressions now that you've had the cable for about a week, Chinchy.