Re-terminating stock AKG K701 cable? (and shortening!) - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Bencrest · 06-26-2008, 12:24 AM

Well, I've been swapping my K701s and HD600s backwards and forwards, and surprise surprise, I think I'll be pulling my K701s from sale, and selling the HD600s I only bought about a month ago.

BUT the thing that REALLY annoys me about the K701 is the cable. It's FAR too long for my needs (I use a laptop or iPod, both through an iBasso D2 Boa), I reckon I only need about 4ft cable at the absolute maximum, and I really don't need a 6.3mm plug any more.

So, I was thinking of hacking about 3ft or 4ft (I'd measure up properly at the time, this is still just at the 'idea' stage!) off the cable from the plug end, and reterminating with a decent 3.5mm jack plug. Seems a lot easier on these cans than recabling, which was one of the HD600s strong suits.

Does the fact it's a K701 make the job of reterminating any more difficult? I hear they are 'bi-wired' and some other weird terms, but I'd hope I could just chop and solder?

Cheers in advance for any help

FallenAngel · 06-26-2008, 01:08 AM

Will take you 5 minutes, don't worry about anything.

Bencrest · 06-26-2008, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by FallenAngel

Will take you 5 minutes, don't worry about anything.

I always worry, but cheers for the vote of confidence

I take it from your reply then that the stock K701 cable is no different to any other headphone cable in the way it's terminated? Would be great if that's the case

Bencrest · 06-26-2008, 02:31 AM

Well, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to order a nice Switchcraft jack plug to reterminate the cable.

I also decided to have a quick look (well, strip down) the old stock jack plug and I'm surprised to see 4 wires, Red, Yellow, Black and White. Red and Yellow appear to go to each of the poles on the centre of the jack, and the Black and White look like they share the same ground point. I was only expecting 3 wires for some reason, but it doesn't really make any difference.

warrior05 · 06-26-2008, 11:23 AM

The two grounds mean you can terminate the OEM cable to balance if you wish. Otherwise, keep the wiring schema the same and you will be good to go.

QQQ · 06-26-2008, 11:48 AM

To me two grounds means one unnecessary wire in single entry cord

Bencrest · 06-27-2008, 04:10 AM

Originally Posted by QQQ

To me two grounds means one unnecessary wire in single entry cord

Originally Posted by warrior05

The two grounds mean you can terminate the OEM cable to balance if you wish. Otherwise, keep the wiring schema the same and you will be good to go.

Just need to confirm... I'm pretty sure from looking at the old connector (which has been a serious pain to get into - I assume AKG don't expect you to look inside it?) that the two ground wires are soldered to the same point albeit 'piggybacking' eachother.

Does this sound right? I don't want to blow up a nice pair of cans just by changing the plug incorrectly

warrior05 · 06-27-2008, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by QQQ

To me two grounds means one unnecessary wire in single entry cord

On the contrary - it is a terrific bonus. As I mentioned, it makes it a piece of cake to terminate them for balanced and the K701s respond quite nicely in a balanced configuration.

warrior05 · 06-27-2008, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Bencrest

Just need to confirm... I'm pretty sure from looking at the old connector (which has been a serious pain to get into - I assume AKG don't expect you to look inside it?) that the two ground wires are soldered to the same point albeit 'piggybacking' eachother.

Does this sound right? I don't want to blow up a nice pair of cans just by changing the plug incorrectly

You won't "blow up" anything. Just take the two ground conductors, strip about a 1/4" of insulation off of them, twist together, tin then solder them onto the ground contact of your new plug. Believe me, I've done many recable jobs. You'll be fine.

Bencrest · 06-28-2008, 02:17 AM

Huge thanks everyone, got them sorted!

I'm confident it sounds better too, but that's no doubt placebo effect

Just a shame the plug was apparently designed for much bigger cables, perhaps I should have stuck to a smaller Neutrik connector? Either way though, cheers for the advice. Much more willing to have a tinker with my headphones now!