JVC harx700 - a poor mans ath-a900!! - Page 11

Also, did you find any great tools for cutting that plastic?

Get a really sharp knife and cut it off Regarding the baffles, i glued mine

How's the sound after the open-back mod?

Well..As i said before, if you just open them with a screwdriver you will see how they are put togeather and easily understand how to get rid of the plastic Even the cables to the drivers are long so they are easy to work with without damaging the original cables for those who have doubts. Take pictures and post them here, since i deleted mine :P

Alright. I finally finished my version of this mod. I tried to take pics and notes as I went to share because, even with some help from Arvan, it was a slow exploration because I was trying to be as careful as possible throughout the process. Anyhoo... here's what I did. Not sure if it's the best strategy but I'm generally pleased with the result of the look and quite pleased with the sound improvement. Sorry if this explanation is a little over the top but I like as much detail as possible in instructions.

 

So, first you need to remove the ear pads. You just pull them off. If you want to be super careful (like I do) it's good to sort of pull the pad away from the edge as you lift. I have taken these off and put back on many times now and I have yet to tear one but the fabric feels pretty fragile. It seems a LITTLE easier from the front (smaller side). Anyway, this is easy:

 

2. Unscrew the 3 TINY screws that hold the baffle to the outer cup:

 

 

3. Pull the baffle off the cup. The cable to the driver is attached through the outer housing so don't yank it away too violently:

 

4. Remove the logo plate from the cup. There are three tabs that hold it in place. Just push them outward and they should spring/pop out. You might want to have a tiny flat-head screwdriver or something to help because they have a pretty strong grip.

 

5. Using a spade drill bit, I drilled three holes big enough to fit your cutting tool through. I used a 3/4" bit. I found it helpful to tape the cable to the outside of the cup to keep it out of the way of the drill:

 

6. Arvan said he used a sharp knife but I couldn't find a knife I could ruin that was sharp enough so I found a pvc pipe cutter (maybe $6). It was like a thin, stiff-but-bendable, tightly wrapped roll of sandpaper with a ring at each end (one of which I cut off to make it fit through the holes). This was the longest and most difficult part. Using the pipe saw was tedious and a bit of a pain in the tuchus but it seemed to work better than the coping saw I tried. The trick with the pipe cutter is to use long strokes without using too much pressure (it wants to stick and will bend up).

WARNING: This process is EXTREMELY messy. The plastic debris goes everywhere and it's difficult to collect it all. If you have a dirty-ish work space or somewhere outside, you might want to do it there. I found it helpful to cover the other side with a sock to keep the debris out.

 

 

I wanted to keep the screw receptacles in the outer housings so I could open them up again later and also keep a little of the plastic in the center of the cup to support the thin fabric and mesh I found to use as a grill in case of accidental impact. So, I cut three gnarly pie piece shapes out -- making sure to cut out the vertical tabs on the outer side (Can be tricky close to the outer edges but if you get most of it, you can snap the last bit off). (Sorry. Forgot to take a pic of this mid-process.)

 

CAUTION: That cable is tiny and fragile! I thought I was being as cautious as possible but I managed to nick one somehow in the process. :(

 

Tabs on the outer side:

 

7. While I had it open, I added a version of the dampening mod by Graphicism.*

I found it helpful to make a template. The outer edge is 3.75" and the inner is 2.25"

 

 

8. For the outer screen/grill thingy I used the mesh a grease catcher I found at BB&B for $15. You should be able to find one much cheaper but I really liked that this one had a thin microfiber cloth between two sheets of thin aluminum mesh that worked to hide my sloppy cuts. I made a 3" circle template, traced it on the mesh with a sharpie and cut the mesh with regular scissors. I found it helpful to tape the circle to the mesh to keep it from slipping around.

 

For the fabric, I made another 3" circle on a sheet of paper, cut the circle out of the paper (leaving maybe 1/4" around), and taping all edges of the circle template to the fabric. Then, I cut the fabric/template on the line of the template. It's important to leave the space around the circle so that the edges of the fabric doesn't stick to the tape and fray. ...Probably a MUCH easier and smarter way to do this step.

 

An alternate method for this step might be to use some spray adhesive on the mesh, press the fabric against the mesh, and then cut both at once. IDK.

 

 

9. Using a TINY bit of super glue, I attached the fabric first to the outer side of the mangled cup. Once that was dry, I attached the cut mesh to the fabric while running a tiny trail of glue along the edge to try to bind it to the plastic of the housing as much as possible. ...and DONE!

 

I really like how it turned out. As you can see though, the glue is easily visible. :( If I had to do it again, I would probably just glue the outer edge. But oh well.

 

I got another pair of these just to test the difference side-by-side and I have to say that (barring any burn-in impact on the results) this, and the extra foam in the ear pads*, make these much more expansive, transparent, and even detailed. The sound is VERY close to my AKG k240 Monitors with more oomph in the low end. If you have a few hours, and maybe a few calories, to burn, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a shot.

 

 

 

* http://www.head-fi.org/t/435809/jvc-ha-rx700-mods

 

For the extra ear pad foam, I cut open an old akg 240 ear pad and used the foam in it, just trimming it -- you don't need much. BTW, I ended up trimming some out of the inside too after I realized it was muffling the sound some. You don't really even want it to be as wide as the existing cushions.

Edited by RastaDolphin - 12/1/12 at 7:45am

Great job! What is your reflection of the sound?

Well, the sound stage is much more open -- sounds are much more easily differentiated but I was mostly amazed with is the increase in clarity. Everything is much more transparent and detailed. The closest thing I have to compare it to is my old AKG k240 Monitors. And I easily prefer the modded JVCs as an all-around casual listening headphone as their sound is very close with maybe a hair less detail in the mids but with more punch AND detail in the low end. The JVCs are more comfortable too.

 

I can definitely get rid of my Sennheiser 280s now. They just sound flat as a pancake now and have been rendered obsolete.

 

Thanks for the idea!

 

 

EDIT: Just pulled out my Sennheiser 419s to compare and I have to say the sound is nearly identical only the JVCs sound much larger with a slight warm silkiness that I much prefer. The 419s have a harshness that made them difficult to listen to for very long.

 

BTW, I popped some of the leftover trimmed foam I had into the pads on the unmodded pair I had just to see how much it played into the result and I will tell you that the extra foam in the ear pads makes a HUGE difference on the sound stage. If you have these headphones and do nothing else, put some extra padding in. SUPER EASY improvement!

 

Also, if anyone is wondering, I did all the comparisons using Apple Lossless and FLAC files from my 2009 imac in Play (freeware) and running through a 18v 4556 op amp cmoy. They DO benefit from an amp (I have yet to find cans that don't).

Edited by RastaDolphin - 11/30/12 at 7:17am

That´s pretty much how i experience them.. If you modify them this way you get a great headphone for..no money at all!

What do these sound like compared to the CAL! ?

CAL?

Creative Aurvana Live! *sorry

I'm not familiar with those at all.

Sorry.

I've been very skeptical about the efficacy of mods. I tried a quick and dirty mod with portapros: the quarter mod, and noticed no difference.

 

But this one looks absolutely awesome, as I have a strong preference for open 'phones.

 

I wonder if anyone has tried to mod koss dj100's to transform them into an open design?

 

edit: that looks pretty involved. Is anyone willing to accept payment to do the mod for those of us who are ham-handed? If so, how much would you charge?

Edited by newphones - 4/8/13 at 2:20am

I've been thinking about doing that. I'd be willing to put together a set the way I've done here and ship it for $70.