Replacing the cable on an AKG k601

Your post strikes a chord, or should I say, strikes a cord, haha, because I have the same problem.

I just got a used K601 whose left channel is out. Right after receipt I determined that the cable connection is defective at the housing, probably because there's a broken wire in the cable after years of use. If I hold the cable in a certain position I get both channels just fine. I had the same issue with an old pair of K240DFs last year. It cost $70 to replace it via AKG/Harman repair shop. Obviously this can happen to well-used AKG phones, maybe others as well.

So---how to fix it? I would prefer to get a connector installed so this won’t happen again and I could easily install an aftermarket cable if the fancy strikes. I got the exterior grill to pop off with little difficulty, but the part 23 is very hard to squeeze to expose the latches underneath. I got one side exposed but still couldn’t pop the latch loose and lift the thing, and it meant the other side was even harder to move. You have to have a grip like a vise. I think a special tool is needed. I don't want to risk fracturing a part or scratching the phones trying to save a few bucks.

After the innards are exposed, does cable replacement mean unsoldering and resoldering old and new cable to the driver? I am not trained in thoracic surgery and don’t want to fry my patient’s vital organs. The K601-701 driver is quite sensitive to heat, I hear tell.

Maybe the prudent solution is to have somebody do it who has the skill and experience. Suggestions? Cable vendor? I shouldn’t be investing too much in older cans where something else could go wrong next year..

Which wire is the culprit? Yellow? The point of the break would be at or just outside where the cable enters the lid/housing.

I think my best solution is going to be to replace the old cable with a mini-XLR connector. I shouldn’t have to be soldering around the driver.

Would a K702 connector and cable work with this can? According to the 702 service manual, there are also 3 wires – red, yellow, and white. That stands to reason since the 702 is essentially the same as the 701, and the 701 shares its service manual with the 601.

The big problem remains how to get that bleeping lid to come off. Maybe I should fly cello out here to the West Coast so he can show me how to do it, LOL. That piece is very happy staying right where it is and does not want to move.  I can’t get a good grip on it. I need a pair of long pliers with curved nose that will securely hold each side of the lid at the lower edge and allow me to depress the sides enough to expose the tabs underneath.  I don’t understand how working it slowly (and of course I’m being careful not to harm it) will get it off, since to me it seems that a matter of concentrated force is all that’s going to work.

Ha, I finally succeeded. Not easy, and I don’t recall exactly at which point of the lid I finally got the sucker to start cooperating. Here are a couple stages in the removal.

Be aware that the little sections that meet and mostly surround the headband wires fit very snugly around the wires and will try to prevent you from lifting at that end. They pull fairly hard even after the lid tabs are clear of the ring, part 17. Start at the other side.

I finally got one side to release the tab and lift, then kept working it up and lifting the opposite side. Eventually it dawned on me that the headband wires were holding me up, so I worked opposite them and it gradually came loose without my scratching or breaking anything.

Finally you have to get the cable away from those little brown clamp posts just shy of the end of the cable.. Here I busted a post because the manufacturer glued the rubber cable endpiece and I couldn’t slice it loose. A minor issue.

So now it’s on to getting the appropriate mini-XLR and a new cable.

This is why some AKG phones lose the left (or maybe right) channel after a few years of regular use.

The yellow wire, input to the left channel, is badly frayed about the point where it would have gotten the most wear, right at the edge of the ear cup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cello 

Well... first of all, listen to renlute about getting that piece off.  It turns out I was wrong - you should squeeze the frame to pull out the bottom and pull the top tabs off second.

 

Second of all, I had a bad solder joint on the left driver, so I went in and resoldered it, and now I'm getting no sound out of the left driver at all.  I think I just frickin blew out the driver!!

 

:( :(

 

Any way I can confirm this (aside from soldering the right input to the left driver)?

 

I hate these frickin headphones.  Never buy them!

 

:(

 

you need to heat up the post for a period of time before bringing the wire from the driver to solder to the post.  if heating both up at the same time, your heating up the driver before the larger post that can sink a lot of heat.  

heat the post until it whets solder, then bring the wire to the post, and then solder both together.  this will reduce the heat time to the drivers and not leave you with a cold joint or fried driver.  

also, this is enameled wire which needs to be burned off before soldering.  so if you stripped any wire to get a fresh end, you need to burn the enamel off.   

Oh I am so sorry to hear that, cello. The K601 driver does seem to be sensitive to heat -- I heard from another head-fier recently who had also fried one of them.  

I am a total novice at soldering, so no way would I ever go near the driver. Fortunately I don't have to. I just sliced open the cable to expose the frayed wire and soldered that, which is pretty easy even for a noob. The other two wires are approaching the end of their life at that same point of the cable. After taking care that they were not touching each other, I had a listen -- haha, success. Both channels loud and clear.

So now starts the research on cable replacement. I could go the cheap route and just cut the old cable and reattach somehow. I did keep that little squarish endpiece though I mangled it a bit. Or I replace it with a new one from AKG/Harman. I am also toying with the idea of hooking up an XLR cable but am unsure how to attach the connector to the headphone. An XLR cable is durned hard to disengage from its connector, in my limited experience.

With an XLR connection, then I have no worries about cable replacement down the road, and can experiment with aftermarket cables if the fancy strikes and budget permits. I'm not ambitious enough to try balancing the rig, especially after reading about fried drivers.