Hi, first time changing a headphone cable and I've been researching what I need to do.  I asked AKG what to look for and they wouldn't give me any info or advice besides to use the stock cable.  I had so many problems with the stock cable kinking up on itself that I don't want to go through that again.  I gave up on AKG support and decided to research myself.  I dissected the wire and found that it was corroded and it has 4 wires.

So I need a cable with four wires.  Does that mean any 4 wire microphone cable will work or I do I have to get more specific?  All Quad cables are good?  Any particular Ohm rating best for headphones?  Do I need to worry about damaging the headphones?  How so, resistance or capacitance of the wire?  Any quad cable will work?  This is the type of info I wanted from AKG but the person I talked to didn't seem to know much about the product and wouldn't recommend anything besides the stock cable.  So any help you guys can give me would be appreciated.  I'd prefer not to experiment and harm the headphones as I can't get new ones.

CABLES

I'd like to try Canare. I've tried their mic cables before and I preferred them over Mogami.

Canare L4E6S

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/317395.html

I've also found people use stuff like :

Mogami Quad Neglex copper

Moon Audio Black Dragon

Revelation Audio Cryo Silver

Stefan Audio Arts Equinox K701 replacement cable

Anything else you guys can recommend that preferably doesn't cost as much as new pair of headphones?  I'll be installing it myself.  Are these $200 and over cables really that much better?  Besides Canare and Mogami are there some other manufactures I'm overlooking that make something a step up from this without getting ridiculous like $300 for a cable?  What is so different about the Black Dragon cables that is worth 30x the price of Canare?  I understand silver being a better conductor and I'd like to try silver if I could find it for a decent price per foot to put together myself.  I also plan to use silver solder.  Any recommendations or advice you can give please?  Thanks.

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemList.aspx?productCategoryID=5

Will any of those quad speaker cables work just as well as the microphone cable?  ... since a headphone is basically a contained set of stereo speakers.

Any rules of thumb?  Will thicker wire give me more bass?  Will I lose anything with thicker gauge besides flexibility?  What's the tradeoff?  I don't reallly care too much about flexibility as long as I can get the wire out of my way.  I prefer sturdier wire anyway, something that won't kink on itself and be durable.  

I also listen and play mostly acoustic music.  I will be using these for mixing and general listening.

This thread linked below was helpful, but who makes good 18 gauge wire suited for this purpose?  I'm not finding it. :(  Canare has 20AWG quad speaker wire.  

http://www.head-fi.org/t/422469/k701-replacement

I'm thinking of trying these:

• • speaker Cable - star quad (4S6)
  • speaker Cable - star quad (4S8)

Star Quad Microphone cable (L-4E6S / L-4E5C)

All Canare.  My only concern is the lack of shielding on the speaker wire.  Has anyone tried any of these with their K701's?  How do they compare to the Mogami equivalent?

After more research I also found people using Q-audio, and some other brands I bookmarked on my other computer.  I found a lot of bare bones research papers that explain the fundamental theories here.  I've learned a lot.  Seems there's really no point to go silver because all you have to do is increase the gauge of the copper to match the conductivity of the silver wire.  Notice how some of these silver cable dealers don't list the gauge?  It's probably thin stuff that you can equal with good quality thicker copper.  So my strategy will be to go with a thick gauge copper, at least 21 AWG like in the Canare 4e6s.  I want to try 18 AWG but can't find a star quad with that gauge.  

I'd be interested to hear your experience with any type of re-cable.  Otherwise I'll probably just try all the Canare and Mogami.  Thought I could get some feedback here.....wtf no one really?  Disappointing.

Cool I will check out DHC thanks.  Moon Audio looks good but pricey.  I'd rather do all the soldering and connections myself.  

Could a moderator please move this thread to the DIY forum? Or should I just start a new thread there?

HTC uses OCC copper.  Paper here on OCC copper and silver:

http://www.qables.com/shop/images/pdf/OCC%20description.pdf

I found bulk OCC wire at VH Audio.  Has anyone tried them?

http://www.vhaudio.com/wire.html

Cool picture here of OCC(Ohno Continuous Cast) vs OFC (Oxygen Free Copper):

http://www.vhaudio.com/images/occ.jpg

I have my mind set on OCC now.  I'm trying to find OCC with 4 conductors and shielding in bulk from somewhere, preferably in a heavy gauge.

Thanks for the feedback.  Yeah for OCC already made for you its not too bad a price.  However, you're paying a lot for labor and I have the time and know how to solder it together myself.  I'll also have to cut off the end that goes to the headphone and solder anyway so I may as well do the whole cable while I'm at it if you know what I mean.

http://aloaudio.com/akg-702-alo-sxc-cryo-cable.html

ALO makes one that is spot on to what I'm looking for as well.  However I can put this together myself I just need to find the raw materials.  Anyone know where I can find them?  No luck yet in my searches.

I need OCC star quad copper or silver with at least a 22AWG gauge.  18 - 22 AWG

http://www.neotechcable.com/product1_2.html

They might make it.

http://www.neotechcable.com/product2_3.html

Look at the profile of the first one on the list, its got 4 conductors.  However, that also looks like only pre fitted with terminated ends.  Doh.

I think I will just call up ALO and Moon Audio see if I can just get the raw unterminated cable from them.  I'm not finding their source.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

Double Helix Cables is running a half-price special this weekend on their OCC Neucleotide cryo-wire.

Thanks!  I think that will work.  :)

Reading about it now.

Moon Audio sells OCC in bulk as well, I didn't realize that.  Thicker stuff too 21.5AWG.

http://www.moon-audio.com/diy-audio-parts/audio-wire.html?p=1

There's two pages, second page has the black dragon bulk cable and silver dragon bulk. 

I decided to go with the Silver Dragon.