Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread - Page 187

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

I'm pondering replacing the LCD-3s with the TH900s for when I want a pair of cans that are more exciting compared to the 009s which are ultra-refined. The LCD-3s were my kick-in-the-pants cans, but they don't do enough of that. The other solution would be to get a big tube amp for them or wait for the closed LCD-2s. That would be a tough call then.

I think in the long run it will be a lot cheaper if you get the TH900s now

This is my first post to head-fi. I´v been following this forum for quite some time. You guys are directly responsible for me buying the Fostex TH900 and Fostex HP-P1 amp/dac. I´m loving that setup! 

Unfortunately, a few days ago, one of the cans fell off. I was quite shocked! Luckily I found all the small parts, and it seems nothing is broken. I´v seen posts on this forum that it has happened to others as well. I sent my TH900 to my dealer and they told me they had to send them to Japan to be fixed. They wheren´t allowed to open up the cans them selves. And Fostex claimed they never heard about that happening before, so they wanted to investigate my headphones further. From what I read in these forums this seems like a weak part of their design, so it sounds a bit like bull **** to me that they never heard of this problem.

Luckily I got to loan a new set of TH900 while my cans are visiting Japan.

Pic of my broken TH900: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6572464/broken_TH900.jpg

- Eide

Yeah, I can hear a metallic creaking noise in that part of the right ear cup sometimes and am afraid this may happen to mine as well. 

Eide, welcome to the forum.  Thats exactly the problem the Denons had, which Fostex were the OEM for, and there have already been 2 or 3 here who have had that problem (and like all issues, 2 or 3 post on the forums means more experiencing the problem who don't post).  Definitely BS that they'd "never heard of it happening before" unless it was a new CS rep with no actual knowledge of the product.  Luckily if you did order from an authorized dealer you should be taken care of within the warranty period.

IIRC the warranty period is only a year*, though, so I might be out of luck if this happens to mine in 5 months.

*Or was it 2?  Either way that's not very long.

So is there a way to tighten that screw/hinge and prevent this from happening in the first place - my Denons never had the problem but they were lightly used / for far the same goes for the TH900s so far, but i don't want to go through sending this back to Japan from the states.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eide 

Thank's for the welcome!
I live in Norway, so it's quite a long way to japan from here as well. According to my dealer there's no other pair of TH900 in Norway, and there won't be coming more either. So I really hope they fix this problem. I'm wondering if TH900 is a limited, and maybe discontinued product? Btw, I saw a link to a specialized screwdriver somewhere in this forum earlier. I think I'll order that screwdriver to fix future problems myself.

It is neither limited nor discontinued. If you send your TH900 to your dealer in Norway, your dealer should send your TH900 to Fostex in Japan where they will repair your TH900 for you, send it back to your dealer, who in turn will send it back to you. So assuming you purchased your TH900 from the authorized dealer, the only shipping fee you should pay is sending your TH900 to your dosmetic dealer which probably won't cost much. At least this was the case with me.

Honestly if my new speaker system starts to get as much time as I think it will over headphones I could see replacing my stat rig with the TH900 as well (and maybe another HD800). Still great cans, but at a much lower cost where the rest could be reinvested in better sources. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiowood 


if the screws is loose, the ring that hold the cups will move a little clockwise and touch the rectangular base of the headband. If screws is tight, it won't be touch the base.
If loose, either use a flexible screw, or remove the cups and screw it back. It's not that hard just got to know where to open.
When my screws drop again, I will post a detail pictures of how to open it. It's very simple.. Put your thumb at the leather pad ring (base of the pad that separates the pads and the cups) pry open a little bit and pull the leather cover off. The pad is wrap around the ring of the cup and can be remove by slowly pulling it out without any tools. Once pads is out, unscrew the screws around the cups and it will come off completely. U can then tighten the screw. It became loose after a whole of hard swivel.

thanks for the info/details - going to check mine out when I have a chance hopefully everythings ok right now.. but its good to know there is a relatively simple fix if nothing is actually broken.

Alright, I have decided to perform a small operations and take some pictures. So here you go on a step by step procedures on tightening back the screws. You will need a phillip screw driver (the one you use for glasses), some cloth or paper towel to prevent scratches of the cups and a very calm mind. The whole procedures took me about 10 mins.

EDIT: You can actually turn the leather pad anti-clockwise to remove the pad. Push it tight and turn it anticlockwise.- Thanks namaiki for sharing. So now just skip straight to step 6 and finish at step 12 and then put the pads back.

1) Pinch on to the base of the pad and slide out the leather pad with your thumb.

2) Pull out the leather pad

3) Leather pad removed in 5 secs

4) The white plastic ring is the one that holds the pad. Do not remove the white plastic ring.

5) Pull out the round grey sponge. Its not glue or attach to anything.

6) There are 4 screws around the cups, removed all four.

7) You will need a small phillip (+) srew driver .. the same one you use to tighten your glasses. Its a phillip screw head.

8) Ok cups come off exposing the driver. Notice that there is some cotton material in the cups... don't loose that..

9) By now, you should have all 3 items removed... don't loose the screw or you're screwed .

10) Notice the srew driver is not perpendicular to the screw. I actually remove the screw bit to shorten it.

11) By using the screwbit without the driver, I can actually do it perpendicular to aviod destroying the phillip screw head. you can still screw it at an angle, just don't screw so hard or it will mess up the thread. Below are my screw bits

12)  Time to box it back. Put the screw first and place cup over it. If you place cup first, the holes on the driver and cup is pretty hard to get it align right. Once one screw is in, the rest of the holes will align itself. - WARNING - do not screw hard, gently screw until it stop. Use baby strength  

13) Once all 4 screws are secure to the cup, slide the leather pad edge onto the white plastic. I use the screw bit and make a small gap so I can slide in the pads easily.

14) The pads took me about 3 mins. The trick is to pinch the leather ring, pull up a little and "hook" it onto the white plastic ring. Once each section is done, slide the screw bit forward and repeat until the last inch. Removed the screw bit and do a final "pinch up" and "hook it in.

15) Align the leather pad so that the horizontal lines on the pad is near the bolt. You can pull the pad to rotate it.

16) Now its all box back without a scratch.

17) Sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee with Miles Davis.

Misson accomplished..

Audiowood that was excellent - thank you.

One question though, how did you use the screw bit without the base/driver? I figure without the base you wouldn't be able to create much force for tightening the screw (or does it not need that much force..).