[nick n]

Those older AT things are easy to get into. You could consider picking up a 40mm driver set from somewhere and doing a transplant to make something great.
I don't recall whether the driver is bonded in there with a mesh over the front of not, been a while. Oh I think the driver is secured in with a ring clamp, and the face of the driver was the thing that had the bonded mesh so it should be fine. IF you decide to.

 

[kl884347]

Hmm...now that's an interesting idea. Thanks!  If I decide to do it, any suggestions on possible drivers? I have never done that before but am not averse to using a soldering iron.

 

[BucketInABucket]

Hmm...now that's an interesting idea. Thanks!  If I decide to do it, any suggestions on possible drivers? I have never done that before but am not averse to using a soldering iron.

I reckon Koss KCS75 or Sportapro drivers would work pretty well.

 

[nick n]

I saw some Ultrasone drivers on fleabay also, not sure what they are like outside of their s-logic setup baffle.

 

[BucketInABucket]

Also, you could try SFI headphone drivers or tweeters...although those are pretty rare nowadays.

 

[nick n]

here is what you are up against, this is pretty easy to get into.
Pop the headband opins out of the sides careful so they don't scratch the metal, then twist the locking baffle off
http://www.head-fi.org/t/202122/the-headphone-driver-pics-thread/225#post_8360358

 

[dkstott]

Do my Sennheiser HD424 headphones qualify for this?

I can't get the photo to upload from my phone

 

[BucketInABucket]

Do my Sennheiser HD424 headphones qualify for this?

I can't get the photo to upload from my phone

Definitely! 

 

[nick n]

you may need 20 posts or something before posting pictures option is allowed

 

[kl884347]

Thanks for all the suggestions and pics.  Might be a fun project.  I take it that these are not particularly "rare" or worth keeping in their original form then.  This is a great thread and I appreciate everyone's comments.

 

[BucketInABucket]

  Thanks for all the suggestions and pics.  Might be a fun project.  I take it that these are not particularly "rare" or worth keeping in their original form then.  This is a great thread and I appreciate everyone's comments.

It's always a fun project to mod a vintage phone and make it sound great! If you do decide to undergo that project, welcome to the modding club 

---

On another note, I recently purchased a broken pair of Pioneer SE-6s out of curiosity and took them apart. I can post pictures if any of you want!

 

[takato14]

  I saw some Ultrasone drivers on fleabay also, not sure what they are like outside of their s-logic setup baffle.

Stay away from ultrasone, their drivers are horrible (unless of course it's the enclosure that's causing THIS, which I doubt).
 

 
 
On another note, I recently purchased a broken pair of Pioneer SE-6s out of curiosity and took them apart. I can post pictures if any of you want!

Ooh, please do, I didn't get a chance to open mine before I sold it.

 

[BucketInABucket]

Here you go.

Spoiler: Pictures as promised!

Pads

Rear of the baffle, there's a ring of some kind of mesh material that was stuck on.

And with the mesh removed.

Front of the relatively small (roughly 35mm I think) driver.

And the rear of it. Notice the round depression in the magnet.

A picture of the enclosure. The round depression allows the ball to fit into the back of the driver.

It's not held together by anything except the driver and the cable so it falls apart easily once both are removed.

The driver fits perfectly into the enclosure. Not much room left in there.

And this is what it looks like when the cup is fully assembled.
 

 

[Moolok]

  Here's the latest addition to my small but (slowly) growing vintage collection: Pickering PH-4955.
 
 
 
And although they are a giant among the headphones and heavy to boot they aren't uncomfortable to wear thanks to really soft leather pads and headband. I'm tempted to open them up and do the blu-tack mod with some added fiberfill and maybe replacing the caps to a fresh ones.

 
Ok, so I finally had the time to open these up for a little renovation and modding.
I ordered from eBay new capacitors (47uF 16V ELNA Cerafine) to replace the old ones. After I opened the cups I saw this
 
 
 
The caps were just what I was expecting but they had this weird jump wire soldered from connector to connector and some sticky tack to hold it from moving. That must be some aftermarket addition since I haven't seen those wires in any opened up Pickering and/or Stanton Dynaphase cans. Can't tell what for it was. I used wire clippers and removed the old capacitors. Here's a picture of new and old ones and new ones soldered in place
 
 
 
After replacing the caps I used some blue tack to close the vents from the cups and added some more blue tack and filling fiber into the housings
 
 
 
Then I was all done and started listening. I'm still listening but so far I think this project improved these cans: the sound is more musical and the "clamshell effect" is gone after I blocked the vents on housings. Bass is a bit deeper and more controlled than before.
 
I hope I didn't screw up soldering the caps since I'm not all that familiar with electronics, just an eager to experiment. Old caps were non-polar axial lead and the new ones are radial lead. I think I managed to solder the minus connectors right way... Right? At least the sound isn't worst than before 

 

[audiowatts]

Great thread, very enjoyable!