[Armaegis]

Hmm, I never noticed that. When I removed/attached the wires, there was already a fair amount of solder on the tabs. I never added any extra, except I suppose for whatever was already on the tip of my iron. I did notice an intermittent connection the first time I attached them, but I touched it up since then and haven't had any issues since.
 
Is there any reasone for aluminum solder over regular solder?

 

[scompton]

I assume that the driver tabs are aluminum.  From what I read with a quick Google search, conventional solder causes galvanic corrosion with aluminum.

 

[NewMACAdress]

Fun read, Thanks!
 

 

[Armaegis]

Glad you enjoyed it. Hope it inspires you to try your own transplant sometime.

 

[NewMACAdress]

 

 

[Armaegis]

I forgot to take pics, but I added three strips of micropore tape to the rear of the drivers in a 6 pointed star config (so the centre is layered three times, and some parts of the outer edge are not covered). I didn't experiment here; just randomly laid it down that way.
 
The sound is interesting. My frequency sweeps are kinda wobbly and a couple spots in the midrance feel oddly damped. And I'm still getting distortion in the bass at moderate volumes. If I had to judge purely by test tones and sweeps I would think I did a terrible job. Judging with music though, I am utterly surprised at the result. Bear in mind that I just finished doing a writeup for a bunch of portables (here) so I'm approaching it with a super critical ear... but wow I'm just digging how this sounds. The separation of layers is better than the DT1350, and the visceral touch of separate notes is easily perceptible. The only other ortho I can compare directly to at the moment is a Realistic Pro30, and while the Pro30 reaches lower without distortion and can deliver more punch, the detailing isn't even close.
 
I wish I had another T40v1 to play with. I'm thinking it's mostly the interaction of the driver and larger angled cup that produces this feeling. The sound doesn't hit hard (and it really can't without distorting), but it doesn't have to when each little note reaches out and tickles your ear.

 

[khbaur330162]

First off. HEY, MAN! Secondly. Sick project!
 
Few questions:
Did you close up those vents on the baffle recessions above and below the drivers? Didn't see anything on this and that would definitely kill bass.
 
Did your T40 have bass distortion before the mod? I'm thinking it might be the new PVC pipe magnet clamp thingies being slightly off alignment, or something. When you start talking about using the driver housings as physical 'springs' to clamp the magnets I sort of cringe. Perhaps I'm reading you wrong, though. Do you have any other photos of the driver assembly? Not quite sure I understand what is holding everything (diaphragm and magnets) together, or how.
 
Ever thought of a different (non-porous) material to angle the pads with? 
 
If you wanted to try a re-mod of sorts (or just listen to what I had in mind to perhaps get the juices flowing in yo' brain), you could get some Lucite, cut 4 discs to maybe 5mm larger than the magnets (with holes in the center just big enough to not obstruct any magnet perf's), lay the magnets onto the discs, shape some epoxy putty around the perimeters of all the magnets making sure everything's nice and centered, after maybe 20 minutes pop the magnets out so they aren't cemented in place and you can clean them easily with isopropyl, then once the epoxy putty has fully cured you can pop the magnets back in but so they'll attract instead of repel when you put the halves together (perhaps put a piece of very thin foam between the magnets to protect them from scraping and any other danger), then finally drill some holes just outside the magnets so you can clamp everything nice and tight with some nuts/bolts/washers when everything's ready for assembly. Your drivers would still be recessed by the thickness of the baffle plus the thickness of the Lucite, of course, but maybe it could fix the distortion issue? Also, you'd have to center the diaphragms between the magnets by eye before clamping it all unless you modified the to-do list I just described with a couple more steps. Idk, just the ramblings of a fellow modder.
 
And to Ludoo's inquiry, imo the Phiaton offers an angled recession that doesn't increase the ear chamber volume quite as much as some angled pads would, and it also doesn't require heavy modification to the stock T40 baffles. Some DIY'ed angled pads could mimic the Phiaton platform, but they'd be difficult to make look and sound right, imo. They'd probably look something like maverickronin's SR-007 clones (v2?) that he made for his T50RP's. Ime, pad rolling has probably one of the largest effects on overall sound out of any modification. Tricky beasts. '
 
-edit-
Yiiiikes. Just saw the time stamps on all the previous posts. Muh bad. 

 

[Armaegis]

It's been a while since I've tinkered with them, but I seem to recall that closing up the ports improved the bass. 
 
As for the whole clamping thing, I did eventually reglue the magnets and that seemed to fix them. I think any distortions I heard were more from the amp clipping (that or dreaded dust/hair... lesson learned: leave those dust filters in place). 
 
Unfortunately I don't have any other pictures of the driver assemblies. Essentially, I put the first magnet into the plastic ring (which has a lip to hold the first one in place). Next the diaphragm. Then the second magnet had a bead of epoxy put around the rim before squeezing it into place and clamping it all together while it cured. I machined the ring to be a pretty tight fit, so while misalignment might be a possibility I kinda doubt it. 

 

[leeperry]

Great work indeed, TYVM for sharing
 
Is the phone still alive BTW? Aluminium solder can play tricks on ya apparently: http://www.head-fi.org/t/566096/fostex-t20v1-needs-repair

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Neat project! I have a couple of Phiaton MS400 shells this may work well with  

 

[Armaegis]

  Great work indeed, TYVM for sharing
 
Is the phone still alive BTW? Aluminium solder can play tricks on ya apparently: http://www.head-fi.org/t/566096/fostex-t20v1-needs-repair

 
I traded them quite a few years ago, so unfortunately I don't know of their current state.
 
I knew about the aluminum solder though, so I did as much as possible to preserve that. I didn't remove any of the old solder or add any new; simply used a bit of flux to keep things clean.

 

[JohnMclane]

Nice pics. Could you explain in more detail what you meant by clean sound? (Adding tissue paper to the back of the pads)
How did it affect the sound? Was it just a temporarily solution or a permenant? What material would you use if you could get anything?

 

[leeperry]

  I traded them quite a few years ago, so unfortunately I don't know of their current state.
 
I knew about the aluminum solder though, so I did as much as possible to preserve that. I didn't remove any of the old solder or add any new; simply used a bit of flux to keep things clean.

 
Thanks for the swift reply. I never used flux tbh as my quad eutectic Cardas solder already has it embedded FWIU, did the stock solder take a lot of heat to melt?
 
To be perfectly clear: you heated the stock solder to get the stock cable out, put flux on the stock solder, installed the new cable on top and waited for the soldering iron heat to met it all together then?
 
But I take it that you tinned the new cable, or not?

 

[Armaegis]

  Nice pics. Could you explain in more detail what you meant by clean sound? (Adding tissue paper to the back of the pads)
How did it affect the sound? Was it just a temporarily solution or a permenant? What material would you use if you could get anything?

 
It's been so long... but when I say clean it usually means less distortion or oddities.
 

   
Thanks for the swift reply. I never used flux tbh as my quad eutectic Cardas solder already has it embedded FWIU, did the stock solder take a lot of heat to melt?
 
To be perfectly clear: you heated the stock solder to get the stock cable out, put flux on the stock solder, installed the new cable on top and waited for the soldering iron heat to met it all together then?
 
But I take it that you tinned the new cable, or not?

 
I sometimes prep my surfaces with flux just to make my job a bit easier. Maybe your cardas solder has better flux in it; mine is an old roll of kester that I found in a drawer that might be a few decades old.
 
But yes, I used a bit of flux to remove and install the cable. I figure it just keeps the oxidation and crap off the surface. Maybe moreso for the iron tip than the actual solder, but the tip is going in dry so it needs to make clean contact if it's going to transfer any heat.
 
I did not tin the new cable... I may have even trimmed off the original bit to get down to bare copper.