Accura SR-660 Mods/ Projects Thread

[AudioCats]

The $8 Accura's have the cool looks, and are reasonablely well built. Great for improvement mods and projects. Now is the time to have a dedicated thread for all Accura mods

(I originally posted some of the info in the " $8 phones look like AT " thread, I am re-posting them here kind of like an archive.


If you have done mods to the SR's ( I know some have) or used the Accura's for projects, please post them

Have fun modding!

 

[AudioCats]

Reducing clamping pressure:
The stock Accura's are very tight, gave me a headache. Pads are nice, though a little on the firm side. So I bent the steel wire to make it shape like an "n", Now there is almost no clamping pressure, super nice! But to really get it into the right shape, you will need to take apart the plastic pieces that hold the ends of the steel wire (so you can use pliers to bend that area straight. Otherwise the plastic might break if you just hold it by the plastic piece and apply pressure), but putting everything back together was very frustrating, you will have to manage to press down the coil spring (for the wings) when trying to install the three little screws, and those springs are pretty stiff. Made me wonder how they did it in the factory....They can be modded to be very very comfy, but that is alot of work and you might have to bent it again when changing users, not as nice as the instant adjustment like the conventional "cross the head" headband design.

 

[AudioCats]

Recable (cat-5 solid core/techflex):
The SR's somehow sound kind of hollow, which is very strange since this is a full open design. I have heard similar sound before, the cause then, was the cable (PC speaker cable changed the KSC55 driver's sound). So I dug out some of the solid core cat-5 wires and did a recable. I used black tech-flex as sleeve, and terminated the cable end with a cheap Neutrik mini plug. The recable brought out niticablely more details; bass is cleaner but quite a bit less; sound is a lot more forward (more mids?); the sound is kind of glassy when playing guitar tracks. I don't really like the sound, though I do think it is a little better than the stock cable's. This is the first time I used solid core cat-5 wires, and it will be the last time too, I don't think cat-5 is good enough for audio purpose (not sure if the teflon version will be better, mine has PVC insulation).
Both pairs were fresh out of box when I did the stock / cat-5 comparison.

Have fun modding

 

[AudioCats]

Ear cup swivel mod:
(Note: DO NOT do it if you still have the stock single-entry cable)

Ever wish those big'O ear cups can turn 90 degrees and face down flat? If you recable the phones to a "Y" style dual entry, then you can do this swivel mod. First take off the pads, undo the little baffle screws, and move the baffle out of the way. Undo the swivel screw (the one with a little washer).

Seperate the ear cups and the headband. You will see the limitor pin next to the swivel post.

Pull the pin out with a pair of pliers. You might want to save the pins since this mod is reversable.

Now you just have to put things back together. Easy as pie (but you do have to recable to Y entry first).



Bonus function: when these phones are not on your head, you can turn the cups flat and flip the phones upside down and they will ride on top of your flat panel monitor, serve as low power PC speakers.

Have fun modding

 

[AudioCats]

Swivel-Stop Mod:

With the swivel mod you can turn the ear cups flat so they look great on the desk or on the wall, but the ear cups can also turn round and round and round and twist the cord. How to make it only turn 90 degrees? Install a small screw with washer to block it.

---Now the cups won't turn all the way around, about 120 degrees max. I bet your Grado's don't have this function

 

[AudioCats]

Head-band Mod

Add two rubber bands to help the wings for support. You can now bend the steel wires open as far as you want since the wings/rubber band will be the structure taking the weight and keep the phones hanging on you head. It is possibly to achieve basically no clamping pressure on the side of your head, and since these phones are so light there isn't any pressure on top either. Comfort is now at par with the Beyers-- you can literally wear these phone all day long.

Photo showing the mod with generic rubber bands, so looks kind of funny, but with black rubber bands they will look cool..... I just have to find the black rubber bands first. Easy mod, works great. Enjoy.

 

[AudioCats]

QP driver transplant

The accura drivers are 55mm OD.... it looks like the 57mm QP45x/55x (MB Quarts) drivers can be used in these fancy SR660 housings.

The work: getting the accura drivers out is tricky, they are glued into the baffle pretty well. You will need three thin blade flate head screw drivers. First insert the smallest blade into a spot where there is no glue, try to pry the driver off the baffle a little (you will hear a pop sound). You need to do it on a flat surface or you can damage the baffle very easily.

Insert another flat head to keep the gap open, and pry it open a little more, then adde the third one. Seperate the driver off the baffle, little by little.

The glue is pretty strong, so there will be some minor damage on the baffle ring. Clean it up a little bit with a razor blade.

Hot glue the QP driver on to the baffle ring.

The other side. Note there is no metal pretection screen in front of the QP driver's, but it is recessed enough so the fabric screen on the pads should provide enough protection.

Solder the cat-5 wires, put everything back together.

The sound: what do you expect, these now have QP drivers so they sound like.... QP's, well, kind of. The cat-5 cable also made them sound different from the QP 45x/55x though. Bass is stronger than the stock Accura (which shows the accura drivers are not bass heavy by nature). Much more clear and clean sound, the stock Accura sound very muddled in comparison. This combo has a lot more mids than the QP phones, probably more due to the cable change. I now believe once I change the PVC cat-5 to audio grade teflon coated copper these will sound super, good for all around use.
Effiecienty is about as good as the 45x, my Panasonic PCDP can play them nicely. (which also means the average MP3 will not have enough juice to dirve them). Anyway, these will become fun phones.

 

[AudioCats]

Update:
recabled to 26ga HGA teflon copper. Using the original grey nylon sleeve as outside shielding. Terminated with black Neutrik mini plug. Cable length 4.5'.
* better mids, fuller sound than the stock cable.
* Great for watching DVD's or TV ( I have better phones for more serious music purposes).

 

[AudioCats]

I see, the SR-660 got no love from you guys.....

 

[fraseyboy]

No longer is it FOTM.

 

[FooTemps]

lol, the SR55x is my main can right now because I need to resleeve my orthos cables... again. I still need to recable these buggers too but I kinda enjoy the sound for casual listening.