[REB]

I bought a second-hand pair of AKG K500's in very good condition or so I thought. They sounded great, but after a while I noticed that there was a kind of buzzing hum in the left ear that really played up at certain low frequencies. I am not very DIY when it comes to headphones, so I asked a friend (and fellow HeadFi member) to help me out. He thought that it sounded like a hair on the driver, a problem he had experienced himself with another set of cans. So we opened it up real carefully, but alas, no hair. Instead we found a torn driver. So badly torn in fact that it was a miracle that it only sounded bad with the really low frequencies.
So I need a new K500 driver. AKG customer service never responded to my queries and to be honest I wouldn't know where to look for one. Is there anyone who does know? The right channel of the K500 sounds great, so I would like to salvage it. Hope there is anybody out there who can help me with this.

 

[rhythmdevils]

That sucks man. sorry. I doubt that AKG has k500 drivers sitting around still. But if they do, you could try calling Frank here in the USA. He is in charge of the akg parts department here. he could also point you towards a more local number. keep calling him if he doesnt respond

818 920 3279

otherwise, you might have to just get another pair and keep your pair for backup parts.

 

[REB]

Thanks for the info! I'm not in the States, so calling Frank will be a bit difficult, but you're probably right in that I'd better start looking for a new pair. No more new headphones, I had promised my wallet... although this doesn't really count, does it?

 

[ericj]

I'm in the USA, so, it's not like i know what I'm talking about. But it looks like only people in the USA get the pleasure of ordering parts directly from a guy like Frank, and europeans are expected to talk to their local distributor.

In your case, the local distributor is:

HARMAN HOLLAND (Consumer)
Wilgenweg 8b
2964 AM Groot Ammers

René de Kluyver
Phone: +31 184 60 80 60

So, my suggestion:

Call René, say you need part number 2400Z0002 - description will read "Capsule, DKK 45".

Your other option is to troll ebay.de for a broken K500.

 

[Fitz]

Torn?

Do you have a picture of this? First time I've heard of a torn driver on an AKG.

But like I said on the AKG forum, I might have an extra driver after I do a little work on my phones. It would probably be much cheaper than buying another K500.

 

[REB]

I'm not sure whether torn is the right expression, but there is a small tear in the driver itself and it came loose all around. I'll make a picture and upload it when I get back home today.

I should have checked the AKG forum again before I posted here... Sorry and thanks for your reaction.

 

[Zorander]

AKG forum? Where???

 

[REB]

That's the AKG forum on the AKG company website (AKG START).

I looked for the pictures of our failed expedition to restore the K500 to its former glories, but they have already been erased from the hard disk. No use in keeping memento's of one's failures, I guess. It's a pity, because we took at least thirty detailed pictures, as it was the first time I took a headphone apart.

Fitz, if you finish working at your phones and find that you do have a spare driver to sell I'd be more than interested.

In the meantime, I think I'll contact the Dutch distributor (thanks for the detailed info!) and see if K500 drivers are still available.

 

[Fitz]

Actually I think I posted there right around the same time you posted here, so no worries. I'll let you know once I've done the work and can see what's leftover.

@Dwinarto:
AKG has a forum on their website, but there's very little activity there in the headphone section.

 

[REB]

Great! And good luck on working on the phones (although I guess it's not about luck).