Ruahrc
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2002
- Posts
- 289
- Likes
- 10
I have and use (and love!) a fairly old set of Koss KSC-35's. I have taken good care of them over the years, replacing the earpads when worn and also (loosely) coiling the cable up and storing it in the provided storage pouch after every use.
However, I notice now that the headphone cable is becoming stiffer and stiffer. It's not really the "dual cable" part, but above that, where the L and R wire split to go to each driver. That section of cable is very stiff and tends to retain its shape when I pull the headphones out to use.
My theory is that this is "work hardening" of the cable, where the metal gets stiffer as a result of being "worked" (why you can snap metal by repeatedly bending it back and forth). Probably from being moved around or coiled up over the lifetime of the headphones (probably 8 or so years by now)? From what I know about metallurgy, you can anneal this work hardening out but this involves incubation at high temperatures (near the melting point of the metal, in order to get it done in any reasonable timeframe).
For anyone else who has had a set of headphones for a long time, is this what's causing the cable stiffness? Is there any way to repair it? Do I need to (finally) bust out my spare and unused set of KSC-35s? I hate to throw out an otherwise perfectly good pair of great little headphones but the stiff cables make them very annoying to use, as the cable doesn't "lay" down my neck/shoulders/body very nicely.
P.S. I have a set of Etymotic ER-4Ps that are of a similar age. I don't use them quite as much, but again coil them up into the storage pouch. I don't notice that these cables are stiff in any way, in fact they seem as supple as ever. Is it just a difference between higher quality wiring in the cables (like using the 99.9999% OFC cables or whatever) from them being more expensive headphones, or is it because I really don't use them as often as the KSC-35s, and that the Etymotics will eventually suffer the same fate?
Ruahrc
However, I notice now that the headphone cable is becoming stiffer and stiffer. It's not really the "dual cable" part, but above that, where the L and R wire split to go to each driver. That section of cable is very stiff and tends to retain its shape when I pull the headphones out to use.
My theory is that this is "work hardening" of the cable, where the metal gets stiffer as a result of being "worked" (why you can snap metal by repeatedly bending it back and forth). Probably from being moved around or coiled up over the lifetime of the headphones (probably 8 or so years by now)? From what I know about metallurgy, you can anneal this work hardening out but this involves incubation at high temperatures (near the melting point of the metal, in order to get it done in any reasonable timeframe).
For anyone else who has had a set of headphones for a long time, is this what's causing the cable stiffness? Is there any way to repair it? Do I need to (finally) bust out my spare and unused set of KSC-35s? I hate to throw out an otherwise perfectly good pair of great little headphones but the stiff cables make them very annoying to use, as the cable doesn't "lay" down my neck/shoulders/body very nicely.
P.S. I have a set of Etymotic ER-4Ps that are of a similar age. I don't use them quite as much, but again coil them up into the storage pouch. I don't notice that these cables are stiff in any way, in fact they seem as supple as ever. Is it just a difference between higher quality wiring in the cables (like using the 99.9999% OFC cables or whatever) from them being more expensive headphones, or is it because I really don't use them as often as the KSC-35s, and that the Etymotics will eventually suffer the same fate?
Ruahrc
