[chzplz]

Howdy--

As you'll see below, I am no DIY'er-- just thought I'd pick yer brains.

I am considering upgrading the cable on my Markl-modded D5000's to jena cryo cable. To do so will run around $500 for the cable + recabling. That's a heck of a lot of $$$ (did you need me to tell you that?)

The new jena cables would be soldered directly to the D5000's. My question is whether it would be possible/make sense to solder a pair of connectors (such as those used on Senns) to the Denons, and have the jena cable terminated with matching connectors, so that I could swap the cable around from headphone to headphone. That way, I wouldn't have to pay zillions of $$$ to keep having phones recabled; I could just have a connector soldered to the phones and then use the jena cable (or whatever) on whatever phones I want to listen to.

Another advantage would be that I could theoretically have different cables for the same phones - for example, my D5000's are a tad too bright with one of my amps, but just right with another. With swappable cables, I could use a cable like the moon blue dragon (copper) (which rolls off the highs a bit) with the brighter amp, but the stock or jena or whatever cable when brightness isn't a problem.

Does this make sense? If so, would using Senn connectors be possible? That would seem to be the way to go since so many cables are available for them. Otherwise, what type of connector... banana plugs? Hefty-bag twisty ties?

OK, thanks

Ira

 

[FallenAngel]

$500!? That's pretty bad, who the hell would charge you that much. Sure, 18AWG Jena wire is $6/ft ($24/ft of headphone cable - 4 strands), but unless you're getting a 20' recable, that's a bit too much.

Either way, yes, it's easily possible, but I would recommend against it. D5000 already have a very nice cable, and some (including MarkL) like the stock more than a few of the "highly regarded" aftermarket cables.

Personally, I think the Jena is the Bose of the audiophile cable market, it's nice, but not nearly as nice as it costs.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally, I think the Jena is the Bose of the audiophile cable market, it's nice, but not nearly as nice as it costs.

no way!

Bose makes good on their defects, and dosnt destroy other peoples gear.

anyways, the D5000 is a VERy tight fit for a connector. The Senn connectors are molded into the housings, so there is NO way to really do it. You MIGHT be able to get creative with lemo or 3.5mm plugs. Lemo plugs make me hard in the pants like LED Cathode bias on a tube.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif no way! Bose makes good on their defects, and dosnt destroy other peoples gear. anyways, the D5000 is a VERy tight fit for a connector. The Senn connectors are molded into the housings, so there is NO way to really do it. You MIGHT be able to get creative with lemo or 3.5mm plugs. Lemo plugs make me hard in the pants like LED Cathode bias on a tube.

LOL! True, I saw the R10 as well.

 

[threEchelon]

I say hire a DIY'er to do it for you. I'll even help you dissuade yourself from the Jena recable.

I have trustworthy sources who don't like Jena wire in LOD's, and I don't think it'd make much sense in a headphone cable either. The gauge is enormous and not a good fit for the small signal going to a headphone.

 

[chzplz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threEchelon /img/forum/go_quote.gif I say hire a DIY'er to do it for you. I'll even help you dissuade yourself from the Jena recable. I have trustworthy sources who don't like Jena wire in LOD's, and I don't think it'd make much sense in a headphone cable either. The gauge is enormous and not a good fit for the small signal going to a headphone.

Done, done and done. No more Jena cable thoughts (for now). I owe you $500.

I'm still curious why I don't see anybody hard-wiring disconnects like banana plugs or something to their phones so that if they do end up spending $$$$$ for a fancy recabling, the cable can be switched among several sets of phones. Everyone here has a zillion sets of cans, I can't believe I'm the first to think whether there's some way to make cables swappable on hard-wired phones. DIY'ers, am I totally off base here?

 

[Oya?]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chzplz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Done, done and done. No more Jena cable thoughts (for now). I owe you $500. I'm still curious why I don't see anybody hard-wiring disconnects like banana plugs or something to their phones so that if they do end up spending $$$$$ for a fancy recabling, the cable can be switched among several sets of phones. Everyone here has a zillion sets of cans, I can't believe I'm the first to think whether there's some way to make cables swappable on hard-wired phones. DIY'ers, am I totally off base here?

I'm no DIYer but I can see that it's not too uncommon, from browsing the mod threads etc.; Off the top of my head I've seen pics of Ultrasones, Sennheisers, and Grados with cable jacks, sometimes single ended.

I thought it was because a lot of people (especially people who shell out money on aftermarket cables) are averse to adding more connection points, because they believe it 'degrades' the sound somehow.

 

[Tokenganjaclan]

You are gonna run into a brick wall on this one. I wanted to do the same thing to my 2000s. But even the smallest lemos will not work. They are still too big. And even if you find something smaller there is no install space inside the cans. You can't use the original wire entry as the drivers sit VERY close. Even the mini panel mounts are still too big. You could try to mount them in the cups themselves but that still might be a problem, not to mention a lot of work. Best bet, find a decent cable, Mogami or Canare will work fine and costs WAY less then the overpriced
stuff and the performance is no different really. Then solder it in place.
I know you wanna be able to swap wires but I haven't found any push/pull connectors that will really work on the Denons.

Here is my ( now Sold) Denons. I cabled these in Mogami Mini quad.

 

[chzplz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokenganjaclan /img/forum/go_quote.gif You are gonna run into a brick wall on this one. I wanted to do the same thing to my 2000s. But even the smallest lemos will not work. They are still too big. And even if you find something smaller there is no install space inside the cans. You can't use the original wire entry as the drivers sit VERY close. Even the mini panel mounts are still too big. You could try to mount them in the cups themselves but that still might be a problem, not to mention a lot of work. Best bet, find a decent cable, Mogami or Canare will work fine and costs WAY less then the overpriced stuff and the performance is no different really. Then solder it in place. I know you wanna be able to swap wires but I haven't found any push/pull connectors that will really work on the Denons. Here is my ( now Sold) Denons. I cabled these in Mogami Mini quad.

OK, that went a long way to convincing me to give up on this quest (although I'm still curious why connectors can't be added downstream from the cans - like maybe 6 in. below exit from cups -- with simple (but HQ, cardas or other) rca connectors. But I ain't no engineer and it seems you've thought this out very thoroughly).

Out of curiosity, who recabled your 2000's (if not you)?

Thanks again for all the info

Ira

 

[Tokenganjaclan]

I do all my own cable jobs. Paying $250 to have someone do it is CRAZY imo. Not when I have the skills myself. Plus I'm not a believer in this cable and that cable BS. You could do a lead run like you mentioned.
Just take you about 10 inches of cable twist them evenly. Sleeve them, add some strain relief then term them with Lemos or whatever. Then make you up a few cables termed the same way. You'd have to buy extra plugs for any new cables but as long as you can find the same ones you could always buy a few to have extras on hand. You gave me a good idea for a set of cans I have that I wanna do!!!!

Here's my D-1000s I did. I did these in Canare

 

[QQQ]

Try RCA's.

 

[ldj325]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokenganjaclan /img/forum/go_quote.gif You are gonna run into a brick wall on this one. I wanted to do the same thing to my 2000s. But even the smallest lemos will not work. They are still too big. And even if you find something smaller there is no install space inside the cans. You can't use the original wire entry as the drivers sit VERY close. Even the mini panel mounts are still too big. You could try to mount them in the cups themselves but that still might be a problem, not to mention a lot of work. Best bet, find a decent cable, Mogami or Canare will work fine and costs WAY less then the overpriced stuff and the performance is no different really. Then solder it in place. I know you wanna be able to swap wires but I haven't found any push/pull connectors that will really work on the Denons. Here is my ( now Sold) Denons. I cabled these in Mogami Mini quad.

I can't speak from experience about headphone recables, but I have interconnects of Canare, Mogami, and Jena. For me there is a noticable (but still relatively close) upgrade in going from Canare to Mogami. But the Jenas are in a whole other class. I have never regretted the additional cost of going with the Jena.