[krajee]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/krajee/hd650_zps235cf787.jpg
 
My first, for my HD650. Unfortunately, I had the red/black connectors on the wrong sides. It wasn't until I hot glued the first connector that I had an "oh ****" moment out of nowhere. A 5' cable sure beats a 10' cable when your amp is an arm length away from you.

 

[derbigpr]

Can YOU see the problem?

 

 
 
Too much heat on the soldering iron.

 

[PETEREK]

   
 
Too much heat on the soldering iron.

No, it was that I hadn't taken the 3.5mm barrel off the cable before attaching the wires to the RSA connector. The heat is just fine.

 

[brianbeers]

  No, it was that I hadn't taken the 3.5mm barrel off the cable before attaching the wires to the RSA connector. The heat is just fine.

DOH! Hhahah - djyou have to unsolder / resolder?
 
Hey - Whats ya'lls  preference for screw type banana plugs?  Screw / Solder?  Both?  Tin the tip and screw? 
 
I've got these coming http://www.homegrownaudio.com/lok-suregrip-bfa-rhodium-over-silver-4mm/
for some QED Silver Micro speaker wire.
 
Its pretty tiny for speaker wire... think my 40Watt iron has enough juice?
 
Do ya'll use different irons for speaker vs. interconnect / headphone cable?

 

[PETEREK]

Yeah I had to unfolded the connector and slide the barrel off.

I don't do speaker cables, but if I were to, I would always solder.

 

[2leftears]

Hey - Whats ya'lls  preference for screw type banana plugs?  Screw / Solder?  Both?  Tin the tip and screw? 

I've got these coming http://www.homegrownaudio.com/lok-suregrip-bfa-rhodium-over-silver-4mm/
for some QED Silver Micro speaker wire.

Its pretty tiny for speaker wire... think my 40Watt iron has enough juice?

Do ya'll use different irons for speaker vs. interconnect / headphone cable?

For speaker cable I generally prefer screw connections. I have 10 AWG at home which would need some serious heat to get to a good wetting temperature. My 50W temperature controlled iron would not be sufficient for that. For sure the insulation would start to melt before the cable end was hot enough.

The QED Silver Micro speaker wire is only 16 AWG, which may be a bit thin for those connectors. I have heard that soldering onto Rhodium plating is not easy. It requires a high wetting temperature, and depending on the base material plated onto the plating could become damaged. Furthermore, the danger would be that once a proper wetted solder connection has been made, the residual high heat in that connector would remain long enough to melt the insulation of your cable. That cable has a low density polyethylene dielectric, which may have a melting temperature of not much over 100 degrees Celsius. The 40 Watt iron would be enough for the 16 AWG cable, but not enough to heat that connector I think. Also, the speaker wire would dictate the use of silver solder, but I am not sure what would be best for Rhodium.

If I were you I would strip the speaker cable a bit longer, twist the strands tightly together, fold the bare end back onto itself to give it double thickness and then screw down. That speaker cable is silver plated OFC copper instead of solid silver, so should be hard enough to screw onto.

Definitely do not tin the tip of the wire and then screw. Solder will suffer from (slow) plastic deformation when under stress, so your connection would ultimately get loose after a while.

 

[derbigpr]

I re-cabled my old Sennheiser HD202's which I use pretty much 80% of the time while doing anything on the computer, the stock wire failed so many times I can't even remember how many times I had to shorten it and solder it again. Well, not anymore.  I got a real cable now! Very overkill, but I don't care.
 
It's a  4 meter long Sommer Cable Onyx instrument cable, same manufacturer that makes the cables for the Beyerdynamic T1's, and the cables are pretty much identical in size, feel, looks, etc. T1 cable is slightly heavier and stiffer, while the Onyx is more flexible, because, obviously, T1 cable has double the amount of wires inside since it's a balanced cable.  I've terminated it in a fully metal Adam Hall 6,35mm professional stereo jack, feels very high quality, nice to work with, big holes on the soldering plates to pull the cable trough, etc.
 

Spoiler: Pics

 
 

 
 
 
 
So...now I have headphones that cost less than their cable, and weigh  less than the cable. But man do they sound better. I don't think I've ever heard an improvement like this by changing a cable in any system before. These headphones totally transformed. They were always my favorite budget all around headphone, but this elevated them from being "great for 50€" to "great for 100€. Bass is so much deeper, tighter and stronger, mids fuller, and highs are clear and  strong now, so much more detailed and spacious sounding, while the overall sound is still retaining the fullness and texture that makes these cans so lovable. I didn't re-cable these headphones to get better  sound, I did it to get a durable cable because I throw them around every day, all day long, but this improvement makes these headphones a must have.

 

[2leftears]

Do ya'll use different irons for speaker vs. interconnect / headphone cable?

Sorry, forgot to answer that part;

The iron I pick depends on the task at hand and the type of solder I am using. As I do mostly electronics I use low voltage irons.

I have an older type Weller 50Watt temperature controlled solder station with iron tips suitable for tin/lead solder. I would not use that iron for lead-free solder as those tips wouldn't last long.

For lead-free solder I use another modern 60Watt temperature controlled solder station, which has tips formulated for use with lead-free solder.

The tips I choose depending on the connection I am making. For small connections (thin wire, component leads, small PCB traces etc.) I use a longer thin tip. For more bulky items (thick traces, thick wire & component leads, connectors etc. I use a shorter thicker tip which has more heat capacity.

The type of solder I use depends on what I am soldering. For repairs on older boards I use 60/40 tin/lead. For modern boards/components I use lead-free solder (I hate that stuff!). For soldering onto gold / silver plated components I use silver solder.

 

[2leftears]

I re-cabled my old Sennheiser HD202's which I use pretty much 80% of the time while doing anything on the computer, the stock wire failed so many times I can't even remember how many times I had to shorten it and solder it again. Well, not anymore.  I got a real cable now! Very overkill, but I don't care.

It's a  4 meter long Sommer Cable Onyx instrument cable, same manufacturer that makes the cables for the Beyerdynamic T1's, and the cables are pretty much identical in size, feel, looks, etc. T1 cable is slightly heavier and stiffer, while the Onyx is more flexible, because, obviously, T1 cable has double the amount of wires inside since it's a balanced cable.  I've terminated it in a fully metal Adam Hall 6,35mm professional stereo jack, feels very high quality, nice to work with, big holes on the soldering plates to pull the cable trough, etc.

So...now I have headphones that cost less than their cable, and weigh  less than the cable. But man do they sound better. I don't think I've ever heard an improvement like this by changing a cable in any system before. These headphones totally transformed. They were always my favorite budget all around headphone, but this elevated them from being "great for 50€" to "great for 100€. Bass is so much deeper, tighter and stronger, mids fuller, and highs are clear and  strong now, so much more detailed and spacious sounding, while the overall sound is still retaining the fullness and texture that makes these cans so lovable. I didn't re-cable these headphones to get better  sound, I did it to get a durable cable because I throw them around every day, all day long, but this improvement makes these headphones a must have.

Great result!

Did you put a strain relief inside the capsules to take the stress off the solder connections?

 

[derbigpr]

Great result!

Did you put a strain relief inside the capsules to take the stress off the solder connections?

 
 
Nope, just made knot with a cable and that prevents it from getting pulled on, it's very tight, I could hardly close the ear cup, and the wires  inside the cup are twice as long as they need to be in case they do get pulled on. But if this cable is anything like the one on the T1's, I don't worry about it at all, you could probably make a suspension bridge out of them, that's how strong they are.

 

[2leftears]

But if this cable is anything like the one on the T1's, I don't worry about it at all, you could probably make a suspension bridge out of them, that's how strong they are.

That Sir, I would like to see... (and the local authority's reaction when they see the bill )

 

[derbigpr]

That Sir, I would like to see... (and the local authority's reaction when they see the bill

)

 
I think the metal cables used in construction are still a bit more expensive per meter.

 

[2leftears]

   
I think the metal cables used in construction are still a bit more expensive per meter.

I was comparing it with the single strands of steel that make up the cables of suspension bridges.  You would need to twist loads of T1 cables together to make up a single cable.  Say 1,000 or so T1 cables would make three metres of bridge cable...
 
In any case,  I think you should be first to drive across it.

 

[DJScope]

26AWG SPC wire 3.5mm REAN jack to mini XLR y split.

 

[2leftears]

mini XLR?
 
I learn something new every day...