[Graphicism]

 
I accidentally washed and dried on high heat a set of earphones, not only do they still work but they sound better than I remember...
 
I did a load of laundry this weekend washing a pair of cargo shorts without checking all the pockets later to find some earphones sat in the bottom of the dryer all tangled up. The cheap earphones that came with my Zune had been through a heavy load in the washing machine and then a high heat tumble dry for about 80 minutes. I pulled them out thankful they were ones I never cared for, unraveled them while admiring there new shininess, not expecting them to work I plugged them into my Zune and low and behold they sound great! I never gave them a great deal of listening time as I greatly preferred my Yuin PK3, so while not very scientific I think they sound better than the PK3, which they certainly didn't before.
 
So either my sound signature preference has changed, my PK3s have gone bad, or something happened in the washer/dryer that changed these earphones. Could it be that the speaker got wet and when dried on high heat expanded? I vaguely remember not liking the earphones as they were uninvolving and typical cheap closed in sounding, now they're more open and just decent to listen too, preferring them as I say to my beloved PK3.
 
Has anyone ever done this and found they still work and/or sound different?

 

[deadhead12]

I haven't noticed any improvement from washing my headphones but I did the same thing with some shure e3c's a few years ago and was surprised that they still worked. 

 

[dcpoor]

Quote:

 
I accidentally washed and dried on high heat a set of earphones, not only do they still work but they sound better than I remember...
 

 
I guess you could say they've been burnt in and had it's sound cleaned up a bit.
 :3

 

[aleki]

interesting burn-in method!

 

[JoetheArachnid]

New [insert earphone brand here] now with the latest innovations in washer/dryer treatment! This allows the driver membrane to melt slightly and become malformed, providing a more expensive listening experience for YOU!
 
I'd say listen to your PK3s some more. If you can go back from the PK3s and still think that the washed earphones are better, well... magic, I guess. See above.

 

[Uruha]

or maybe it cleaned out all that wax?!

 

[Bennyboy71]

Awesome mod!!! 

 

[Hanus]

I think I'll try this with my um3x
 
Stay tuned for results

 

[Graphicism]

Hah yeah it really is an interesting burn in method! I didn't listen to these very much so I doubt they were full of ear wax or even burned in, if in fact earphones do benefit from that at all. As I mentioned it's not the most scientific of tests but I do remember not caring for them which led to my purchase of the PK3s which ofcource I compared to the Zune earphones in the past.
 
If anyone is thinking of replicating this do it with a pair you don't care for and maybe place them in a sock. To comfirm they made it through the wash cycle in a pocket but came out during the dry.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

Awesome mod!!! 

Imagine how good the 252 would be.

 

[hojomojo96]

Throwing my Sennheiser ie-8's into the wash, be right back.
 
/lol jk, don't have ie-8's

 

[Youngblood]

This whole thread made me laugh so hard! I think Head-fi needs a "funny" section of the forums where you can post this stuff. When I get my pair of SM3 I'll try this with my cheapo Sony Walkman stock IEMs, I would do it now but there all i got for my portable music 

 

[IpodHappy]

Have anyone tried adding color fast bleach?

 

[goodvibes]

For those slow and dry sounding sets?

 

[fausto]

lol seriously my pfe (which is stolen now) went through the washer too and it sounded so much better after drying them
but no ima not gonna try it again