Grado SR80 headphone cord problem?

[jebous]

I purchased my Grado SR80s new about a month ago. They sound great but on the right earpiece, the cable wiggles up and down where it exits the plastic headphone body. There is currently about 1/8 inch of play—this issue hasn't affected the sound yet, but the back-and-forth motion of the cable can be annoying. I'm worried that I may have a loose solder connection of some kind or that the problem may worsen...but then again, it could just be a loose rubber sleeve on the cable. Does anyone else have this issue?Should I send back the headphones?

 

[pp312]

I had this problem and solved it by injecting some clear silicon sealant into the exit hole. The clicking sound every time I moved the cord was driving me crazy. I can't understand why manufacturers don't pick up on these things before products go on the market.

 

[Permonic]

I experienced exactly the same problem on my SR-80's. That clipping of the cable is annoying. It's a typical poor build quality of lower Grados and wrong design of a cable mounting. The glue should round the cable inside the hole or a sealing rubber should be used.

The quickest way is to do it by yourself. Use of silicon sealant sounds good, other option is to use an appropriate adhesive glue for rubber and plastic (kinda used for shoes).

 

[Kirosia]

Many people (including me) have this problem. Some fix it by taping it down or sealing the problem area, I just learned to live with them. Stopped bothering me after a while.

 

[jebous]

Thanks for the helpful and fast advice. I guess I'll try putting the silicon in the hole...it is absurd, though, that I have to finish 'building' a headphone I paid $85 for.

 

[Imyourzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jebous Thanks for the helpful and fast advice. I guess I'll try putting the silicon in the hole...it is absurd, though, that I have to finish 'building' a headphone I paid $85 for.

True, true...I also own SR80's and noticed the same play in the cord but it hasn't annoyed me enough to the point of wanting to "fix" it. I agree with what you're saying though. The SR80's seem very fragile and although I'm not rough with my headphones, it seems like it wouldn't take much of an accident to damage them. You'd think for $80 they'd have better build quality but I guess if you take great care of them they'll be fine. I suppose the majority of what you pay went into the sound quality and not the construction. Corners had to be cut somewhere for them to be able to give us sound quality like this for that price, and for $80 I'd rather have great-sounding headphones that are a bit flimsy than really sturdy headphones and sub-par sound quality. Hmmm, reminds me of my Sony V900's that I sold to get these Grados!

 

[MuZI]

I have this problem with them also, it`s VERY stupid!

I have to sit really really still to listen to music.

 

[Hunter_Killer]

Look, if youve got a SR80 and HAVENT got that problem then youre alone!! Lets just call this problem a "design feature" since its on almost every SR80.

 

[Rotareneg]

On my SR-80 it actually resulted in an intermintent short, some of the wire strand broke due to the flexing and would occasionally rub against the other terminal on the driver. Ended up resoldering the connections and then securing the cable with hot glue.

 

[dipnorge]

On mine the left ear aluminum post came out of the plastic frame and I can't get it back in tostay!