[squirt]

I put together some images that provide instructions for repairing the HD580/600 intermmitent sound problem...While the repairs are simple they are somewhat risky depending on how steady a hand you have and your relative skill...The problem is due to the coil spring in the driver assembly which the cord plugs into getting stretched out of shape causing poor contact thus intermmitent sound out of the affected earpiece...The only tools you will need are a spoon and a small slot head screw driver and some Pro Gold or similar treatment if you have it.

i've done the repairs several times on my HD580 over the years so i'm practiced at it. Please do not attempt the repair yourself if you don't feel confident...Be aware the new versions of the HD580/600s (post 1999 or so) have improved cable plugs and the plastic ring the plug passes through is smaller with "teeth" on them to support the plug much better than my old version HD580. The newer version helps the situation but does not solve it so intermittentcy problems still crop up particularly if you yank on the cord a lot or otherwise abuse the headphone.

Sennheiser has a free upgrade to replace the lower earpiece ring and cable for folks with the old version which is what i did with my old version HD600 (my 580 is too beat up to bother with upgrading) but the upgraded parts won't fix an already stretched coil spring but maybe they will fix that too when they replace the other parts...

Anyway heres the link to the repair images if your still interested in attempting your own repairs but do so at your own risk:

HD580/600 repairs

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi, squirt!

It's nice from you to show photos how to detach the '600!
I let them serviced at Sennheiser's repair shop, but next time, when warranty voids out, I'll try it myself, because of their modular concept.

Anyway, big thanx!

Moonwalker

 

[LarryS]

Very nice photos & clear instructions...lucky my headphones are working fine so far....

I did notice with quite some dismay that the wire leading from the headphone plug springs to the driver is *extremely* thin. Do y'all think it's possible that we could get Cardas or Acoustic Zen or Stephan Audio Art or whomever to provide a beefier upgrade?

Honestly, it pains me to think of all the efforts many of us make with interconnects, power cord upgrades, 99.999999999 (10^10N) copper, etc... and have the final sound be carried through such spider thin wires... boggles the mind...

Larry in Dallas

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by LarryS I did notice with quite some dismay that the wire leading from the headphone plug springs to the driver is *extremely* thin. Do y'all think it's possible that we could get Cardas or Acoustic Zen or Stephan Audio Art or whomever to provide a beefier upgrade? Honestly, it pains me to think of all the efforts many of us make with interconnects, power cord upgrades, 99.999999999 (10^10N) copper, etc... and have the final sound be carried through such spider thin wires... boggles the mind... Larry in Dallas

Larry, if all that doesn't frost your cookies enough, the voice coil wire of the HD-580/600 itself is made of ALUMINUM!.

Cheers!

 

[kwkarth]

Squirt,
Most excellent instructions!!
Thank You Man!! Great job!

Fortunately, none of my HD580's or HD600 have ever had those problems, but it's nice to know how to non destructively open them up, if one needs to do so.

Cheers!

 

[LarryS]

Quote:

Originally posted by kwkarth Larry, if all that doesn't frost your cookies enough, the voice coil wire of the HD-580/600 itself is made of ALUMINUM!. Cheers!

Can you please at least comfort me with the knowledge that it is at least 99.99% aluminum??? Huh?

 

[kwkarth]

Probably recycled beer cans....

Nah, I really, don't remember if they specify the "condition" of the aluminum they use...

Cheers!

 

[Neruda]

well, I guess that's the first thing to fix on either the HD600SE or the HD700...

 

[carlo]

cool site. just as a suggestion, everyone should open up their 580s or 600s, i've found that a few stray hairs work their way into the diaphram on mine, and it's easy as well.

no one happens to know which of the gold pins below the grill are ground and hot do they? i was thinking of doing a straight solder of some cables to the gold disks, which lead directly into the voice coil, but sennheiser hasn't gotten back in contact with me.

best,
carlo.

 

[AndreYew]

Sennheiser engineers are probably no fools. The impedance characteristics of the aluminum coil is probably accounted for in the design of the headphones. Changing them is to alter, and most probably degrade the design, much like changing the cable leading into them. Well-designed headphones (and speakers) are meant to be viewed as a complete system. Changing one part screws up the whole design.

--Andre

 

[squirt]

Thanks for the comments folks...i've been planning on doing this for a while since there have been so many people having intermmitency problems with their 580/600...i plan on adding photos of the upgraded and old version but my father has my old 580 at the moment so i have to get them back to get photos to compare with my upgraded 600. The upgrade is very simple requiring a new piece on the earpiece and new cable. The photos will make it easy for folks to distinguish if they have the old or new version...as mentioned previously the upgrade addresses the intermmitency problem to a degree but obviously their is still a problem since the upgrade only adds support for the cable plug to reduce but not prevent the cable plug from wiggling in the socket...Hopefully when Sennheiser comes out with future models such as the HD700 they will have done away with the current coil spring system which has been plagued with problems from the start.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by AndreYew Sennheiser engineers are probably no fools. The impedance characteristics of the aluminum coil is probably accounted for in the design of the headphones. Changing them is to alter, and most probably degrade the design, much like changing the cable leading into them. Well-designed headphones (and speakers) are meant to be viewed as a complete system. Changing one part screws up the whole design. --Andre

You are correct Andre, that the Sennheiser engineers are no fools. The use of aluminum in the voice coil is not so much for "impedance" as it is for weight / moving mass concerns. Aluminum is not as good a conductor as copper, which is detrimental overall as energy is simply wasted, being converted to heat, but aluminum is considerably lighter than copper and no doubt plays a significant role in reducing the moving mass of the driver assembly of the Senns.

I made the comment mostly in commiseration and jest with Larrys lament about the teeny-weeny wires leading from the termination point into the drivers.

Cheers!

 

[Lizard_1]

Now, I can use my black marker on that white thing.

 

[AndreYew]

kwkarth,

"The use of aluminum in the voice coil is not so much for "impedance" as it is for weight / moving mass concerns. Aluminum is not as good a conductor as copper, which is detrimental overall as energy is simply wasted as being converted to heat, but aluminum is considerably lighter than copper and no doubt plays a significant role in reducing the moving mass of the driver assembly of the Senns."

What I meant by differing impedances is that because Al has higher resistivity than Cu is exactly why one shouldn't mess around randomly with one's headphones. The higher resistance of the Al coil is accounted for in the design. Replacing it with a Cu coil of the same dimensions, the resulting lower resistance will affect the overall headphone response.

I imagine that the mechanical properties of Cu will also affect the long-term reliability of the Senns as well, as Cu has different compliance and malleability than Al, and copper oxide has different conductivity than aluminum oxide.

--Andre

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by kwkarth [size=xx-small]"The use of aluminum in the voice coil is not so much for "impedance" as it is for weight / moving mass concerns. Aluminum is not as good a conductor as copper, which is detrimental overall as energy is simply wasted as being converted to heat, but aluminum is considerably lighter than copper and no doubt plays a significant role in reducing the moving mass of the driver assembly of the Senns."[/size]

Quote:

Originally posted by AndreYew kwkarth, What I meant by differing impedances is that because Al has higher resistivity than Cu is exactly why one shouldn't mess around randomly with one's headphones. The higher resistance of the Al coil is accounted for in the design. Replacing it with a Cu coil of the same dimensions, the resulting lower resistance will affect the overall headphone response. I imagine that the mechanical properties of Cu will also affect the long-term reliability of the Senns as well, as Cu has different compliance and malleability than Al, and copper oxide has different conductivity than aluminum oxide. --Andre

Not having been involved in the actual design of the 580/600's I can't tell you what factors the designers actually considered, but if I were a betting man, I would bet the decision was primarily related to moving mass considerations alone, as the REST of Al characteristics are inferior to Cu overall. Further, all other speculation on this point is rather non-sequitur since people aren't going to be winding their own voice coil replacements. Additionally, we've already much anecdotal evidence to support that aftermarket cable replacements generally bring improvements to the "system."

Cheers!