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- Feb 3, 2017
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HOW TO Replace a Susvara Head Strap
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I recently replaced the head strap on my Susvara, and thought I'd chronicle the experience for the potential benefit of anyone else needing to do same. I bought my Susvara used a couple years back, and the head strap was already a bit raggedy at that time. The most annoying aspect was that the ends had stretched and were no longer rigid, which meant the strap flopped upside down when the Susvara was removed from my head. I lived with this for a long time, and finally decided to fix it. I contacted HFM support and ordered a new strap, which set me back $50 + $15 shipping to California (from China). It took about a week to arrive from the time I ordered it.
When I went to install the strap, it became apparent that to remove the two little screws on the bottom of each slider, you have to remove the ear cup gimbals unless you have a very short Phillips screwdriver (which I don't). This simply requires removing two screws that secure the clamp at the base of the metal headband on both sides. Unfortunately, while performing this operation, both screws on the left side broke (may have rusted tight in their cast receptacle holes). After I removed the clamps, it was then straightforward to remove the tiny screws at the base of each slider. However, on one of the sliders, both screws again broke. Since the ends of all the broken screws were still lodged inside their receptacle holes, simply finding replacement screws would have done no good. I had to contact HFM support once again and order new sliders and clamps. Cost for these parts totaled $65 + $15 shipping, and I received them again a little over a week after ordering them. I will say that HFM support was consistently excellent and helpful throughout the entire process.
Anyway, once I had the new parts in hand, reassembly was very straightforward. There's really only one way the metal pieces on each end of the head strap will fit into the sliders. I did bend the tab on each metal end out a little bit to increase the sliding resistance, which was too low (for me) by default. This should be done carefully to avoid damaging anything. Putting the ear cup gimbals back on is only slightly trickier. The indent in the central pin should face outward so that the pin can mate with the end of the metal headband (see photo). Pushing up on the pin with one finger will make this easier. Once the headband is slotted into the pin, simply align and push the outer half of the clamp through the holes in the headband, mate the inner half of the clamp and use the screws to secure the whole assembly. Easy peasy.
I've attached a handful of photos which may be of interest. I will say that the dark lettering on the new parts is a nice improvement on the older style simple routed look. It wasn't dirt cheap to replace the strap, but all in all it was definitely worth it. The worst part was being without the Susvara for over two weeks! The Utopia makes sweet music, but the Susvara is sublime.
HOW TO Replace a Susvara Head Strap
*****************************************
I recently replaced the head strap on my Susvara, and thought I'd chronicle the experience for the potential benefit of anyone else needing to do same. I bought my Susvara used a couple years back, and the head strap was already a bit raggedy at that time. The most annoying aspect was that the ends had stretched and were no longer rigid, which meant the strap flopped upside down when the Susvara was removed from my head. I lived with this for a long time, and finally decided to fix it. I contacted HFM support and ordered a new strap, which set me back $50 + $15 shipping to California (from China). It took about a week to arrive from the time I ordered it.
When I went to install the strap, it became apparent that to remove the two little screws on the bottom of each slider, you have to remove the ear cup gimbals unless you have a very short Phillips screwdriver (which I don't). This simply requires removing two screws that secure the clamp at the base of the metal headband on both sides. Unfortunately, while performing this operation, both screws on the left side broke (may have rusted tight in their cast receptacle holes). After I removed the clamps, it was then straightforward to remove the tiny screws at the base of each slider. However, on one of the sliders, both screws again broke. Since the ends of all the broken screws were still lodged inside their receptacle holes, simply finding replacement screws would have done no good. I had to contact HFM support once again and order new sliders and clamps. Cost for these parts totaled $65 + $15 shipping, and I received them again a little over a week after ordering them. I will say that HFM support was consistently excellent and helpful throughout the entire process.
Anyway, once I had the new parts in hand, reassembly was very straightforward. There's really only one way the metal pieces on each end of the head strap will fit into the sliders. I did bend the tab on each metal end out a little bit to increase the sliding resistance, which was too low (for me) by default. This should be done carefully to avoid damaging anything. Putting the ear cup gimbals back on is only slightly trickier. The indent in the central pin should face outward so that the pin can mate with the end of the metal headband (see photo). Pushing up on the pin with one finger will make this easier. Once the headband is slotted into the pin, simply align and push the outer half of the clamp through the holes in the headband, mate the inner half of the clamp and use the screws to secure the whole assembly. Easy peasy.
I've attached a handful of photos which may be of interest. I will say that the dark lettering on the new parts is a nice improvement on the older style simple routed look. It wasn't dirt cheap to replace the strap, but all in all it was definitely worth it. The worst part was being without the Susvara for over two weeks! The Utopia makes sweet music, but the Susvara is sublime.
The dac sounds like a huge upgrade over the one I was using earlier. I am considering getting the niimbus at some point but I'm not sure how much better the audio could possibly get.
