[Shauntell47]

hi everyone, i have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-CK7s where the cable broke for one earbud and a pair of Goldring GX200s whose cable also broke rendering one earbud useless....
Now i wanted to know if i could possibly send them to one of you DIYers to get them fixed ( maybe not the GX200s since i might still have warranty on those) or otherwise i saw this guy who was looking for broken earphones to buy so i guess i could sell them too... can anybody give me advice on what i could do with them? i'm going to the us this summer so technically i could get them fixed there too or something... thx for any response

 

[Shauntell47]

can someone please help me out... is there anything i can do... maybe myself?

 

[EloyDark]

It shouldn't be really hard to repair the Audio Technicas, maybe you can try a local technician, since all that has been done is a broken cable then soldering would really be easy!
I could volunteer fixing them for you but I live in Greece and just shiping them would cost more than fixing them in a local repairsman!
Good luck

 

[Shauntell47]

ok, thx for the response... i do have access to some soldering equipment, but the problem is that the cable is broken right next to the earphone itself which is difficultly accessible... it might actually be inside the earphone... i'm not sure...
i think i might have more luck with the goldrings since there the cable is broken near the y-splitter...

 

[EloyDark]

It is actually better to try to open the cans and try to solder new cable on them (Hey you might actually do a high quality recabling you can post on the recabling thread). You can try to open them with a knife or a very thin screwdriver. In general there are some threads that show some in ear cans sliced open for recabling or other modifications. You can try something like that and, who knows, next stop a Balanced Dynahi!!

 

[Shauntell47]

ok, i'll try to open them up tomorrow and see what i can do...

 

[Shauntell47]

ok, i tried to open up the CK7s... only managed to pull out the cable... i dunno what i can do with them... here are some pics for you to see, of the goldrings too...

 

[Shauntell47]

bump

 

[EloyDark]

Take a look at this link so you can see how most in ear headphones open. You should try to do something like that. Normally the goldrings should also have some kind of mechanism to open (by force maybe?) but you can also try to open them on the headphones and recable them from the beginning if you have no luck! I have opened some in ear headphones before and only once I managed to break them in a way that they couldn't close back so the chances are in favor for you. If you have doubts, then maybe you can ask some diyer in the forum who lives in france if he can help you.
Good luck and sorry for the delay

 

[Shauntell47]

thx for the advice... i cut off some of the black stuff surrounding the cables so i could see the cable better... the y-splitter is made out of plastic so i thought i might melt some off to be able to solder the 2 cables back together easier.... i can solder 2 cables together, right (sorry i'm not an expert)? and then i need something to cover the whole thing up... i could either simply use tape or something else...

 

[EloyDark]

You could do something like that but it could be messy. The best solution IMO is that you buy some heat shrinking and use it (careful, you must insert the heat shrink, solder the cables and then move the heat shrink over the soldered arey and with a heat gun (maybe a hair drier can do the job) seal the area). Try to make something that will last more than a few days and look good enough so you wouldn't get embarassed for it
You can solder two cables, but I repeat my question, why don't you try to recable them from the headphones and new plugs etc? It will be far more neat!

 

[Shauntell47]

yeah, heatshrinking is a good idea... where can i get that though?
if i follow your idea of recabling them from the phones, well where do i get the cables from? maybe the ones from my CK7s will work... i'm not sure if the cable itself got damaged or if it was the connection to the earphones which got cut...

 

[EloyDark]

You could try some local electronics stores near your area if you know any or you can just search in the forum for internet stores in recabling threads (there is one stickied that can provide a lot of ideas). You can also try in ebay. I usually search the local market because shipping costs to Greece are higher than the product itself.
Even if the cable are still ok you can recable them with a higher quality cable to achieve better sound nirvana... it's all about that, is it not?

 

[Shauntell47]

well i'd definitely be interested in recabling them with a higher quality cable.... i'd be getting better sound and durability with the right cable... but where should i get earphone cables... am i supposed to start from scratch and buy plugs, cables, heatshrink and everything... or could i get something like ultrasone replacement cables.... i looked at the interconnect thread... it doesn't look that difficult, but how do i create a y-splitter... again, thx a lot

 

[EloyDark]

Take a look at these two threads to begin with:
First
Second
I would recommend doing it from the scratch because you will know the quality of all the materials you will use, it will probably be cheaper and it will be more satisfactioning when you assemble it all correctly and listen to it. Lastly, do it just for the fan of it

The cheapest Y splitter is plane heat shrink!