[dqniel]

I just took apart my Koss A130s to fix the rattling issue with the drivers. It was a very easy fix but I'm sure that many others, like myself, are weary about taking apart their headphones if they've never done it before. I took pictures showing how I did the fix in case others are interested in how to do it without breaking them

If anybody sees ways to improve upon my method or has ideas for other things that could be done to improve their sound then feel free to chime in.

Headphone cup removed from headband and $1.59 sticky-tak

Remove Ear Cup

Remove four screws

Carefully pull apart the can. You don't want to pull the wiring off of the driver.

Slide the wiring "harness" out of its nook and then carefully move the foam surrounding the driver out of the way

You can see how poor the fit is between the driver and its "slot"

Apply a very small amount of sticky-tak to stop the rattle

 

[nikongod]

on my a-130's i used a cube of foam. a 3/4" soft foam cube superglued behind each driver (glue on cup side, not on driver) works beautyfully.

 

[biged]

Thanks guys.


Ed

 

[burgunder]

Thank you for the description and the pics I have the a130's coming to Europe thanks to a fellow headfier so it's nice to know what to do if they have the rattle issue. And then a little challenge, who will be the first to woody their a130's when they take them a part to tak them

 

[bugg100]

a single cotton ball stopped the rattle here. seemed to tighten bass a bit - less boomy.

 

[Lindah1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dqniel I just took apart my Koss A130s to fix the rattling issue with the drivers. It was a very easy fix but I'm sure that many others, like myself, are weary about taking apart their headphones if they've never done it before. I took pictures showing how I did the fix in case others are interested in how to do it without breaking them If anybody sees ways to improve upon my method or has ideas for other things that could be done to improve their sound then feel free to chime in.

To remove the ear cup (puffy pleather part?), do you just pull slowly on it? Or do you try and remove it around the 'wings' that are in that crack, first? I tried pulling on it, but it seems to need quite a bit of force. I'm real nervous about separating the puffy pleather part from the hard plastic part. Also, how do you put the puffy pleather part (ear cup?) back on, once you're done?

 

[nikongod]

the pleather thingy is just in that channel. you kind of just work it out and around.

when my a130's were new there was some double-sided sticky tape in there holding them in, i pulled it off when i had them apart.

 

[Lindah1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod the pleather thingy is just in that channel. you kind of just work it out and around

All done, no more rattle. It was more of a vibration than a rattle, though. I also applied some tak to the housing, as shown in the A250 thread. Spread it out from the middle, in a circle out towards the edges. I didn't apply across the entire housing, but in an oval shape about the size of the foam surrounding the driver. I don't notice a difference in the soundstage and it seems to have attenuated the highs, but I'll know for sure tonight when I come home and try it out on House of Flying Daggers. The fatigue test I use is the bamboo scene. On harsh speakers/headphones, all the bamboo and leaves rustling for the pretty long scene can really kill your ears.

 

[wualta]

If your A/130 driver really is loose, you'll want to make sure there's an airtight seal between the driver and whatever it's mounted to. Tacky stuff would do the job nicely-- a thin ring between the face of the driver and the baffle should be all that's necessary.

If the seal isn't airtight, bass quality will be more or less compromised, depending on how tight the fit is, and we're finding some A/130s with very loose fit indeed.

 

[facelvega]

Hey, Wualta, don't get the wrong impression from my pics on the A250 thread-- the amount of space is about enough for a single thickness of paper to between one side of the driver housing and the adapter plate. (the driver is held down with a few plastic clips built onto the adapter plate. Evidently the adapter plate was an afterthought designed by someone who didn't realize that drivers need to be stiffly mounted.)

Hello Linda1, I hope you're liking your a130. I feel a little guilty having pushed you toward them when we all thought they were maybe the same as a250-- then a friend finally brought mine from Boston and I found that they're actually quite different. Still, I think, quite competitive in the $100 bracket.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega Hey, Wualta, don't get the wrong impression from my pics on the A250 thread-- the amount of space is about enough for a single thickness of paper to between one side of the driver housing and the adapter plate.

Oh, I'm not worried about side-to-side play. It's the face-to-face gaps (if any) I'm concerned about, although if the driver is loose side to side, there's going to be a less than airtight seal to the baffle. If a blu-tacking person were to make a gasket out of his chosen material and basically stick the driver down against the adapter and then perhaps another gasket between the adapter and the baffle proper, that would solve the rattle problem and ensure max bass quality in one swell foop.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta Oh, I'm not worried about side-to-side play. It's the face-to-face gaps (if any) I'm concerned about, although if the driver is loose side to side, there's going to be a less than airtight seal to the baffle. If a blu-tacking person were to make a gasket out of his chosen material and basically stick the driver down against the adapter and then perhaps another gasket between the adapter and the baffle proper, that would solve the rattle problem and ensure max bass quality in one swell foop.

I think I finally see where I'm failing to explain this clearly-- the adapter is glued to the baffle, and presents a continuous ring around the driver, so sealing that ring at any point (around the edge at the back is just the easiest to get to) essentially turns the adapter and the driver into a single mass, with an airtight seal to the baffle. I can see how this would be unclear from the photos. And you're right that once this seal is in place, the bass improves noticeably, or at least did on mine.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...once this seal is in place, the bass improves noticeably, or at least did on mine.

A perfect demonstration of the sound quality detriment uncontrolled backwave leakage causes.

And thanks for the clarification. You're right; as long as the adapter is glued airtight to the baffle, you could simply stuff some blu-tack down in the gap around the back of the driver, as you've done, so long as you sealed all the way around.

 

[chat7]

I opened my A130's and found that the my driver was not the same as the pics above. For me, it looked like Ksc75's or 35's. And it's glued with the housing so it's too tight to move.
But i found that my A130's had too treble and less bass. How can I fix this?
Or is it different version then sounds differently?

 

[phergus_25]

that looks like it is just a KSC-35... O.o