[ChloeL]

I bought a pair of AKG K701s off craigslist recently and was told that everything about it was fine. 
Me being naive and generally trusting, I didn't thoroughly test them out before buying them. (The environment was loud and I only had my sansa clip to test them out so I couldn't properly drive them) 
 
When I got home, I noticed that if I wiggled the cable near the base of the jack, the sound would cut out...If I left the cable alone though, sonically, it seemed fine otherwise.
A few days later, the cable is dying. Cuts out when I don't touch it, and I've noticed that the headphones sound really "boomy" recessed highs, and all around muddy sound...
Today I compared with a Q701 in store and confirmed that it sounded weird. 
 
Right now I'm scared that its the driver that's blown out and not the just the cable. (There is a possibility that I didn't notice the "boomyness" of them until after I compared them with another pair) I have no problem recabling it but if its the driver itself then I think I'm hooped.  
 
I know it's my fault for not testing them out thoroughly, but I'm trying to make do with the situation Ive been given.
Any head-fiers out there have an idea of what could cause a boomy noise on my AKG K701s?
 
Thanks in advance, and thanks for taking the time to read all of that.  

 

[ProjectDenz]

What amp are you using for the K701? I'm afraid the only option is recabling.

 

[e19650826]

take few high quality photos of the drivers.... they are usually enough to tell if the drivers are good or bad, because it's hard to "blow out" a driver. you either need to fry it with extremly high power or constinuous clipping on high output for a long period of time to destroy the coil. most driver damage would come from a the diaphram, which is nothing more than a plastic film for 701..
 
just saying.. amp does help but not a whole lot. it's not the magical cure for everything, just like burn in.

 

[Matt head 777]

are you good with a soldering iron? If you can be careful applying basically very quick as possible small amount of heat to the driver so you don't overheat it. It may just be a bad connection affecting the sound.
 

 

[ChloeL]

Quote:

What amp are you using for the K701? I'm afraid the only option is recabling.

I have a Fiio 10. Recabling is fine, I'm just worried that the driver is blown out  

 

[e19650826]

Quote:

are you good with a soldering iron? If you can be careful applying basically very quick as possible small amount of heat to the driver so you don't overheat it. It may just be a bad connection affecting the sound.
 

 try to avoid that if you don't have a sturdy hand... it easier to destroy your drivers with a soldering iron than to blow them out.. although you can probably place the iron on there for half a minute without damaging the drivers, I still don't recommend anyone to try it without fair amount of experience with DIY.
Anyway, I doubt the problem is caused by a bad joint, because if it is, the sound would probably cut out completely without any distortion. It's more likely that the channels are corssing each other... but I'm not sure on that.
get some photos of the drivers first... if it's caused by damaged diaphrams, then you don't have to bother with the cables, because there is no fix for that.

 

[Matt head 777]

Quote:

 try to avoid that if you don't have a sturdy hand... it easier to destroy your drivers with a soldering iron than to blow them out.. although you can probably place the iron on there for half a minute without damaging the drivers, I still don't recommend anyone to try it without fair amount of experience with DIY.
Anyway, I doubt the problem is caused by a bad joint, because if it is, the sound would probably cut out completely without any distortion. It's more likely that the channels are corssing each other... but I'm not sure on that.
get some photos of the drivers first... if it's caused by damaged diaphrams, then you don't have to bother with the cables, because there is no fix for that.

+1 & it's true that would probably cut out but a really bad connection might make funny noise.

 

[ChloeL]

Quote:

are you good with a soldering iron? If you can be careful applying basically very quick as possible small amount of heat to the driver so you don't overheat it. It may just be a bad connection affecting the sound.
 

I've used the soldiering iron a few times, I'm generally good with handywork though. Maybe I'll recable first and see if it fixes it. 
 
Quote:

take few high quality photos of the drivers.... they are usually enough to tell if the drivers are good or bad, because it's hard to "blow out" a driver. you either need to fry it with extremly high power or constinuous clipping on high output for a long period of time to destroy the coil. most driver damage would come from a the diaphram, which is nothing more than a plastic film for 701..
 
just saying.. amp does help but not a whole lot. it's not the magical cure for everything, just like burn in.

That makes me hopeful I really do hope its just the cables
Will get pictures up, one sec. 
Yeah the booming sound occurs with amp or without..
 

 

[ChloeL]

Right Driver:
 

 
Left Driver:



Let me know if its not clear enough

 

[ProjectDenz]

I see nothing physically wrong with the driver, I think it's just the cable.

 

[cgg123321]

I'm worried that it may be the driver as usually when the cable craps out, it doesn't alter the sound like that. I would just do a quick recable to check if it's really the cable. 

 

[ChloeL]

Quote:

I'm worried that it may be the driver as usually when the cable craps out, it doesn't alter the sound like that. I would just do a quick recable to check if it's really the cable. 

 
 
Quote:

I see nothing physically wrong with the driver, I think it's just the cable.

 
Alright, I think I'm going to 
1) change the jack first and see if that does anything 
2) change cable if 1) doesn't do anything
 
And I'll see how it goes from there. Thanks for the help guys 

 

[e19650826]

Quote:

 
 
 
Alright, I think I'm going to 
1) change the jack first and see if that does anything 
2) change cable if 1) doesn't do anything
 
And I'll see how it goes from there. Thanks for the help guys 

 try to examine the drivers from the side with a strong light source, like you would examine a mirror surface, to see if there is any marking on it.
 
to test the cable AND jack, you just open up the back of the headphone and use an alligator clap for the jack while pressing the other prob on the contact pad for whichever channel you are testing. After you secured both.. you can now start to shake your cable really hard. If the cable is not shot, then the connectivity should be continuous, meaning the multimeter should be beeping continuously. If the beeping stops for whatever reason while the probes are secured, you then need recabling..

 

[ChloeL]

Quote:

 try to examine the drivers from the side with a strong light source, like you would examine a mirror surface, to see if there is any marking on it.
 
to test the cable AND jack, you just open up the back of the headphone and use an alligator clap for the jack while pressing the other prob on the contact pad for whichever channel you are testing. After you secured both.. you can now start to shake your cable really hard. If the cable is not shot, then the connectivity should be continuous, meaning the multimeter should be beeping continuously. If the beeping stops for whatever reason while the probes are secured, you then need recabling..

 
Thanks, will do after my exam tomorrow  

 

[SanJoseCanJunkie]

Hair can get stuck in headphone enclosures, which can cause a "grattle" noise that could represent itself as boominess.  I don't see any at all in the pictures, but it's possible it's caught coming in from the other side somehow.  Also, though I haven't heard of this happening with this particular headphone, it can happen with a number of models from different manufacturers, and I would think it a possibility with this headphone (having owned them once).
 
Normally, there is nothing boomy at all about the 701, no matter the amp, and when a cable is bad, it usually just cuts out depending on how it's bent.