I was on my second pair of Ortofons due to cable defect in the first one. The right driver was giving out if the cable was not in the right position (I found push the cable in helped, but only for a few months). The left driver wire started dying near the Y split if it was not in the right position. This is after a cable defect in my old X10.
However, I sold my working e-Q5 for some cash. This left me with my first defective pair. Here is my experience repairing the left piece. The right side was fixed by positioning the wire and strapping it with tie wrap.
I nearly destroyed the left ear peice trying to open this thing. You will have to clamp down the larger ear and pry open the smaller piece from the joint area to pop it (don't be surprised if there are cosmetic scars). I wouldn't worry about breaking it. It took the force of hulk to pop open using a precision flat head and some pliers because it is basically all steel body. The actual driver sits entirely in the smaller piece, so it will not split. The larger piece contains the wire bundle and hard plastic acoustic backing that has a small hole for the cable that separates the compartments. Once the small end is opened, you will have to cut the existing wire to remove it entirely. I then shoved a precision flat head (as large as allowable) from the outside of the body (where the cable comes in) and pop the plastic backing out from the larger piece. This will take some work since it secured extremely well using what appeared to be lock tide that filled some of the larger piece's space. Mine took come damage but I was pretty careless handling since I didn't know how to work with it at the time (it can certainly be avoided). I then removed the cable bundle and cut it off. I pulled from more of the wire through the ear piece and cut new ends. Soldering it on to the driver it self was hard because the 28awg cable is extremely thin and solder points are extremely small.I had to lightly clamp the small piece to hold it still while I carefully soldered the new cut wire back to the driver solder points (remember to pull the wire through the white plastic backing first). Be sure to get a clean solder with good contact. The first time I did it, I missed enough strands to make it sound horrible. Once it was done properly, I had to replace the material used to stuff the larger piece where the cable bundle was. I used this black tar I had lying around that I use to repair many patch many things. It filled the large piece completely while gripping the wire somewhat so it does not completely pull on the driver (or you can tie the wire into another bundle before soldering it; I didn't want to shorten the cable anymore).
I know it might be hard to follow without pics. But I'll post some pics of the cosmetic damage it took in the process. Maybe I'll draw up some diagrams. The internals were a lot simpler than I thought it would be. The e-Q5 has not serious build quality for sure. But the cable is crap. I am thinking of replacing it completely. Could you guys point me where to buy a high quality cable to replace these with? If I can get my hands on one, I will certain take pictures the next time I open these.
Moral of the story, never buy another IEM that does not have a detachable cable no matter how good in sounds. I don't want to experience this again.
However, I sold my working e-Q5 for some cash. This left me with my first defective pair. Here is my experience repairing the left piece. The right side was fixed by positioning the wire and strapping it with tie wrap.
I nearly destroyed the left ear peice trying to open this thing. You will have to clamp down the larger ear and pry open the smaller piece from the joint area to pop it (don't be surprised if there are cosmetic scars). I wouldn't worry about breaking it. It took the force of hulk to pop open using a precision flat head and some pliers because it is basically all steel body. The actual driver sits entirely in the smaller piece, so it will not split. The larger piece contains the wire bundle and hard plastic acoustic backing that has a small hole for the cable that separates the compartments. Once the small end is opened, you will have to cut the existing wire to remove it entirely. I then shoved a precision flat head (as large as allowable) from the outside of the body (where the cable comes in) and pop the plastic backing out from the larger piece. This will take some work since it secured extremely well using what appeared to be lock tide that filled some of the larger piece's space. Mine took come damage but I was pretty careless handling since I didn't know how to work with it at the time (it can certainly be avoided). I then removed the cable bundle and cut it off. I pulled from more of the wire through the ear piece and cut new ends. Soldering it on to the driver it self was hard because the 28awg cable is extremely thin and solder points are extremely small.I had to lightly clamp the small piece to hold it still while I carefully soldered the new cut wire back to the driver solder points (remember to pull the wire through the white plastic backing first). Be sure to get a clean solder with good contact. The first time I did it, I missed enough strands to make it sound horrible. Once it was done properly, I had to replace the material used to stuff the larger piece where the cable bundle was. I used this black tar I had lying around that I use to repair many patch many things. It filled the large piece completely while gripping the wire somewhat so it does not completely pull on the driver (or you can tie the wire into another bundle before soldering it; I didn't want to shorten the cable anymore).
I know it might be hard to follow without pics. But I'll post some pics of the cosmetic damage it took in the process. Maybe I'll draw up some diagrams. The internals were a lot simpler than I thought it would be. The e-Q5 has not serious build quality for sure. But the cable is crap. I am thinking of replacing it completely. Could you guys point me where to buy a high quality cable to replace these with? If I can get my hands on one, I will certain take pictures the next time I open these.
Moral of the story, never buy another IEM that does not have a detachable cable no matter how good in sounds. I don't want to experience this again.
. But I really have only $100 dollar left on my $300 dollar budget because of the choice for the E-Q5... So is only a C3 also a big upgrade for the E-Q5?![size]](http://files.head-fi.org/images/smilies/wink.gif[size=13px][/size])
