PortaPro cheapskate recabling, superb results!

[Leopold]

Hi guys, a good thing just happened to me today and I thought it could be a nice idea to share!

Some time ago my dear wife accidentally broke the cord on her Portas for the fifth time in a non-repairable place near the plug. I bought her a new set the same day but I hate to throw good stuff in the garbage, thats who I am. Instead they were thrown in drawer for the stuff that I "might repair someday", you know...

Today I was just about to buy a pair of Portas for myself to have as a more portable alternative to my DT250. Well, I remembered that drawer, and *actually* decided to have a look to see what could be done!

I decided against trying to just solder in a new plug, the cable had become too short already and it would be a clumsy solution with the kind of plugs you can solder. A new cable w/ plug like the original is not easy to find as a replacement, and I had no energy or time to search the market.

I dug a little deeper into the junk drawer, found a couple of old cheap headphones that got there just because they sounded too damned terrible for anyone to use. One of these phones had a cable that was almost exactly like the Koss original, same dimensions, same flexible rubbery feel. They were of the brand "Okay", a semi-funny joke since they had among the crappiest sound I ever heard among things that are sold as headphones. Maybe they referred to the cable then? I was surprised to see such a fine-looking cable attached to crap like this.

Then I simply transplanted the cable, an operation that took 10 minutes at the most. The new cable was similar in its internal structure, except that the "new" cable was reinforced with a strong, very fine fibre core that would not melt, and the insulation was thinner, almost like laquer.

When I listened to the results I was very surprised to say the least. I did not recognise this as "the good old Koss Porta" sound... did they always sound *this* good? Not from what I remembered but memory is a poor guide when it comes to sound.

When comparing the old recabled portas to my wife´s new but well burned-in set the difference became evident. The old recabled ones are several classes better than the new set in every aspect I'm interested in. Something very drastic had happened to the mids-highs, the veil in mid-high was gone and the slightly grainy treble was replaced by a silky, airy smoothness. Even the tendencies for boominess in the bass was replaced with a much tighter control, preserving the punchy impact. The new set simply sounds rougher, less refined and not as highly resolved in comparison to the old recabled set.

I noticed a similar performance boost from my wife's PortaPros when I hooked them up to my PA2V2 a couple of months ago, this is just more of the good things, lots more.

Question is how much of the difference comes from the cables and how much comes from slight changes in the transducer design that I expect have been introduced over time. I will not swap cables to find out

The bad thing about this experience is that I run a risk of becoming a believer in recabling... sigh

Please tell me that they did something to the transducers in the newer Portas that can explain the differences I hear.

 

[lmilhan]

Cool story, but a little FYI in case you didn't realize:

All KOSS headphones are covered by a lifetime, no questions asked repair/replacement warranty. When they break you mail them in with $6 USD and they either repair them, or replace them with a new (or equivalent) pair.

No proof of purchase is even needed.

At the rate you and your wife seem to go through them, you will probably save quite a bit of money in the future by taking advantage of that warranty.

Good luck.

 

[Leopold]

Imilhan, thanks for the tip, it deserves to be mentioned over and over again! I wish more manufacturers could have such a generous policy. It was actually the reason why I did not hesitate to buy the first pair despite the steep price point at that time, $100 in Sweden.

Then why didn't I take advantage of the warranty? Well, I guess reasons similar to mine is why it is possible for Koss to continue offering the life-time warranty, and I find it interesting to explore a little.

Sooner or later the cables will break if you use them daily like my wife do, if not by accident the wear and tear will take its toll. When she had that unlucky look in her face after the first accident, knowing how much she loves them, I had to choice but to make her happy again as quickly as possible of course.

Three options were on the table:
1. Send them in for repair. Costs: $6 + my shipping, the weeks of waiting while not having any cans worth listening to until they come back. The time component was unacceptable to my wife, I could understand that very well.
2. Buying a new pair. Cost: $80 street price at the time, plus the option of having an extra pair for $6 + shipping if I sent them in. I had no use for an extra pair at the time. The cost component was unacceptable to my wife, I agreed.
3. Fixing them myself. Cost: none except 10 minutes of my time (cable repairs are extremely easy on Koss Portapro).

Option #3 was a no brainer. After having done it once, you don't think twice the next times. At some point no more cable shortening can be done and you feel no regrets by retiring them after all those years of excellent service.

I could perhaps tried to send them in but I thought they would'nt be very happy about the short cable so I didn't.

The Koss life-time warranty seems to be pure genious - it gives a signal of very high confidence in the product and allows them to sell at a price premium. The policy is profitable if the most common cause of failure is easily repaired, especially if some customers choose do the repairs themselves as in this case thereby voiding the warranty.

I guess it would be a bad idea for IEM manufacturers considering the repairability factor, unless manufacturing costs are very small of course.

Just some thoughts. I'm surprised those policies aren't more common, properly advertised it makes a huge competitive advantage in the eyes of many customers like me.

 

[tomb]

I think your Option #1 was reason enough.

However, $80 street price for PortaPros?

What street is that - one plated with gold? You might have considered some PortaPro Jr's at $20 or KSC75's at $12-$15 (or $20 on your "street") in the interim.

Now there may be an Option 4 - one with which you already alluded: Koss does not honor the warranty in the future because you've made a major un-sanctioned modification (formerly replaced plugs notwithstanding). Koss is pretty nice, though, so that may not happen.

It's true that many people may not choose to go through the hassle of $6, mailing the phones off, and waiting. However, there are enough of us that do that to keep the other headphone mfrs from doing the same thing.


P.S. I am not convinced about the re-cabling thing. It's just as likely that a different length caused the effect, a different plug, or even the fact that pair was well broken-in. Regardless, I am glad that you are happy with the results. There may have been an even chance that you ended up with a ruined pair of phones.

 

[Leopold]

Wow... incredibly good prices you have! Just a new set of Porta pads cost $9 street price in Sweden ...!

Good suggestion about the KSC-75, I'll pick them up some day by mail order to hear what all the fuss is about. Maybe the lady in the house find them even better for her than the porta.

Cheers,
/Leopold