[kelston]

Alright, I don't know how many people have recieved Zu's replacement for the HD580/600s but i'm hoping someone that has em can help.

At the risk of sounding like a newbie... I can't get them installed. I had Cardas replacements previously and I installed them with no problem.

If someone could tell me how to get the Zu's in, that'd be great.

The problem seems to lie with little protrusions in the reciever of the headphones.

I've drawn (very badly) a picture of the problem.

Those protrusions seem to be impacting the largest part of the connectors, so much so that some plastic has been scratched.

Let me know if there is a solution or if i'm doing it wrong.

EDIT: Compared the connectors to the Cardas ones. The largest part of the Zu Cable connectors are about a millimeter to a millimeter and a half wider than the widest part of the Cardas (which are snugs fits).

 

[futant]

I hope that someone answers, I was just minutes away from ordering them when I read this...

 

[kelston]

I've found a solution that is suitable for me. However, it probably wouldn't be an acceptable one for most people.

I volunteerily did permanent damage to my HD600s. I took a nail file and just filed down the nubs. The side nubs (2 of em) have to be filed down all the way and the other 4 only need half of that if not less.

I know I was not pushing them in wrong since when I applied pressure to the Zu connectors, it scraped against those nubs and scratched off some plastic on opposing nubs so it definately didn't fit when stock.

 

[futant]

This seems very odd to me. These cables were made specifically for these headphones, how could they f up so badly?

 

[kelston]

It appears that there could be a different revision of the cable that I recieved.

If I compare mine with the picture visible on the Zu page, the connectors look different.

On the page, the connectors look grey and white, almost plastic or polished metal.

However, my connectors appear to be brushed/extruded aluminum and both silver in color. My 1/4" plug doesn't look like that either, mine looks totally silver without the Zu logo, and looks like two bulbs connected together.

My theory is that they needed a large quantity faster than expected. I ordered mine on Friday, was supposed to ship Monday, but didn't ship until Wednesday. I was told they recieved way more orders than anticipated. That may have played a factor, but i'm not sure. I left an email and a voicemail with em and will wait to see what they say about it.

 

[futant]

Please keep me updated on this, I appreciate you sharing your unfortunate experience with me. I'm sure it will all work out for you but, still, it's ******* that you had to modify your headphones to accept their cables.

 

[tom hankins]

I know you havn't had them in long, but can you form any impressions so far on the sound? Also do your Cardas cables still fit after you modified your senns. I think if you just let Adam no he would have replaced the cable.

 

[kelston]

I've made a seperate thread on how I feel about the sound (love it).

I filed part of the nubs off and tested the Cardas and they still fit snugly so I just went all the way. As far as I can tell, it does not jeopardize the connection of the Cardas.

And yes, I agree, but to me, this was a more than acceptable solution given how good the Mobius sounds. I will not be switching to another cable.

 

[kelston]

An even stranger problem seems to have occured... other than the Zu, I haven't changed any other wiring...

But for some reason... Zu's red dot cable seems to be the left channel while the white is the right channel.

Maybe this is completely newbie... but as far as I knew... red was right and white/black was left (that's the way the Cardas was). Hmm...

 

[Gopher]

well, if thats a problem you can always swap your IC position

 

[kelston]

Well, just got the call from Adam at Zu.

He says that they designed the connectors around the HD600 they have in house. He thinks, and I agree, that they may have made several revisions of the socket area given the old complaints about connectors slipping out.

I found that my cable actually did have the left and right connectors reversed.

As a result, Adam's going to send me another cable, overnight shipping, and since I don't have a FedEx near me, he'll be supplying some cash for me to send it back USPS.

In the end, I didn't see this as too much of a problem. The awesome sound more than made up for any build problems, in my opinion.

 

[Audio Addict]

I just ordered mine today and Adam indicated I will get the new connector. Glad to see such an honest business person. He mentioned that all the original cables would be replace. Now that's customer service. The 60 day trial is also pretty tough to beat.

 

[agile_one]

I too was proactively contacted by Adam on the day I received my new Mobius (today).

Adam said a new one with improved connector was on the way along with prepaid FedEx box to send 1st one back. New one arrives tomorrow. That is just plain great service as far as I am concerned - ie: hear of problem, acknowledge and fix problem, make it easy for the customer.

Zu has certainly earned my business.

 

[kelston]

Just recieved the cable, glad the delivery guy knocked to wake me up.

Anyway, the connectors are redesigned. They definitely are less wide and they are, at least somewhat, modelled after the stock connectors. While it keeps the general arched Zu shape, it includes the little indentations as seen on the stock and the Cardas cable.

The 1/4" jack has changed as well. Rather than using what appeared to be an in-house connector, they've put on some Switchcrafts.

Also, the red dot is now the right and white dot is the left.

Besides that, everything else is visually (and acoustically) the same.

 

[itza2mer]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelston The 1/4" jack has changed as well. Rather than using what appeared to be an in-house connector, they've put on some Switchcrafts.

From the photo on their website, it looked like they were using a Neutrik NP3C 1/4" stereo plug. I wonder if they were having reliability issuses with the Neutrik plugs? Cardas used Switchcraft plugs (which are good plugs) with some of their early Senn cables.