[shawn_low]

Hi,

Total n00b alert!

I'd love if people could chime in on the best parts to get for recabling these cans:

Sennheiser HD800 - Money no object. No premade cables.
Alessandro/Grado MS2i - budget but still want improvement over stock sound. I am rewiring drivers which I have from the Magnum upgrade. Planning on woodying them.
AKG K701 - somewhere in the middle. Want to improve existing stock cable.

Questions:

1) What type of cable should I use for each one of them? The more details the better.

2) Which 1/4 plug should I use? (I am not going to go balanced).

3) Any other bits, tips apprciated (sleeving, silver solder etc).

 

[jezz]

As is typical of audio hardware, the "best" parts can quickly become overwhelmingly expensive. A budget here would of course help. I also would suggest reading the DIY Cable Gallery!! thread. That said:

1. I've always been happy with the flexibility and quality of Mogami 2893 for my headphone recables. Conceivably you could spend some money and get some Cardas 4X24 but it's too rich for my blood and I find it too stiff. I had a pair of AKG K701's with Kimber Kable GQ-TCSS and they sounded pretty good too.

2. 1/4" plug, I use Neutrik's or Amphenol's. A lot of people swear by Furutech's or Yarbo's. Frankly, I'm really fond of Yarbo's but haven't found a consistent source.

3. A Pic-By-Pic Grado SR80 Recable Thread.... Basically, that's how I recable my headphones. Sometimes, I omit the nylon going from the y-split to the drivers.

 

[shawn_low]

Jezz, thanks for chiming in.

I guess I'd love for people who have recabled these specific headphones to tell me more about

1) what materials they used.
2) How the sound 'changed' if at all!

 

[IPodPJ]

1) Double Helix Cables Nucleotide wire which is OCC Copper, or, Cryoparts SCSCag OCC-Silver. I prefer OCC-copper for analog signals and OCC-silver for digital signals.

2) What's your budget? Do you want a crazy priced, high-end plug? Double Helix Cables makes a nice one, Cryoparts makes a nice one, Furutech makes nice ones (but some are pricey). There are really a lot of options, but the truth is that an expensive boutique connector will probably sound no different than a well-made, reasonably priced one such as the ones I've listed.

3) Whichever solder is easy for you to work with, and whichever gives you the best solder joints. Kester 60/40 is recommended by my amp builder. Peter from Double Helix Cables could probably give you some good advice for cable soldering (head-fi user: scootermafia). Again, no need to go boutique with this. I would not spend crazy money on solder.

 

[nikongod]

Alex/apuresound is another great source of well regarded wire and pre-made cables for headphones. I think he has the HD800 connectors too.

On that note, the headphones you have range from eeh to tricky to re cable. The info on how to take them apart is in here somewhere.
Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif 3) Whichever solder is easy for you to work with, and whichever gives you the best solder joints. Kester 60/40 is recommended by my amp builder. Peter from Double Helix Cables could probably give you some good advice for cable soldering (head-fi user: scootermafia). Again, no need to go boutique with this. I would not spend crazy money on solder.

Just because most people cant hear the differences between solder dosnt mean they aren't there.

 

[shawn_low]

Keep chiming in please.

I am actually making a document listing the types of cables, solder, connectors people prefer. I am also taking down links to websites etc.

Hope to be able to post this up at some point. Maybe sticky it if it's useful.

I'm thinking (and will update original post) about things this way

1) For HD800. Money no object. No premade cables.

2) K701: somewhere in the middle. Want to improve existing stock cable.

3) MS2i: budget but still want improvement over stock sound. I am rewiring drivers which I have from the Magnum upgrade. Planning on woodying them.