[tomhirvin]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. Firstly I'm a bit of a noob but I joined Head-Fi many years ago and bought some Shure E5's as a result.

I have had them for exactly 3 years and they haven't been used that much. They have been very well looked after and stored in that time.

I used them yesterday and all was well, but plugged them into my MP3 player this morning and one channel wasn't working at all. I assumed it was the player, until I tried it some other players. Definitely the E5's.

When I went back to try again this afternoon there is some output coming out of the left channel, but I would say it is about half that of the right. This means it can only really be heard at very loud volumes which makes the working channel too loud.

It doesn't look like a loose connection as the sounds is constant, just very very low.

Can anyone advise me on what this might be? All the wires are intact by the looks of things. Have they just come to the end of their life? I contacted Shure who said there was nothing I could do and I should buy another pair of their $500 earphones immediately....they would.

Any help would be gratefully received!!!

 

[PG21]

I'm going to assume it's the E500 and not the E5c. The E500 have a problem of cables cracking over time due to bodily oils so that might be one cause.

 

[VoLTaG3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomhirvin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. Firstly I'm a bit of a noob but I joined Head-Fi many years ago and bought some Shure E5's as a result. I have had them for exactly 3 years and they haven't been used that much. They have been very well looked after and stored in that time. I used them yesterday and all was well, but plugged them into my MP3 player this morning and one channel wasn't working at all. I assumed it was the player, until I tried it some other players. Definitely the E5's. When I went back to try again this afternoon there is some output coming out of the left channel, but I would say it is about half that of the right. This means it can only really be heard at very loud volumes which makes the working channel too loud. It doesn't look like a loose connection as the sounds is constant, just very very low. Can anyone advise me on what this might be? All the wires are intact by the looks of things. Have they just come to the end of their life? I contacted Shure who said there was nothing I could do and I should buy another pair of their $500 earphones immediately....they would. Any help would be gratefully received!!!

Check the nozzle for any obstruction and clean it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PG21 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to assume it's the E500 and not the E5c. The E500 have a problem of cables cracking over time due to bodily oils so that might be one cause.

The Shure SE530/E500 had cable cracking issues with models made prior to early 2008. Any model manufactured after early 2008 the wire formula has been changed fixing the problem.

 

[tomhirvin]

Hi there, thanks for the reply - my earphone are the E5c not E500's. Any ideas?

 

[Bonthouse]

@PG21. Okay, please know your IEM's when you talk about them. The E5 is an older model, similar to the SE420 with two drivers.

Sounds to me like a broken crossover or a clogged tube. Are the tubes clean when you try to look inside of them?

 

[tomhirvin]

Thanks for the advice - the left bud has a small bit of something inside which was clogging it up. Pushed it back in and all fine.