Okay, so I ended up getting everything done earlier.
Kokaju.... I tried taking some pictures to maybe give you a better idea, but poor lighting and a pretty mediocre cell phone camera probably won't do it justice. My mistake was being too paranoid that I'd burn the voice coils that I did not sufficiently melt the solder all the way, and yanked the cable out too soon. Since the metal pad that connects to the voice coil was a bit soft from the heat, it complete ripped off of the plastic piece. On my second run at it, since I had an extra driver as a safety net, I did not worry about overheating a voice coil and left the solder iron on it for quite some time and everything was fine. I think at a one point I had the solder boiling for about 5 seconds and it was still okay. Also, if I heated it up for a good amount of time, I just took a breather and let the whole thing cool down a bit before resuming. So, from a rookie who first picked up a soldering iron yesterday, and managed to kill a driver today, the biggest advice I can give you is to not let the paranoia get the best of you. Just relax and do what needs to be done!
Anyway, here are some pictures:
This is the dead driver. As you can see, there is a gap between the white stuff and the solder on the right side. There should be a metal pad underneath there. It's a thin film that I managed to rip completely off. I believe I took the iron off the solder point just before I pulled the cable out. On the second go around, I left the solder iron on the solder point, made sure the cable slipped out, and then took the iron off.
Here is the other driver. I had a vacuum pump that I tried to get as much solder as I could off but didn't do a great job. You can see the metal pads that sml refers to. That's the contact point, as when I touch the cable to that point, the driver pumps music.
Here are some stab wounds that my dining table suffered from the driver liberation. I used a butter knife that had a sharp point, and a hammer and did not realize it went all the way through to the table. Thank goodness my girlfriend ordered a new dining table last week and they are out of stock so it has not been delivered yet. If this was the new table, I'd be in the dog house.
Some of the plastic on these drivers got really messed up. On this one, the grill popped off the driver, so I had to glue it back together. This is the extra driver that I have. I got some PMs for this, but I'm going to hold onto it to be sure my friend's mods go through. If that checks out, then I'll pass it along.
This is the semi-finished product. I have silver cables arriving on Tuesday, so I'm going to upgrade that next. Then I'll start using dynamat and driver venting to tune the sound to my liking.
Since I got another pair of headphones, I have an extra headband/gimbals if anyone needs it. Just shoot me a PM with you address and I'd be happy to send it out.
As far as sound goes, this driver is brand spanking new. I literally popped them into the woodies before they sang a note. Right off the bat, the high end is a lot smoother, but still detailed. The bottom end has a bit more weight, but also seems to have more room because it is more defined.. I remember the SR-60 being a bit bloated compared to my SR-225s. This one is warm, without seeming quite as bloated as I remember. Still the clarity and sparkle do not compare to my SR-225s. Even switching the pads (L-Cush on the woodied 60, comfies on the 225), the 225 is more lively up top. I imagine the cable has a lot to do with it, so we'll see how things go after a re-cable. Also we'll see how things go after some burn-in as well. These are only at about 1 hour right now.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the support and guidance. I'm very happy with the results so far (busted driver withstanding).
. Then it splits the piece with a screwdriver at first and then with pliers, separate easy to be open.
