Stock Sennheiser Cable -> Canare Star Quad!

[llmobll]

Ok so basically my stock cable broke on me. The Left channel would stop working whenever i turned my head. Loose wire i guess. The Problem was that the loose cable was at the part where the connector is connected to the wire. So since I heard that you can't buy the connectors i decided to cannibalize mine and try to fix it. The final Verdict...

I just the connector to where the poles meet the wire. I was lucky enough to have the old gold plated connectors.

After this I simply soldered the Canare Star Quad to the poles. I don't have pictures of this because I was in a rush to make them. But basically I used lots of flux on the poles and on the wire i prepped it with solder. The ending product was this...

Success!!! Worked on the first try!

Ok this cable definitely changed the way the my Sennheiser 580's sound. They sound soooo different I can't describe it. I'll try to describe it as I get used to them over the next couple of days. I also need to put on a Mini Connector, I don't have any at the moment and I couldn't find any decent ones. So i'm hooking it up to my CMOY amp with alligator clippers. I'm sure the sound will change some more when I put my Canare F-12 on.

I'm very happy with this little mod. Saved some $$$ which is always a plus, improved the sound quality buy a HUGE amount, way more than when I just did my own interconnects. If you have a stock cable lying around its definitly worth the small amount of $$ to mod it.

Things to watch out for that I could have done better:

1. I used a 30w soldering Iron. When I heated the poles to connect the wire, it MELTED the plastic sourronding, changing the orientation of the small poles. This posed a HUGE problem because I then had to reheat the plastic and bend the poles back in place. I'll try to get a picture of what i'm talking about, but this was definitly what could have made this mod go down the tubes.


2. I didn't know the orientation of the ground to audio channel for the connectors. It doesn't seem to make a difference but I might have wired it in reverse. Just an FYI, make sure you make which it ground and which is audio when cutting the connectors up.

3. I can't think of anymore but I'm sure I will.


Edit: More Pics!

 

[KTpG]

Nice!


I did a similar thing with my DIY cables... but they eventually broke apart as well... so I dismantled the plugs thinking I'd be able to build new plugs... haven't done it yet. lol SO I have two pairs of gold plugs. I'll get to it sometime... The sound does definitely change, though.

 

[adhoc]

beautiful work! i love working with canare star quad - well maybe except the debraiding bit.

and just a reminder: don't forget to connect the shield to ground at your plug!

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Nice Work!! Just be careful not to accidentally yank the cable or you might loose your solder connections.

 

[Sycraft]

If you want to make sure you don't easily break your solder joints, seal it up with some silicon sealent, same kind you use in bathrooms. It's easy to apply and non condusctive. Go get some GE Type 2 Silicon from Home Depot and that'll do the trick.

I've had to bypass the joints on every pair of sennheisers I've owned due to it failing, and that's what I use to glue the cable in place.

 

[llmobll]

I was thinking the exact same thing, I put a little crazy glue because I was soo worried that i would yank them off. But i used enough solder and the joints seem very very strong.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sycraft If you want to make sure you don't easily break your solder joints, seal it up with some silicon sealent, same kind you use in bathrooms. It's easy to apply and non condusctive. Go get some GE Type 2 Silicon from Home Depot and that'll do the trick.

Great idea! I use silicon to make my crossovers but I never thought it would come in handy for making cables.