[GREQ]

My faulty 70 ohm sawafuji driver teardown
(gave +12,000 ohm reading)



Plastic shells, steel wire mesh filters, magnets, orange paper spacers, metal contacts and diaphragm.

 

[Feilong4]

Foster T20v2 diaphragm and magnets



AKG K180 driver



By the way, if anyone so happens to have a working AKG K180 driver or a working T20v2 diaphragm, I'll gladly take them! Of course, not for free. The ones pictured here are no good.

 

[WallofHooligans]

Have you measured the impedance in the faulty t20 driver?

 

[Feilong4]

Have you measured the impedance in the faulty t20 driver?

I haven't though I know I should probably get a multimeter/ohmmeter. I have no idea how to choose or use one though. Would this one be fine? https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Volt-Diode/dp/B01ISAMUA6/

There does also seem to be a bit of rust or some residue on the diaphragm itself though. No idea if that's easily fixable.

 

[WallofHooligans]

I'm lazy, so I prefer an autoranging multimeter. That residue looks like something was spilled on it. Could be just water damage. There's probably stuff you can clean it with if it's crusty or something like that, but if it's just coloration and there's nothing else immediately wrong with those splotchy areas, then you probably have a hole in it somewhere, or a broken trace. You can fix these, but if there's a puncture all the way through, then that's more tricky.
Looking again, it looks like superglue residue.

 

[GREQ]

A multimeter like that should be fine.
I prefer to spend a little more just to get thicker cables and smaller contact points for accuracy and longevity, but it'll work.

Damn, that driver looks rough. One of the worse I've seen anywhere.
You could brutalize it with silver electronic circuit paint as a last resort (it has worked in the past - done it with a lost-cause T10 diaphragm - practically identical).
I used the type you can get for model train sets.
They're cheaper than pens since they come in a bottle with a thin lid-mounted brush, so they're also easier to control the flow and accuracy of the application.

 

[GREQ]

JVC HA-DX1000
50mm
64 Ohm
1,500 mW input
102dB / 1mW

I thought it best to also clearly show it's implementation of the driver in the headphone, since it's such a special and unique design.
Bottom right photo shows the offset, secondary acoustic lens, which is part of the baffle that sits over the driver after it is mounted directly to the wood.
While not technically 'the driver' it's a major design feature of this headphone's acoustics and tuning.

 

[Feilong4]

JVC HA-DX1000
50mm
64 Ohm
1,500 mW input
102dB / 1mW

I thought it best to also clearly show it's implementation of the driver in the headphone, since it's such a special and unique design.
Bottom right photo shows the offset, secondary acoustic lens, which is part of the baffle that sits over the driver after it is mounted directly to the wood.
While not technically 'the driver' it's a major design feature of this headphone's acoustics and tuning.

Wow, that's quite a thoughtful design! Someone was kind enough to send me a pair to demo, and I thought they sounded pretty nice. Bass is a bit too much over a while, but I prefer the tuning of these over the TH900.

 

[Katze²]

MYSPHERE 3.1

Picture by Otwin: https://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=10791&page=27

wish I lived closer to Berlin...

 

[WallofHooligans]

I remember seeing these. I swear, if you slap a 4k price tag on any bizarre set of headphones, people will line up to buy em. To me, I just see them and think, well say goodbye to sub bass and bass extension... Plus you have to be in an entirely sound sealed environment to get the most out of them.

 

[SHAMuuu]

That is a k1k successor , so i wouldn't say any bizarre 4k phone. If you keep in mind people compared k1k to the Sony King, and some preferring it to Sony King. Now with all k1k and Sony Kings aged, and probably containing the sweat, tears, and blood of past users, a BRAND NEW improved k1k (better bass,not to mention more efficient that it works off a decent DAP) is not so bad for 4k seeing what those tainted gems go for.... like 3-15k. Heinz should have said 3999.99 ALso can always hook up a 18" for sub-bass like those hardcore k1k'nutters.

I say all this in good natured fun but to some degree, i understand what you're saying.

This mySphere looks promising, and the Heinz fella seems very passionate to bring the best sound to the world. SO lets hope this is the real deal .

 

[WallofHooligans]

Ahhh I dunno. The idea of "not so bad for 4000 dollars" doesn't even compute. I'd consider anyone that spends more than 1000 on headphones to be a sucker. At that price point, headphones don't actually intend to compete with each other. It's basically who can advertise their brand of snake oil better. In my opinion, any device that no longer factors the cost of manufacturing in it's price is not selling honest gear. I'm sure that 4000 dollar planars will knock my socks off, but i'm also 100% sure that they could feasibly manufacture the same device for half the price and still make a profit. I at least understand why the k1000 is so expensive, pricing based upon rarity is another beast entirely.

 

[Katze²]

Ahhh I dunno. The idea of "not so bad for 4000 dollars" doesn't even compute. I'd consider anyone that spends more than 1000 on headphones to be a sucker. At that price point, headphones don't actually intend to compete with each other. It's basically who can advertise their brand of snake oil better. In my opinion, any device that no longer factors the cost of manufacturing in it's price is not selling honest gear. I'm sure that 4000 dollar planars will knock my socks off, but i'm also 100% sure that they could feasibly manufacture the same device for half the price and still make a profit. I at least understand why the k1000 is so expensive, pricing based upon rarity is another beast entirely.

You're right. They probably could have lowered the MSRP quite a bit by having it made in China. But instead they decided to have everything sourced from the EU, with critical parts being made right in the very expensive Vienna where they also assemble them. I appreciate this. I also appreciate that Heinz Renner decided to suspend his retirement to go through a stressful 3 year development period all thanks to people requesting a true K 1000 successor.

It's highest quality fanservice.

...back to pictures, I guess:

I'm glad the voicecoil lead wires didn't rip while removing the protector.

The rest: https://imgur.com/a/w49pl

 

[SHAMuuu]

Ahhh I dunno. The idea of "not so bad for 4000 dollars" doesn't even compute. I'd consider anyone that spends more than 1000 on headphones to be a sucker. At that price point, headphones don't actually intend to compete with each other. It's basically who can advertise their brand of snake oil better. In my opinion, any device that no longer factors the cost of manufacturing in it's price is not selling honest gear. I'm sure that 4000 dollar planars will knock my socks off, but i'm also 100% sure that they could feasibly manufacture the same device for half the price and still make a profit. I at least understand why the k1000 is so expensive, pricing based upon rarity is another beast entirely.

Ofc it can be manufactured for much cheaper, and one can argue the quality could be on par. However, one factor to consider is the acquisition of intellectual property, or in another way, to acquire the talent for the project to work directly in the quality control chain is no cheap endeavor. If I wanted one end game can for my rig which was years of blood, sweat, tears tweaking, researching, acquiring etc, i would want that can to have been inspected by the top dogs who have developed the "eyes" and "ears"

That Heinz fella and K1K co., if i knew was looking and making sure the units were A1, that must require a premium price, vs some assembly by common workers in some factory in Asia. Or so, this is my theory lol

 

[SHAMuuu]

You're right. They probably could have lowered the MSRP quite a bit by having it made in China. But instead they decided to have everything sourced from the EU, with critical parts being made right in the very expensive Vienna where they also assemble them. I appreciate this. I also appreciate that Heinz Renner decided to suspend his retirement to go through a stressful 3 year development period all thanks to people requesting a true K 1000 successor.

It's highest quality fanservice.

...back to pictures, I guess:

I'm glad the voicecoil lead wires didn't rip while removing the protector.

The rest: https://imgur.com/a/w49pl

I was wondering about those wires as well, since they are so thin, how you removed it. I was surprised, really! Also I thought my god how thin they are. And one thing i ponder is about those thick cables which lead to the little Senny plugs, which then go through the thin wires. If the cable makes it more sharper, what happens when signal reaches those super thin wires to the diaphragm. There is no way the signal from silver wire, doesn't change again once it reaches those thin copper wires. If i am wrong please correct me