[fuzzybabybunny]

https://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/Westone-W60-Teardown/

Photos are deliberately a little bit flat to show off detail in the shadows and highlights.

My Westone W60s developed an audio balance issue after dropping my Microsoft Surface while it was hooked up to my DragonFly Red DAC and playing music. The right side volume suddenly became lower than the left, requiring an extra 6dB to compensate.

Measuring the internal resistance at the MMCX port, the right side is 15.60 ohms while the left side is 15.16 ohms, so I think that explains why the right is lower in volume than the left. Normally IEMs have the same internal resistance on both sides, to within +/- 0.02 ohms. Unfortunately, I have no idea why the internal resistance might have increased due to the drop. All drivers still sound fine.

Interestingly enough, there is barely any circuitry. The six drivers are wired in a simple series with a passive crossover consisting of two capacitors or inductors.

 

[Koolpep]

Thanks. As a W60 owner I appreciate the tear down.

 

[blazer78]

Very interesting photos. I dropped my W60's on hard pavement today too. Unfortunately they are still working fine, because I wanted an excuse to buy the IER-M9's

 

[chips2481]

Definitely the first gen version. 2nd gen has only two contacts each side on the dual bass module. Also it has a rubber surrounding the speakers, this must be used to keep the speaker in place. What westone refuses to acknowledge is the bass from the low end speakers vibrates the speaker and overtime breaks loose the speakers from the resonator, they do not use enough glue to hold it together. I have read other posts from damaged westone units, people who contacted them say westone says their headphones are meant to have a 2 year run time. Kind of ridiculous.

 

[chips2481]

Take a look at westone employee reviews. Seems since 2011 new owners only care about profits, seems kind of sad. I got a big lot of westone stuff from a former employee. I think he rage quit and grabbed all the spare parts he could get his hands on when he walked out, I literally have thousands of dollars of spare drivers pulled from units they messed up on, hundreds of cables and a ton of um pro drivers that were warranty returns.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/W...s-Reviews-EI_IE411657.0,12_IL.13,29_IM188.htm

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Man, I don't know what to do to fix my volume balance issues. The right side is 6dB quieter than the left side. The right side is 15.60 ohms while the left side is 15.16 ohms. SOMETHING inside the right side is causing an increase in impedance and all the solder joints still seem solid.

I can:

- Take an MMCX cable and add a 0.45 ohm resistor inline with the cable that goes to the left side to bring both sides to equal impedance. I don't know if this would affect the sound quality though or what type of resistor I should consider. The interior space of the W60 is too small to add a resistor inside the body by hand.

- Continue to adjust the audio balance in my music playing devices. My Dragonfly Red DAC does not have built-in controls to adjust this, so I have to do this through a software layer in Windows and Android.

- No warranty whatsoever, and all Westone would give me is a discount on a new pair.

Advice?

 

[pbui44]

Have you tried using different MMCX cables? 15.60 vs 15.16 ohms is not that big of a difference and the cables might need replacing. Since you opened the housing, hearing from others, you should find a solution to keep the BAs in place.

 

[chips2481]

Did you glue the speakers back onto the black piece? Everything must be air tight. You can probably get away with some Vaseline for the black piece to the shell so it is not permanent.

 

[Shenganigans]

so are you getting another set from them at discount? How much is the discount?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Did you glue the speakers back onto the black piece? Everything must be air tight. You can probably get away with some Vaseline for the black piece to the shell so it is not permanent.

Hey, good news! It turns out that the sealing of the internal components was indeed causing audio leakage. I applied flexible silicone adhesive and some dabs of superglue to some parts and sealed up the unit again, and now it sounds pretty much about right throughout.

 

[pbui44]

Hey, good news! It turns out that the sealing of the internal components was indeed causing audio leakage. I applied flexible silicone adhesive and some dabs of superglue to some parts and sealed up the unit again, and now it sounds pretty much about right throughout.

Loctite flexible silicone adhesive? Man, I tried to find that stuff and could not find it. Found Loctite shoe glue, though.

 

[chips2481]

Hey, good news! It turns out that the sealing of the internal components was indeed causing audio leakage. I applied flexible silicone adhesive and some dabs of superglue to some parts and sealed up the unit again, and now it sounds pretty much about right throughout.

Figured that was the case. Has to be air tight or the sound is way lower. You can test by, kind of gross sounding, sucking on the speaker stem . Just be sure to clean it before. Super glue degasses, the white residue created around the glue, and can damage the insides of the speaker.