[one-eyed-xander]

I bought these from audiocubes a few months back. They were pristine at the time. Now look at the crinkled plastic between the pads and the cups:

Anyone else seen this? Or do I blame the kids?

 

[bangraman]

That's normal in an HP-A900. It's from the heat welding process I imagine.

 

[one-eyed-xander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman That's normal in an HP-A900. It's from the heat welding process I imagine.

So you're saying that they would have come like this?

I honestly don't remember noticing this when I first got them.

 

[dj_mocok]

they all have that sort of bumps one way or the other... some have less bumps, some unfortunately have more...
but they still sound great, dont worry about it.

 

[zombietycho]

My 500's have crinkles too!

So I think your safe.

 

[3lusiv3]

My A500's have crinkles too.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

My A900's came out of the box looking like that -- it's not very pretty, but I don't think it hurts anything.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

Hmm...My A900s had crinkles, but not nearly that many. What gives with A-T here?

 

[MonkHead]

Sure, the sound is the most important thing, but when u buy a NEW product u expect for it to come in a NEW like condition

Does it have any other manufacturing flaws except this one?! Im thinking about buying a pair...
CHEERS

 

[lindrone]

It's not really a "flaw".. it's a matter of how the earcups are made, they have *always* been like that. It doesn't get worse with time, and it varies from cup to cup.

It's not a manufacture defect of any sort, more of a design decision to not go with some other method that might have been better looking.

 

[MonkHead]

well it seems to be like a defect in the construction, maybe the package suffered some serious shaking while it was shipped? im 100% sure its not part of the original design.
CHEERS

 

[bln]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneeyedhobbit Hmm...My A900s had crinkles, but not nearly that many. What gives with A-T here?

as i recall, your a900 looked pretty much like the one in the pic. didn't seem like a major problem to me, i guess not to you either.

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkHead well it seems to be like a defect in the construction, maybe the package suffered some serious shaking while it was shipped? im 100% sure its not part of the original design. CHEERS

Once again, it is not a "defect". Every single A900 ever made looks like that to a certain degree, some more than others. It is a matter of "this is the method we can make the earcup and have the cost being met". Although by no means it is the perfect design, it is definitely the way they chose to build it.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bln as i recall, your a900 looked pretty much like the one in the pic. didn't seem like a major problem to me, i guess not to you either.

My A900 had its share of crinkles Ben, but not nearly as many as that. I still have pictures that I took from before I sold it, if people are really interested in a comparison.

Not that it bothered me a lot--no affect on sound (obviously) and so long as I knew it wouldn't be coming apart, I was o.k. with it. I just wonder why there is so much inconsistency between cans, not that its a crucial issue.

 

[bangraman]

Last word on this subject:


It's a byproduct of the manufacturing process. The PVC pad is heat-welded to the PVC mounting lip, and during that process the PVC will crinkle because of the heat applied. How exactly it crinkles will not be precise.


It probably does take quite a lot of research (i.e. buying phones) to realise... so many of you will be ignorant (or like Monkhead, you may just be a newb grasshopper, requiring more knowledge) to the fact that not many manufacturers bother to make an asymmetric earcup, which A-T does. That requires an asymmetric earpad. That will mean that you have to devise a way of making earpads which aren't circular or a constant oval.


You'll be surprised how many manufacturers also find it just as difficult to make symmetrical oval and circular pads with any significant degree of precision. Given that problem, I'd say A-T's manufacturing isn't poor in any way at this budget level.