[who?me?]

I bought a pair of AKG K7xx HPS a few years ago, the "first run" sold at MassDrop.
The first gen are notorious for crackling developing in the right or left ear.
The usual culprits are poor soldering, wires desoldering on their own, or a hair/dust on the driver itself.

[FYI: I searched Head-Fi and could not find an answer]

So I opened the HPs and started desoldering the crappy joints.
But it is super thin wire- about 22 or 24 gauge, with like 5 lil strands popping out the end.

MY QUESTION IS: Can I replace the stock thin wires with a heavier gauge?
E.g. ,if the stock gauge is 24, can I replace with a thicker 20 gauge?

Or would that mess up the resistance/impedance too much?

Thanks!

[FullRangeMan]

You can change the wire gauge but it will change the sound.
No lead solder may crack sometimes.

[who?me?]

thx,
I think I have the 60/40 tin solder- not bad stuff, but will double-check.

[richidoo]

Don't use 60/40. Use only "eutectic" solder for electronics. That's 63/37 for tin/lead, or a specialty audio eutectic solder like Cardas or WonderSolder. You can buy small length of Cardas Quad eutectic solder on ebay. be very careful not to overheat the voice coils when soldering. Do some research on how to change the cables.

A thicker conductor will reduce resistance which should improve electrical damping (more detail.)
But more detail isn't always better for music listening.

[Speedskater]

No reasonable sized conductor will have any effect on the sound or the electrical damping of your headphones.
Those ideas are just more audiophile misunderstandings.

[richidoo]

 

[FullRangeMan]

Hard ears.

[who?me?]

Don't use 60/40. Use only "eutectic" solder for electronics. That's 63/37 for tin/lead, or a specialty audio eutectic solder like Cardas or WonderSolder. You can buy small length of Cardas Quad eutectic solder on ebay. be very careful not to overheat the voice coils when soldering. Do some research on how to change the cables.

A thicker conductor will reduce resistance which should improve electrical damping (more detail.)
But more detail isn't always better for music listening.

Well, it might be worth a try. I mean, these cans are good, but not great. They could use more of a "full body" of sound.

Ya, Ive read up on it. the best instruction I saw was on Reddit for a full "teardown" of the cans.
just concerned that thicker wire may offset the other factors, eg . like the signal going to the voice coil

[FullRangeMan]

MY QUESTION IS: Can I replace the stock thin wires with a heavier gauge?
E.g. ,if the stock gauge is 24, can I replace with a thicker 20 gauge?
Just remember whatever gauge is used avoid stranded wire, in these thin wire calibers stranded wire break easily and this is not even visible because the wires are very thin, you should use solid wire which is the same type of wire used in the voice coil.

[who?me?]

oh boy.
@fullrangeboy - I think you are right about using a single copper strand that is thicker.
Those little strands are as small as a rat's pubic hair!  :lol:sorry, its been a long week.

the funny thing is that I posted this on another forum, and one member said exactly the
opposite: DO NOT use a thick copper strand.

so damn ,,,, confused.

BTW, Last night I did some more soldering/desoldering.
I was warned about overheating the voice coil connection, but I think I did last night!

I couldn't take a pic, but I saw 2 small dents in the membrane. I was PO'ed, but
this morning when I looked at the membranes, they were nice and smooth again!
Maybe I just overheated it for a short period.

It looks OK now:

[FullRangeMan]

the funny thing is that I posted this on another forum, and one member said exactly the
opposite: DO NOT use a thick copper strand.
I have listened stranded and solid wire and prefer solid.
To change the wire gauge is your decision as it will change the sound.
The original factory wire are solid or stranded ?

[who?me?]

@fullrangeman
thanks for your input

The stock wires are grey colored, stranded wire (silver?), not solid.

But that is part of the problem, their are only like 5 or 6 minuscule strands.

they are weak, are more difficult to solder correctly, and break easily.
I mean, that is the whole reason I am having to fix the headphones:
The solder connections keep breaking and even broke while I was holding the HPs right AFTER I had just desoldered the broken solder joint.

Im not a pro solderer, but Im not terrible either. The joints are just so fragile.

I tried to get some info from Head-fi, but little response,
I guess they are "over" these AKGs, and moved on to the next thing.

[richidoo]

There should be a mechanical strain relief as part of the design. The strain relief takes the tension off the solder joint, so it doesn't matter how fragile the joint is, after proper assembly.

Twist the strands together, clip it short, tin it with super high quality solder like Cardas Quad eutectic or Wonder Solder. Clean and re-tin the HP tabs so the tinned wire will connect quickly and easily with minimum heat when there is fresh clean solder pre-tinned on both parts. Clean and tin the iron tip also. Make sure the soldering iron is hot enough to melt the joints fast.   If you can't do it fast, turn up the iron. Fresh solder with rosin still in it melts fast. After the rosin smokes off the solder does not melt or stick as fast.

[FullRangeMan]

+ cant be wind in the room also.

[FullRangeMan]

The stock wires are grey colored, stranded wire (silver?), not solid.

But that is part of the problem, their are only like 5 or 6 minuscule strands.

they are weak, are more difficult to solder correctly, and break easily.
I mean, that is the whole reason I am having to fix the headphones:
By what you said seems the wire is corroded.
My preference are copper, it tend to smooth the treble, silver are know to emphasis the hi freq.

[dB Cooper]

@fullrangeman
thanks for your input

The stock wires are grey colored, stranded wire (silver?), not solid.

But that is part of the problem, their are only like 5 or 6 minuscule strands.

they are weak, are more difficult to solder correctly, and break easily.
I mean, that is the whole reason I am having to fix the headphones:
The solder connections keep breaking and even broke while I was holding the HPs right AFTER I had just desoldered the broken solder joint.

Im not a pro solderer, but Im not terrible either. The joints are just so fragile.

I tried to get some info from Head-fi, but little response,
I guess they are "over" these AKGs, and moved on to the next thing.

The chances of AKG using silver wire in a headphone at this price point is almost nil IMHO, especially after moving all production to Cina to cut manufacturing costs. I bet it's aluminum, used by many manufacturers for it's light weight (copper is very heavy, as is silver, which can hurt transient response). All of Sennheiser's 'audiophile' line (probably many other manufacturers too) use aluminum voice coils for that reason. Standard solder doesn't bond to aluminum BTW which might explain the soldering issue if the solder pad is aluminum. Not sure what is used instead.