upgrade cable on Sennheiser HD600?

[denti alligator]

What kind of improvement can I get out of an upgrade to the cable on my HD600s?

I've read conflicting reports. Some say it does next to nothing, others speak of wonders?

 

[mrarroyo]

This is a hornets nest and before answering I chose to wear my flame proof suit.  ;D About 4 years ago I bought and borrowed 13 or so after market cables. These ranged from the HD650 stock cable to various costing over $300.

I "with my ears and my music" heard differences and two cables came on top. Funnily they were not the most expensive ones.  One of the cable manufacturers is no longer in business so I will only mention the Headphile BlackSilver cable as the one that opened up the top end of the HD600 while concurrently tightening the bottom end and flatenned the frequency response.

However, may I suggest that before you spend money on a re-cable you replace the foam in front of the driver (protects the driver) with a piece of stretched ladies stocking (new or used your choice  ). You may find that said reversible modification is sufficient.

 

[denti alligator]

Great, thanks for the suggestion. How does one remove and replace the foam?

 

[mrarroyo]

You have to remove the earpad to remove the foam. Carefully slide a finger (I use the index) and firmly pull outwards, you will hear/feel a click. Work around the foam and it will come off.

 

[denti alligator]

The pad is the other foam-y part that surrounds the can for comfort, right? And when I pull this out is the inner foam loose? Is it pretty straightforward to pull some nylon across?

Thanks. As for the Headphile product: the BlackSilver is their buget cable. Have you compared it to the BlackGold or other?

 

[Armaegis]

While I haven't *extensively* tested and A/B'd between too many different cables, I've done a few comparisons between stock and aftermarket cables of varying quality. To my ears, I wasn't able to tell the difference between any of them. At first I thought there was some perceived difference when going from steel to copper and silver, but once I corrected for the change in volume (since a steel cable has slightly higher impedance than silver/copper which will make the sound quieter), I was no longer able to differentiate.