Sennheiser HD 600 replacement cable suggestions sought

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by vonwegen, Jan 13, 2012.

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  1. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I just discovered that my Sennheiser HD 600's headphone cable is dying a slow death, with a marked loss of signal on the right channel. Fortunately, I have 2 of these headphones, so I was able to test and determine where the fault lay.

    Rather than cursing my luck on this, Friday the 13th, I've decided to turn this into an opportunity to find out if I can improve the performance of these headphones I love.

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. Linto

    Linto Mayor of Simpleton

    get HD650 cable., an upgrade and you're not paying stupid money for a piece of cable
     
  3. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I don't know about German prices, but I can afford to get three sets of cables shipped, via a friend, from Sennheiser's US web site for what one replacement cable costs in the UK.
     
  4. Hershiser

    Hershiser Forum Resident

    I agree with this recommendation. The stock HD650 cable does provide a nice upgrade from the stock HD600. I think I paid $10 for it a few years ago.
     
  5. DaveN

    DaveN Music Glutton

    Location:
    Apex, NC
    Agreed with all above. The 650 cable is a nice upgrade and leaves much more money in your pocket for buying music!
     
  6. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    ^ Agreed, this is what you need:

    Sennheiser part #: 092885
    Headphone cable, 10 ft, with 1/4" (6.3 mm) plug. Fits HD 650, also fits HD 600/580/565/545/535
     
    albertop likes this.
  7. My HD650 cable broke just before Xmas (with boxsets on the way as presents to listen to !!!)

    I got a genuine HD650 cable from these guys delivered next day for about £20 :-

    http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/
     
  8. 16/44.1

    16/44.1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    650 cable, nothing else.
     
  9. Thurenity

    Thurenity Listening to some tunes

    Another vote for the 650 cable. My 600 cable is still going strong, but if it had issues I would go for the 650.
     
  10. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Check what they cost in the States, £20 is a good price for the UK though.
     
    ronbow likes this.
  11. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I use the HD650 cable on my HD600 and HD580. The HD650 cable has slightly larger plugs that go into the earcups. That means the plugs don't wiggle as much as the HD600 cable can. That makes the HD650 cable have a more reliable connection. With my old HD600 and HD580 cable I was wedging little pieces of card stock paper around the plug to keep them from wiggling and cutting out. Don't need to do that with the HD650 cable. For that reason alone it is a better cable.

    The alternative is to pay crazy money for an after-market cable that has the Cardas ear cup plugs. They also don't wiggle.
     
  12. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Concur
     
  13. IanL

    IanL Senior Member

    Location:
    Oneonta, NY USA
    Cardas is definitely expensive, but do people not agree that it is a bigger upgrade?

    I bought mine at the same time I was buying some other components from my dealer, and they gave me a much better deal on it than I see advertised nowadays. I can't remember if I have the 15' or 20'.
     
  14. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    A bigger upgrade would be to put the extra money towards another amp. That's where you'll get more change for your money.

    The HD600 can change character with different amps. Some amps can make it more snappy and nice for rock music. Some amps can make the HD600 more smooth and lush and nice for classical. It's quite surprising how much difference you can get with some amps with the Senns. There's some nice amps now that don't cost a bundle. Some good amps even that cost less than some after-market Senn cables. For affordable amps with snap I like the Schiit series of amps. For amps with lush an OTL like the Woo Audio WA3 would be nice. There's bunches of amp choices now.
     
  15. IanL

    IanL Senior Member

    Location:
    Oneonta, NY USA
    Very interesting. I bought a second-hand Musical Fidelity Xcan v.2 from a forum member a number of years ago and that is what I have had for quite a while without any comparisons to other amps. I'd be curious to hear about any other amps you think are a nice match to the HD600. Thanks!
     
  16. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX

    Location:
    Bay Area
    I did just that and I'm happy. :thumbsup:
     
  17. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    A good amp is vital
    Apogee Duets for me
     
  18. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I've not heard any of the Xcan versions. I don't know how they sound with the Senns. The Musical Fidelity amps don't show up at local meets here in the US much. Hybrid amps can work well with the Senns.

    There's many amps that can do lush and smooth to varying degrees. The harder to find is an amp that gives snap and punch to the Senns. I judge snap and punch with things like percussion and also acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is a tricky sound for the HD600. Too much lush or smooth or not enough drive and the initial pick of the string doesn't happen or the strings sound like cheap nylon strings. So acoustic guitar is a way to judge how an amp is driving the Senns, whether the amp is on the snappy side of things, or overly lush side of things, or underdriving the Senns.

    The Schiit Asgard is in what I consider the snappy category. It's $250 USD plus shipping. Quite a deal if looking for the snappy style of sound for a good price. The Schiit Valhalla is an OTL amp that goes well with the Senns, but I've not heard it yet (I will get to in a week). So I'm not sure where it fits on the snappy to lush scale. The Schiit Lyr has a fuller sound than the Asgard and can do punchy. But I need to experiment with some tube rolling to see if it can move up on the snappy scale. The Lyr is a high power hybrid tube amp intended more for planar dynamic headphones rather than the Senns.

    A great demonstration of the difference in amp sounds was a demo at a meet where a Triad Audio Lisa III and Woo Audio WA3 (with carefully selected tubes) was connected to the same source. The two amps sounded so very different. The Lisa III being very much on the snappy side (too much actually for my taste) and the WA3 being a very smooth spacial (tube type spacial) sound. Both good amps. Both very different with the Senn HD600. The sound was so different you might think you were listening to two different headphones. So the amp can make a big difference.
     
  19. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    I've had to replace the cables on my Sennheisers about once a year since I bought them in 1994. Drives me batty. I just go on Amazon and re-load, then wait for them to die again! (The get heavy use, plus I live in a pretty salty-air environment, which may affect things.)

    Matt
     
  20. Linto

    Linto Mayor of Simpleton

    I have a stock X-Cans v1 that I use with my 600s.

    The sound is good but no world beater and for some reason I haven't worked out yet, these days I prefer my SR60s (mk1 stock)!!

    So I have been looking for a new amp (source LP12 or Ikemi)
    and will probably end up with a Creek.
     
  21. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Isoprop the spades and then vaseline them,that will keep the damp salt air out.
     
  22. Kayaker

    Kayaker Senior Member

    Location:
    New Joisey Now
    Another one agreeing with the 650 cable for the 600's. I changed it out years ago and was thrilled with the upgrade - mostly in the Bass and Mids. Connected to a Sugden Headmaster Amp that I've loved for almost 10 years now..
     
  23. Ronm1

    Ronm1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    When I changed cable there were no 650's, the Cardas was a disappointment, to my ears it was a regression, went with the Equinox and have not looked back
     
  24. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    Another vote for the Equinox on my 650's. The 650 cable sounds good on the pair of 580's I have. :righton:
     
  25. Paul G

    Paul G Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Another vote here for the 650 cable. I purchased mine direct from Sennheiser about a year ago for less than US$20.
     
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