Yamaha Orthodynamics -- HP-1000 Revisited

@dBel84
@rhythmdevils
@Kabeer

help

left channel cutting out

0h g0d

fragile old shit + schizophrenic dragon = suffering 2: electric boogaloo

 

never a good sign with the HP1K - seems to be intermittent though which might be a saving grace - could just be a dodgy cable and not the driver itself.

dB

 

@dBel84 Kabeer said replacing the cable with a standard yamaha cable was a bad idea so I am going to use something like an HD600 cable instead.

I was mostly looking for advice on opening the assembly and drivers if that becomes necessary.

These are... uh. Good. To say the least. Would like them to stay working.

 

This really sucks I’m sorry. Such a rare headphone and even more rare to be in working condition.

I prefer my modded YH3 to the stock HP1000 if that does anything to reduce panic. I’ve never owned an HP1000 or taken one apart though. @dBel84 is the expert here.

 

My old Fostex T30 cable went bad somehow. Freshly trimmed ends then rejoined (by dBel84) but still intermittent signal. New cable fixed.

 

Most of the following you know but just in case

opening the cups is typical yamaha - screws hidden under the pads. I gently nudge the pads off the front baffle to expose the screws as opposed to removing it entirely.

That stud to the frame is plastic ( everything else is cast aluminium ) and has been snapped by folk before, so be aware and handle with care

if the driver needs to be opened, it is easier to send them to me as it is not a simple process to explain and i have done it often enough now that I should be able to do it again successfully ( no charge, just cover shipping ) IF it comes to that.

Re cable. Sennheiser cable is good and solid - make sure you rescue the little strain relief off the original and put them on the new cable.

PM me with any specifics , happy to help out

..dB

 

Just found the thread.
@takato14 if somehow you need a replacement driver I know a place to ask =)

 

reviving an old post instead off creating a new one , this could well go into the DIY section too

some more ortho tomfoolery . some time ago (about 2 years ago :clown: ) @Kabeer asked me if i wouldn't mind taking a look at some poor Yamaha YH1000 drivers that were no longer working. I recieved a box of goodies about 6 months ago with all sorts of wonderful bits and within this was a well packed box of drivers



I am not the best at photodocumentation and it only occured to me to snap a few pics after I had already gutted the drivers and started looking at one for repair.



this is a close up of the driver to show the corrossion.




These are all the drivers needing some love :

at the beginign



and after correcting all discontinuity.



I use silver based ink and paint it on with a very fine tip paintbrush


putting them together








all together and tested with music - no major imbalance when holding up to my ear and no distortion.



These old beasties still sound great despite the need for tlc @rhythmdevils - this could be the way

..dB

 

How well does the conductive paint hold up? I tried doing a similar-ish repair eons ago but all I had was some graphite glue (that I mixed with alcohol to thin it? I don't remember) which was waaay too brittle when dried. It worked fine for a bit but ultimately delaminated off the driver. I had slightly better success using it to repair broken voice coil wires, but those too eventually failed.

 

As far as I know the first lot I repaired about 10 years ago are still holding up. Time will tell.