Is there a way to modify a pair of head phones without damaging them?
Question:I have a pair of headphones that came with a sony mp3 player. I really like the design of the ear piece, but I don't like the way the wires are set up. The wire to the left piece is actually shorter than the wire to the right one. I called and sony said that they are supposed to be like that. Is it possible to take the wires out and put new ones in that will meet my personal preference? Thanks.
Answers:
If the earpice is not sealed then you likely can disassemble, unsolder and shorten the wire to the same length as the other side.
Another approach may be to splice a small extension lower on the wire and use heat shrink tubing to encase your splice. This will preserve the aesthetics of the piece.
If the two wires are separated all the way to the plug, or you wouldn't mind separating them, then you could cut the wires to even lengths close to the plug then pick up a replacement plug at Radioshack or a hardware store.
Otherwise, remove some wire on the longer side and spice the cut ends using electrical solder. If you are new to soldering wires together you should practice on some bits of wire not connected to something you want to keep.
If you try soldering wire at the ear piece you risk melting the speaker diaphragm. Even if you use a heat sink it would be hard to do without destroying the speaker.
If you are spicing wires and you can find flexible heat shrink tubing to insulate the splice that will give you good results. Remember to have the heat shrink tubing on the wire above the spice prior to splicing.
I always have trouble finding the flexible heat shrink. An alternative is to slip the insulation off of the piece of wire you remove then slip this insulation onto the cut wire, over it's existing insulation, and push it to about an inch above the cut. Most headphone insulation is stretchy enough to do this. You need to do this before stripping the end of wire for splicing. If you can't push the insulation on try lubricating it with a little water. Once the wire is spliced, put a small amount of rubber cement on the bare portion of wire and slip the insulation down so that both ends sit on top of the wires original insulation. The resulting splice is almost invisible if you get it right. If you have some headphones you don't like you might want to practice on them.
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