I just found a pair of JVC H810 headphones in what appear to be mint condition. Plugged them in to a known source and…nothing. No static, no super quiet sound, nothing. I peeled back the plug and all seems fine, worked the cable from plug to phones listening for sound. I’ve never had both sides of a pair of phones go completely dead….I’m stumped. I’m not sure how to open the cans and online info is sparse. I know these to be really nice sounding phones, really advanced for their time. Thoughts, ideas?
That was my first thought. Overloaded, burnt out voice coil leading to an open circuit reading.
Here's how to test for that eventuality:
Use an ohmmeter and measure the resistance between the jack's tip and sleeve for the left channel and between the ring and sleeve for the right channel.
Edited for "open circuit"!
Here's how to test for that eventuality:
Use an ohmmeter and measure the resistance between the jack's tip and sleeve for the left channel and between the ring and sleeve for the right channel.
Edited for "open circuit"!
Note my edit and tell us what you find.
If the ohmmeter gives the same reading as when the probes are not connected to anything then you've got an open circuit.
If the ohmmeter gives the same reading as when the probes are not connected to anything then you've got an open circuit.
I did the continuity test and…it’s open on both channels. Bummer! I’d still like to open them up and confirm but no idea how to get into them and JVC no longer has information on them.
Sorry, by "means of connection", I meant connection to the ear cups. I presume it's a single cable going straight into the left hand ear cup via a strain relief. Flexion at this point can cause the individual wires inside the cable to break.
Have you tried removing the earpads? Often, this will reveal screws which can be removed to gain access to the internals.
Have you tried removing the earpads? Often, this will reveal screws which can be removed to gain access to the internals.
P.S. Flexion of the cable where it emerges from the jack plug can cause internal breaks at that point. I've had to wire a new jack plug onto a headphone cable for that reason.
Galu, yes you’re correct, one wire per can with strain relief. I did look at pulling the pads but they appear to be glued on and that made me think there must be another way in. At this point it might be worth pulling a pad as if there’s screws under there I’ll break them trying to access any other way. Thanks
Without seeing a photo of the 'phones, I can't suggest another means of disassembly.
Do let us know if you manage to determine the cause of failure.
Do let us know if you manage to determine the cause of failure.
Well, I peeled back the pads and found 4 screws. Spun them out and ran a continuity test at the terminals and they’re both open. Too bad! Thanks again to all who piped in. Thanks Galu for the ‘peel the pads’ tip. Wish I could fix these!
I noted on some site that these coils are "CCA", copper-clad aluminum. Good CCA in large gauge is used for tweeters where low mass is critical. I have seen bad CCA rot-through just sitting around for a year. The gauge in headphones is very small so I can imagine even good CCA dying in not too many years. If that is true, your search for a happy H-810 is futile (unless you find some from the Moon, or a nitrogen tank; or they changed the spec later (but did that change the sound?)).
Unfortunate that the headphone drivers are open circuit, but at least you were successful in confirming our suspicions.
Thanks, templetec, for returning with your findings.
Thanks, templetec, for returning with your findings.
Maybe you could swap in drivers from headphones that are mechanically damaged but still functional. Or new drivers from Aliexpress. It won't fix them to original, but they'll at least be functional.
I have some reservations about these being very "high-end", but there must be healthy markups on headphones.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003297333793.html
This store has more expensive drivers:
https://rillpac.aliexpress.com/store/group/Speakers/101055_512122785.html
I have some reservations about these being very "high-end", but there must be healthy markups on headphones.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003297333793.html
This store has more expensive drivers:
https://rillpac.aliexpress.com/store/group/Speakers/101055_512122785.html