Koss UR19 headphones

Most of the electronics and appliances I take apart either come from trashpicking or interceptions of other people's junk on it's way to the garbage can. "If you're just going to toss that, can I have it?" That kind of thing. These headphones, on the other hand, were actually mine to begin with but they finally quit working right.

I try not to buy crappy appliances, and what I buy I try to take as good of care of whatever it is as I can. Though when something does break down, I have no qualms about immediately ripping into it.

These headphones have lasted me at least five years, then they fell victim to the same thing that kills all my other headphones. One of the speakers dies. And it's never just a matter of the wire's connection to the speaker coming loose. It's always much more subtle than that.

Here I've taken the malfunctioning speaker out and inspected it, but it looks fine to my admittedly untrained eye, which means I don't know what's wrong with it in order to fix it. So now I officially have to drop some cash to get a replacement. Oh well, might as well take it all the way apart.

I didn't bother to take a picture of the other ear disassembled. Looks pretty much the same as that one.

I took the housing off the sliding volume control on the wire, and the whole assembly is exactly as uncomplicated as you would expect. That control housing reminds me of a motorcycle gas tank; it might have a place in some future art project of mine.

Basically, I tossed the guts and kept the outer shell of the headphones. Who knows, I may get industrious one day and make a boom mic style headset for a cellphone hands-free microphone, since apparently no one makes those anymore.