Can I replace a wire with any other wire?

[Rhoban]

Hey people, 

 

So I got a pair of AKG K612 Pro headphones. Recently, the left ear cup lost sound. 

I opened it up to and found that one of the wires detached from the speaker. I managed to reattach it back, but now the wire is shorter than before and if it detaches again I'm not sure it will long enough to reattach it back once more. 

 

I'm wondering if I can replace the entire wire if that happens. Can I use any kind of wire as long as it does the job or does it have to be something specific? 

[tarfeef101]

If you got the savvy, you can totally replace it. Having the same gauge would definitely be advisable; ideally you'd be able to match the total resistance of the original cable. Good shielding to prevent interference doesn't suck either

 

But I am by no means an expert in this field. Just a random dude from the internet spewing some BS he thinks sounds reasonable on this one.

[Bananasplit_00]

id replace it with one thats as similar as possible because resistance and stuff but most wires should be fine as long as its not much thinner

[Rhoban]

Replacing it with something almost identical was my first thought too. 

I'm not sure if I can find any specifications for the gauge or resistance anywhere; that would be helpful. 

I guess material is also important. The strands inside the wire are silver colored, so I assume it's aluminum

 

Here's a video of the opened cup. It's the white wire. Maybe someone can judge the gauge? 

https://youtu.be/eWwTQmp4Mmo

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It's far more likely that wire is tinned copper (copper that has been coated with tin or solder that has tin in it), not aluminum. It's impossible to tell what the gauge is from just a photo.

[mariushm]

It won't make any difference what wire you use.

No, it's not aluminum, aluminum wires would not last long if they have to bend or flex constantly and they're just harder to solder.

Like someone above me said, it's copper wire coated with tin and maybe a tiny bit of silver, if you're lucky. The tin on copper is there to prevent oxidation and for soldering.

 

Get any piece of wire, ideally stranded copper inside (the wire inside made out of several very thin strands of copper instead of just one thick copper wire), get a thickness similar to existing one (looks to me like AWG26 , AWG 24, somewhere around that thickness)