Spiug31 Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 A comment in the HD800 thread got me thinking about warranties. . . Excluding earpad replacement how long do the headphones that currently sell for $500+ actually last without needing repair and how easy is it to get these fixed by the manufacturers once they do break ? The warranty policies I could spot with a brief search were Koss This Koss product has a Lifetime Limited Warranty which covers normal use by the initial user or purchaser of this particular Koss product. Sennheiser Two years from the date of purchase (un registered headset) Five years from the date of purchase (after registration) 7 to 10 years for specific units (after registration). AKG exceptionally long warranty coverage on our high-quality products. that and to contact the dealer first were all I could find from the AKG website about warranty duration. Audio Technica bought within europe = 2 years warranty bought within US/Canada = 1 years warranty . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeggy Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Most decently made phones will last decades if treated well. Repairs are usually needed for damage than failure. Whether it's cut cord, broken headband or whatever. Relatively few phones fall apart naturally or fail electrically. Of those, some hi-end magnesium frames on odd Denons and Sonys have proven a bit fragile, AKG elastics give out with age, same with pads and other 'consumables'. Most go on seemingly forever without any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Willett Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 If headphones are looked after they will last ages - all that is normally needed are earpads and (possibly) headband pads, these just wear naturally with use. Anything else would be breakage or damage. But in normal use they would never need servicing at all - just the user replacing earpads every fer years. My own HD 25-1 are 20 years old - everything is original, except they are now on their 4th pair of earpads. And I do have older headphones in my collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 There are some headphones suffer from bad design flaws (Micro-Seiki MS-2 springs to mind) that need to be serviced to function but on most it's just normal wear and tear on the elastics and padding. Stax for instance categorizes their spare parts as either user replaceable (earpads, arc assemblies) or items that should only be fitted by the factory/distributors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I think a better question is How many owners can a headphone have before it needs repair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 42? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I think a better question is How many owners can a headphone have before it needs repair 1 - supermansears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirumu Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I've got some STAX SRX Mk3s bought new by their previous owner in 1977 that are still going strong. He looked after them but never replaced anything on them. All I've done to them was replace the well worn pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirsch Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I think a better question is How many owners can a headphone have before it needs repair One bad owner will do it. Most headphones can survive a parade of careful owners. Generally, most manufacturing problems will turn up early in ownership. Most of the later failures can usually be traced to user errors except for parts with finite lifespans: O-rings on HE60, foam on vintage Stax (and just about anything else that uses it), earpads, etc. Keep a spare set of earpads around, and you're probably covered for many, many years with most headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fing Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I discovered Sony MDR-R10's are notorious for the inner foam turning red and crumbling - this does take a while and accelerates in humid conditions. Unfortunately they stopped selling replacements a while back. I'll trade a pair of outer foam rings for inner ones if anyone has a spare pair ) The HE90 has these really quirky little screws holding the drivers to the headband that seem like a point of failure and may require reinforcement of some kind (more substantial than No More Nails) if they do go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 ...foam on vintage Stax (and just about anything else that uses it), earpads, etc. Keep a spare set of earpads around, and you're probably covered for many, many years with most headphones.Except that the foam in the spare set deteriorates also, you don't have to wear it for the foam rubber pixies (!) to have their way with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 ...O-rings on HE60... Ray to the rescue since the phones sound moar better with the drivers simply turned around. Baffle seal is overrated anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malldian Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Most headphones if properly cared for will last a damn long time. Clean out some nasty deteriorated foam and you are good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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