How long do headphones last before needing repair ?

[Spiug31]

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

.

[Smeggy]

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.

[John Willett]

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.

[spritzer]

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.

[justin]

I think a better question is How many owners can a headphone have before it needs repair

[spritzer]

42?

[grawk]

I think a better question is How many owners can a headphone have before it needs repair

1 - supermansears

[mirumu]

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.

[hirsch]

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.

[Fing]

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.

[Dusty Chalk]

...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.

[spritzer]

...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...

[malldian]

Most headphones if properly cared for will last a damn long time. Clean out some nasty deteriorated foam and you are good to go.