what would you say is the average lifespan of a headphone?

[jackbroke]

2-3 years?

[Fitz]

Many of my phones are 30+ years old, and with some occasional parts replacement (like earpads) they still look and sound perfect.

[Shahrose]

2-3 years? even my ipod nano stock earbuds survived for that long. a good high end headphone can remain functional for decades. depends also on how well u take care of it. 2-3 years is nothing, with the way a lot of head-fi'ers maintain their equipment, sometimes it can be hard to tell how old something really is since it looks almost new throughout it's life pretty much.

[blessingx]

I've ordered phones from the 80s and 90s last week.

[Uncle Erik]

My oldest pair is around 25-30 years old. They still sound wonderful.

[vvanrij]

The headphone I'm currently wearing is older than meself

[Corbet]

I would be severely disappointed if any headphones I bought for > $100 didn't last 10+ years.

[m11a1]

Investing in High-end audio equipment doesn't only bring you high sound quality, but also the long-lasting reliability.

[Kees]

I have two pairs of HD414 in perfect condition and sounding really good that are forty years old.

[funkadelic]

It depends entirely on build quality and how well you treat them. When headpones 'wear out' it's the physical/mechanical things like headbands and pads that wear out, there is little evidence that the Audio components wear out.

I too have headphones that are 20+ years old, including a pair of HD480's that (after replacing the ear pads) are in absolutuley mint condition and (apart from the retro design) could be mistaken for new.

Simon