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the life of a headphone does it start losing its crispnes or quality ?

post #1 of 6
1/13/12 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 

hey guys just wondering say, do the hd 650 over the years maybe like 10 years start going down in quality just from use ?

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post #2 of 6
1/15/12 at 3:21am
Thread Starter 

bump

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post #3 of 6
1/15/12 at 3:40am

 

 

 They shouldn't, when drivers go, they just go 'pop' and that's that.

 

 A good example would be the aging cellulose drivers in the famed Sony R10 ~ they're literally

 disintegrating before the owner's eyes - read: pricey!!!

 

 Certainly any headphone's drivers cannot be compared to let's say a dying vacuum tube for example

 that occasionally can draw out a lengthy wonky period before finally dying.

 

 That said, it's a different scenario to a driver developing an early issue like say a crackle, that

 tends to happen very early on. Human hair is also a big culprit.


Edited by Gwarmi - 1/15/12 at 3:46am
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post #4 of 6
1/15/12 at 5:19am
My Pioneer Monitor 10 and Sony Z6 still sound fantastic, and they are from the '70s.

I think the answer is no, unless they've had very bad environmental exposure to things that would destroy the driver.
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post #5 of 6
1/15/12 at 6:29am

At some point yourcans will begin to sound totally different - either too lean or too flabby, and they don't fit right. That means you should get new pads.

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post #6 of 6
1/15/12 at 7:13am

Lots of things change over the years with pads -

 

Foam disintegrates ... Sennheiser, Koss, Sony, Grado, etc.

Pleather flakes and tears (Sony is very bad about this.)

Koss' fluid-filled pads become as hard as a rock.

 

You need to keep an eye on the foam and pleather.  If the pleather is thick it will last longer, but eventually crack.  It the pleather is thin (Sony), it may go in a couple of years.  Foam will disintegrate eventually in every case.

 

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