[skace]

Sorry guys, but I need to vent. 2 weeks ago I moved. During the process, I disconnected the cable on my HD800 (hoping it would pack easier/safer) and, for the first time since purchasing the unit, it left my office to be moved to the new house. When I began setting up my office at the new house, I noticed that the HD800 cable had pulled one of the headphone jacks right out of the earpiece. So realizing there was absolutely no way to use them with this problem, I dusted off my good old HD600s and prepared to go through the Sennheiser repair process. The repair process was a little nerve wracking, ship my expensive headphones out using a prepaid label from the internet without ever speaking to a tech and hope someone calls me and says they received them. But I did it and also used the repair process to ship back my broken original HD800 cable: which had torn apart where it would normally rest against the side of my soft wood desk (I had replaced it with a Cardas awhile back).
 
So yesterday I receive the call that my headphones made it and immediately the tech from Sennheiser wants my credit card before they give me a quote on the "damages". So I begin questioning: None of it will be covered under warranty? No. Then he goes on to state that it is obvious all of the damage was done through improper use - stating the cable looked like it was slammed in the door and the jack looks like it was yanked out. If the jack was improperly removed - why weren't they both damaged? Why would I slam 1400 dollar headphones in a door? Why would anyone purchasing headphones at this price range be treated like a kid who just bought some at CVS?
 
Needless to say, I'm a little taken back and a bit frustrated. I don't purchase 1400 dollar headphones because I believe they will sound linearly that much better than 200 dollar headphones. I buy them because I like purchasing well built equipment that doesn't break down and - if it does break down - usually comes with good support where I'm treated like a loyal customer. I'm sitting here waiting for my quote to come in, I don't have anything official yet he only stated that I'd be paying 150 or so for the cable.
 
For those curious... Timeline:
 
2009/09 - HD800s Purchased $1400
2012/02 - Cardas Fat Pipe Purchased $280
2012/08 - HD800 earpiece jack damaged
 
Meanwhile, my HD600s were bought from... Germany? Back in 2000? Still work. Granted, I've replaced foam padding and cable, never had a major piece fail and these are the reason I purchased the HD800s in the first place.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Hmm they are plastic. They are light. They will break. Sorry for your problems.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

That really sucks =/
I'll be sure to be careful with mine.
I hope you don't get charged too much.

 

[skace]

Quote:

Hmm they are plastic. They are light. They will break. Sorry for your problems.

 
 
The HD600s are lighter and plastic as well - have not broken in a much, much longer time span. Hence my point.

 

[MomijiTMO]

I just changed cables on mine last night. No problems. I think you have a lemon.

Don't think that these are really worth the 1400. Maybe 600?

 

[GL1TCH3D]

I just changed cables on mine last night. No problems. I think you have a lemon.
Don't think that these are really worth the 1400. Maybe 600?

Well nothing is really worth what the MSRP is in terms of pure value for the item.
Included in the MSRP is profits necessary to develop other models, costs of the development for that model, general profits and the psychology aspect of higher price = better.
To give you an example, there was a pair of beyer t1 sold from a dealer as a refurb or something for $600 when the MSRP is $1300.

 

[MomijiTMO]

The point is the OP is saying that the $1400 headphones won't sound $1200 better than the $200 headphones but they would be better built. This isn't the case (unfortunately).

 

[GL1TCH3D]

The point is the OP is saying that the $1400 headphones won't sound $1200 better than the $200 headphones but they would be better built. This isn't the case (unfortunately).

Well $1200 might be the difference between "average audiophile" and "perfection" for sound quality.
I agree the build isn't the greatest ever but it's definitely not the worst I've seen.
At least from the looks of it, the parts are easily changed (unless your cable gets stuck and rips out the interconnect).

 

[MomijiTMO]

I'm one of the few that likes plastic. The major advantage is its weight. I know that previous models like the SA5000 were mostly metal but nothing is made like they used to. Look at the fact that such phones like the HD580 are still around, working without any problems.

Getting back to the OP, in the Beyer T1 thread, someone's dog ate their cable. Beyer REPLACED it under warranty. Maybe point that out to Sennheiser. You can dig through the thread, I can't be bothered but it was only in the last week or so. You won't have to hunt through too many pages.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

I'm one of the few that likes plastic. The major advantage is its weight. I know that previous models like the SA5000 were mostly metal but nothing is made like they used to. Look at the fact that such phones like the HD580 are still around, working without any problems.
Getting back to the OP, in the Beyer T1 thread, someone's dog ate their cable. Beyer REPLACED it under warranty. Maybe point that out to Sennheiser. You can dig through the thread, I can't be bothered but it was only in the last week or so. You won't have to hunt through too many pages.

I had the t5p cable replaced under warranty after it broke from using them a portables, though, it was mainly due to a design flaw >,>

 

[MomijiTMO]

I don't know if you own the HD800 but to remove the cable, you just pull it out. No safety latches or things to press. If the whole jack came out, I'd be shouting lemon.

It's good to see Beyer fixed your T5P.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

I don't know if you own the HD800 but to remove the cable, you just pull it out. No safety latches or things to press. If the whole jack came out, I'd be shouting lemon.
It's good to see Beyer fixed your T5P.

Well there must be some possible level of error, even if it's very minute, maybe it just so happened it was bad enough.
I agree, it's probably a bad jack.

And yea, they fixed it no questions asked, though, it took over a month which is a real pain in itself >.<

 

[jerg]

Sennheiser spent all its HD800 design budget on the super-strength ultra-acoustic composite headband, that's why the cups are so flimsy lol.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

Sennheiser spent all its HD800 design budget on the super-strength ultra-acoustic composite headband, that's why the cups are so flimsy lol.

I actually think the costs went into making as many different pads as possible *looks at cost for replacement pads*

 

[skace]

Wow, I've been waiting for Sennheiser to send me the quote to approve/deny and I just got an email saying a product was sent - so I went to my online bank account and noticed that they billed me $183 dollars without even asking for consent. Very disappointing....