[DJDestroid]

I've owned about 3-4 pairs of Portapros after the last few years, and they almost always give out. The wire near the jack comes loose and it's impossible to solder back on. I sent one pair back for the lifetime guarantee and they never got back to me.
 
The wire on the Portapro is very thin. I understand they're cheap headphones but I still wish they'd offer something a bit more durable, I don't think it would cost much more to use thicker plastic.
 
I've been using a pair of KSC75s I got, and they have the same problem. They just went today. Frustrating.

I've been considering paying the extra money for the 25th Anni Portapros as they seem to have a cloth cover. I'm not sure how much this would add to the durability though.
 
What should I do? Should I bother paying the extra for the Anniversary, or just try and take better care of the regular pros(unlikely)? Is it worth it?

 

[logwed]

I've never had this problem, how are you storing/using/treating your headphones? I've owned my Portapros for about 2 years and they've been more than fine. Does your pair have the bent plug, or the straight plug, because that might affect the life expectancy.
 
I don't think that the 25th Anniversary Edition would improve the durability very much, TBH. 

 

[David58117]

So yours doesn't have a cloth cover?  I bought mine from Best Buy and they have it, here's the pic from website:
 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Koss+-+PortaPro+Portable+Headphones+-+Black/9492391.p?id=1218113927982&skuId=9492391&st=portapros&cp=1&lp=1
 
edit -
 
It looks like that's the anniversary edition pic, however the ones I bought are the regular edition but have the same covered cable.  They grey plate is blacked out as well as the headband..I really like the looks of it.

 

[DJDestroid]

I'm unsure what the difference is between that and the anniversary edition. Unfortunately; Best buy does not ship internationally. That version would be ideal otherwise.

 

[DJDestroid]

Quote:

I've never had this problem, how are you storing/using/treating your headphones? I've owned my Portapros for about 2 years and they've been more than fine. Does your pair have the bent plug, or the straight plug, because that might affect the life expectancy.
 
I don't think that the 25th Anniversary Edition would improve the durability very much, TBH. 

 
All the ones I've owned had an (extremely Flimsy) straight plug.
 
I have a habit of getting my headphone wire caught in things.
 

 

[DJDestroid]

I ordered a pair that apparently have the Angled plug. Hopefully that'll sort me out.

 

[tacomn]

koss portapros are built to last... if they do break they have lifetime warranty. So no worries, just clean sailing 

 

[buffalowings]

honestly, I too had the issue involving the area near the plug wearing out, it didn't last for more than a week before the plug wore out, perhaps a broken batch of portapros might have gotten out
 
James

 

[stevenswall]

Perhaps try calling before you send them in for warranty service? I did, and My KDE/250 was back in hand within 5 days. You need a note, and a check in the package, ect.

 

[RASeymour]

For a few years I really abused Porta Pros while bicycling.  The only thing that would go out were the pads; they would disintegrate from the sweat.

 

[g0ldeng0pher]

I've also experienced the durability issues with the plug and cord, now with three pairs of the regular PortaPros. I've been meaning to ask Koss if perhaps they've switched factories, or plastics suppliers at some point in the past year or two. Prior to sending mine in for repairs, I didn't look carefully to see if there are batch or serial numbers anywhere on the product, so maybe they can't track problems back without the original package/receipt.
 
I also wonder if their repairs center communicates with quality control at the factories, and if they keep count of specific issues by model.

 

[jononku]

Interesting, I've owned a set of these for 2+ years and the only issue I've had was due to my own negligence which resulted in the head band being broken.  They replaced the whole thing, no questions asked.  You should be able to do the same; the customer service on these things is pretty much legendary.

 

[meithkiller]

I pulled my 10 year old PortaPros out of drawer a few weeks ago where they had been sitting for close to five years without being used. They were folded up and stored in their storage sack. Not surprisingly the earpiece foam covers were mostly disintegrated, I have some extras on hand, so I was going to replace them, then I saw the foam temple pads were falling off, one was mostly off, one was mostly on, so I ended pulling both of them off and was still going to use them without the pads, then I discovered that one side appeared to have a blown element. 3 strikes and you're out, I tossed them in the trash. I remembered later that they had a lifetime warranty, but I probably wouldn't have sent them in anyways, too much bother for an inexpensive (but good sounding) set of headphones.