[AudioDwebe]

Unfortunately, no one can answer the question that you seek an answer for.  As someone else posted, the company's only put out their cans for about a year or so.  For all any of us know, the headphones could deteriorate by their second anniversary.  Totally unlikely, but who knows?  Answer:  Not a soul.  Or the company could go under for some reason unrelated to product quality.  It's happened many-a-times by a variety of headphone-related companies during my short tenure here.  So, unfortunately, there's also that possibility.
 
Therefore, I can certainly understand your reluctance to pull the trigger on an unproven item (as far as durability goes).  I can only offer a guess, but from the worksmanship that appeared to have been put in both the product itself, along with care put into the shipping of the cans, I had no doubt whatsoever that the cans were made to last a very long time.  But that's just one man's guess.
 
Unless your heart's set on the LCD's, you might consider another offering from a different manufacturer that's been around for more than a year.  The HD800 and T1 come to mind quite quickly.  I think they've both garnered quite impressive press 'round here.  And let's face it, beyer and senn have been around forever.
 
I've had and sold (including the LCD's) many of the higher end cans talked about in this forum over the course of the last five or so years and THE only one I've considered purchasing again as a "buy it and forget about an upgrade" pair of headphones is the Audeze.  They are truly remarkable headphones and suggest you go for broke and pull the trigger ASAP!  I doubt you'd ever regret it.
 
Cheers.   

 

[purrin]

Provided you can handle a response time of a few days at most, I don't feel Audeze will let you down in terms of out of warranty support. There are some things that could make some people worry though - all related to Audeze being a small company. Last I heard, they were two people who had regular jobs and were doing this thing on the side.
 

• If Audeze develops a version 3.0 with completely different headphone design, they may not keep a good stock of replacement parts for the LCD2. The manufacture of new replacement parts may be costly.
• Audeze may decide to call it quits for whatever reason: lost interest, no longer worth it maintaining a business on the side, etc. (I could be wrong here, it's possible they've expanded and now have an office with a part time secretary.)

 
While I don't personally feel the probability of any of the above occurring in the next five years is high, these are legitimate concerns. In comparison, the risks of the above with Sennheiser and Beyer are likely much lower (i.e. they've been around forever and have a history of being able to support many of their older products.)
 
But to put things in perspective, much of high-end audio is like this. Heck, I don't even know if PS Audio in it's current iteration (given their history since 1974 of musical chairs / musical corporate entities) will be around in five years.

 

[Sleepaphobic]

Hey guys I have a question that I couldn't solve via a few quick searches. I hear there was a bad batch but I don't know when exactly this happened. I can buy a used rev1 that was shipped on May of this year but don't know if this version may be prone to defects or not. I live in the UK so if smthg goes wrong then it's just going to be a headache for me.

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

... High cost items should come with great customer service by default. No one should "expect" crappy goods after the warranty is over for a premium item. It's exactly this type of complacency that let's high end manufacturers off the hook. If we want this changed we all need to be responsible to expect better from our manufacturers.

Totally agree here. I've seen on these boards quite a few incidents of people making excuses on behalf of manufacturers for poor customer service or at the very least, very poor setting of customer expectations (hobbyists don't necessarily make good sales or customer service people.) It almost makes me wonder if these people have undisclosed personal or even informal business relationships with them (or maybe it's just fanboyism.) I've seen people being beaten down on these forums for questioning Audeze's longer than expected waits on the LCD2 and lack of response on delivery times a few months ago.
 
It certainly doesn't hurt to do some homework first (as the OP has done) to make sure that the quality of customer service and support will be within one's expectations. The sad thing is that the customer should never have to do this.
 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Hey guys I have a question that I couldn't solve via a few quick searches. I hear there was a bad batch but I don't know when exactly this happened. I can buy a used rev1 that was shipped on May of this year but don't know if this version may be prone to defects or not. I live in the UK so if smthg goes wrong then it's just going to be a headache for me.

Just drop Audeze an e-mail with the serial #. It may take a few days, but they will most certainly get back to you.
 

 

[johnwmclean]

Quote:

 
 
I m sorry, i can't agree with that statement.  High end gear should not only be better preforming but also should be over engineered on EVERY level.   Its not simple their charging an absurd amount of money for this product and they only back it with a pathetic one year warranty.   I understand that every thing can break no matter how well engineered, I just wish Audeze would be more clear about what they consider "reasonable".  Saying you will "Stand behind a product" and actually doing so are two very different things. 
 
Don't get me wrong from a relativistic cost stand point, their product's price/preformance ratio blows any speaker or headphone that I know of out of the water, and that is why I want it.  But from an absolute cost prespective the asking price is CRAZY high and I really am worried about getting a future 1 thousand dollar paper weight and a company that might not be so willing to help me after they have already got my money. 
 
In any event I need to sleep on this, I know I want the phones and I don't mind paying the money if its a one time payment, I just wish I could know that this company will take care of me if the headphones break in say the near 1-5 year future.   
 
But thank you guys for your input so far,  I've gotten one good review of their customer service and one average one.  From what you guys are saying and my own experience would you guys say they have slow but honest service?  

Heck, I don’t even agree with my statement. But I stand by it. Of course manufacturers should take all precautions against faults etc. But the fact still stands, after 12 months it’s a roll of the dice. If something goes wrong can you front the cost?
 

 

[Sleepaphobic]

Cool I'll try that. Thanks for the reply.

 

[khaos974]

And front the huge costs of an injection mold die instead?  I think not...
 
Hifiman is able to subsidize plastic cups by using it across four headphones and likely more in the future - I'm not sure Audeze is big enough to afford the cost of a die and contacting out injection molding (or its own machine) on an unnecessary part at this point.  Perhaps in the future, if a newer model dictates larger-scale production.

I like wood cups personaly, it give the LCD-2 an air of authenticity. On the other hand, instead of the current varnish, I wouldn't say no to several layers of polyurethane as varnish.

 

[Super MANSKITO]

Quote:

Heck, I don’t even agree with my statement. But I stand by it. Of course manufacturers should take all precautions against faults etc. But the fact still stands, after 12 months it’s a roll of the dice. If something goes wrong can you front the cost?
 

I m not sure, depends on how reasonable, "reasonable" is.   Most of the time I don't have much more then say $300 to my name.   Working part time at staples and going to school its very hard to save money.  And I don't see that changing for the next 3-3.5 years.  
 
I just sent them an email to see what a worst case repair would cost (one of the drivers fails).   I will report back with an answer for any one out there who is like me and is thinking about stretching there budget to the breaking point. 
 
Thanks every one for their input, I am a lot closer to making my choice. 
 

 

[johnwmclean]

Glad to see you thinking it through thoroughly and making a careful informed decision. 

 

[pp312]

I put off getting the LCD-2 for pretty much the same reason as the OP, + one or two others like weight and general design (it never looked like it'd survive a drop even onto carpet). I still have those concerns, perhaps a little more so now that I've satisfied myself that the LCD-2 has a mix of virtues I probably wouldn't be able to find in any other phone, not even another LCD-2 (Rev2). And now of course after living with the LCD-2 I couldn't even go back to the HD650, so I'm trapped. If this LCD-2 breaks down or gets dropped it's the end of headphones for me and the beginning of a monastic life at the foot of the Himalayas....or something like that. I feel like I've kind of painted myself into a corner.      

 

[purrin]

Nah, in reality you are probably fine with the LCD2 and Audeze seem like guys who will provide continued support. If you drop your pair, the most likely thing to break would be the wood, in which case you can still get some wood glue and filler to fix it up. Owning STAX stuff is far scarier.