I also got the X2HR on the Amazon Prime sale. I found that the ear-pads were glued on despite the manual saying they're replaceable. I've looked into it (on these forums actually), and found it's a known issue.
However, I've decided not to do anything about it because, A). I like the sound quality and I got them at a bargain price, so I feel I got my money's worth, B). even if I went through the hassle of returning them and swapping them for a new pair there's still a high chance that new pair would also have glued-on ear-pads, C). Philips don't even sell replacement pads so I'm not sure it matters that much whether the pads are glued on or not (you can buy pads on eBay at the moment, but who knows how long they'll be available for - so what am I going to do, spend hundreds of pounds now to hoard about 12 pairs of replacement ear pads just to guarantee I'll never run out of them in my lifetime?)
My questions about this situation are;
1). Would you do what I've done in my situation and not bother returning them?
2). If I take good care of the ear-pads, how long can I expect them to last before significant degrades in sound quality? 5 years? 10 years? Indefinately?
3). If, some 5-10 years down the road I still use this as a primary headphone and the ear-pads are completely knackered, would it be possible to yank out/cut off the glued-on ear-pads and glue on some fresh pairs without damaging the actual headphone unit?
Thaks guys.