[003]

Well I've been thinking. A headphone can last a very, very long time when properly taken care of, as in many decades.

BUT, you must understand, no matter how well taken care of, a headphone (or speaker) will NOT last forever. The driver will eventually grow brittle fall apart. They have a long, but finite lifespan.

Now, as you all know, all the great headphones are starting to be discontinued (K1000, HE90, R10, L3000, and many others). That means of the ones that are left, some will break, some will be lost, and some will be very well taken care of but eventually, they will reach the end of their lifespan and stop working.

If this trend of discontinuing all the great headphones keeps up, what will become of high end headphones, in, say 50 years?

 

[robm321]

I don't know. But in 50 years I'll be 86 and probably too deaf to really hear the differences.

I originally thought of getting another K-1000, so I have a lifetime of listening with it either way, but realized that there are replacement drivers still available and $900-1000 is a little much for a spare headphone. kwim?

I assume technology will have something better down the road but question if it will beat the HE-90, K-1000, etc.

 

[jagorev]

Even the most advanced tech from 50 years ago has been outstripped by now. I expect the same to continue happening for the next 50 years.

 

[Reputator]

I do think it's a bit annoy that a lot of phenomenal top-of-the-line headphones are discontinued and no replacement for them has been alluded to. That niche is starting to go untouched (only Grado has stepped up to it). But I find it hard to imagine that they'll never be replaced by something as good or better, and as technology keep evolving, their level of performance will be easier to produce, and go down in price, that's how it always works.

 

[Meyvn]

We have Sennheiser, Grado, Ergo, and Stax (and possibly Koss will join) whose primary purpose is designing high end headphones. I really do not think that there is anything to worry about. The only debatable worry is in the K1000's department, if something else will ever be developed in that style again.

 

[F107plus5]

Yeah, the future will be a cochlear bypass with the computer(or next levels of source)going directly into the spiral ganglion thence to the brain without any mechanical or chemical degredation to the signal.

We here at Head-Fi will only have the source and the wire, or wireless, going directly into our heads to argue about.

....for the next step I don't know if I'd prefer retinal bypass or simple eyelid implants for the video.

Let's see; in 50 years I'll be a hundred and.....never mind.

 

[SimpJee]

Don't say that

I just got my K-1000's!

There will always be something new to try out, so we'll see.

 

[Duggeh]

Even if all thsoe headphones were still in production, theyd still be selling in the minute enough numbers that merited their withdrawl from production.

There always has to be a range of top end headphones. What is decided as "top end" at any given time, is what the companies consider to be the best blance between cost-profitability and sales. The onyl headphone currently in production which comes into this arena now is the SR-007.

Sennheiser will NEVER surpass the HE90. At least not until such time as their is a sufficient commercial threat which merits their going to the bother.

As for the K1000. If the form factor coudl be made using a cheaper and more easily driven driver. I think that someone might be onto a winner

 

[Anarchy965]

::Sticks headphones on:: I'm not listening! I'm not listening! DEENIIAL

 

[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh Even if all thsoe headphones were still in production, theyd still be selling in the minute enough numbers that merited their withdrawl from production. There always has to be a range of top end headphones. What is decided as "top end" at any given time, is what the companies consider to be the best blance between cost-profitability and sales. The onyl headphone currently in production which comes into this arena now is the SR-007. Sennheiser will NEVER surpass the HE90. At least not until such time as their is a sufficient commercial threat which merits their going to the bother. As for the K1000. If the form factor coudl be made using a cheaper and more easily driven driver. I think that someone might be onto a winner

I agree with your first statement, but I also believe the GS1000 is worthy for consideration in the 'high end' market. Perhaps if I heard a balanced HD600 or K701, I may also consider those. I do not think that Sennheiser will never surpass the HE90 in SQ. Perhaps in the sheer amount of research and development power, they won't, but I think in time technology will allow them to better it. I mean, just look at how far dynamic headphones alone have come in the past thirty years, and there wasn't nearly as much reason for their development as there is now. Headphones are becoming an increasingly important part of popular culture. The masses have not yet caught on to sound quality, but even rich people listen to iPods, and rich people want to own better things than poor people; they've got Kate Spade iPod cases, why not buy better headphones to go with them? I think the future is looking bright for headphones. I do not think it will ever be terribly profitable to make truly high end headphones (K1000, MDR-R10, HE90, et cetera), so I think what will happen is we'll continue to see fantastic headphones like those that will be made for awhile in smallish quantities, and then discontinued. such is the world.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 I don't know. But in 50 years I'll be 86 and probably too deaf to really hear the differences.

Good point. I think I'll die right around when my cans do. Sobering thought.

 

[F107plus5]

On a serious note.

...I almost chuckle when I try to think of "Bose" and "serious" in the same sentence, but:

I wonder if Bose is seriously considering marketing a pair of "up-scale" "streetstyle" type of phones suitable of appearing with the more expensive brands of portables?

 

[Zanth]

I have thought about this a lot as well. I've never heard the HE90's but I fear that if I do hear them and I love them...I'm in a tight spot. I have to figure out how to gather the cash up, find a buyer, source an HEv90 and then fear that nothing will touch it.

So far, I feel Grado, my prefered phone company to date, has been releasing phones of at least equal quality to the previous model I enjoyed. So, I love the RS-1's, and though the PS-1's aren't perfect, they sure did some things so much better than the RS-1's and I love them. I could live with them forever. Then the GS-1000's come out and again, not perfect but do some things so much better than either the RS=1's and PS-1 and I figure, yes I could live with any of them. If I am so lucky as to source another HP-1000, then I could live with that one again, and perhaps Grado Labs will recreate this phone in the future. Regardless, so long as Grado keeps making phones that at least equal the ones presently available, I have something to fall back on. However, there is no telling what the future may hold. I don't agree at all that the present tech necessarily destroys previous tech. In fact, save for quality parts and overbuilding, many amp circuits are the same ones as the last 50 years if not longer. Morever, in terms of SET and high efficiency speakers, 100 year old designs are totally en vogue. It says something about what was accomplished way back when.


Yet...the future has the luxury of reading the successes and failures of the past and ideally not repeating the failures and building on the successes. This means that perhaps a phone that trounces the HE90's could be sold for 150 bucks in 15-20 years. Not too shabby! As long as audiophilia remains, I'm certian some company will construct something I enjoy.

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 On a serious note. ...I almost chuckle when I try to think of "Bose" and "serious" in the same sentence, but: I wonder if Bose is seriously considering marketing a pair of "up-scale" "streetstyle" type of phones suitable of appearing with the more expensive brands of portables?

As much as people crap on Bose (I think I may have heard a pair of their speakers...once) I can say this for sure..if they put their best efforts forward for a cost no object speaker or headphone, they would likely smoke the other companies. Their budget available for R&D is enormous, likely only second to Sony. Since Sony is in some deep doo, I figure Bose has the best chance of really truly designing something cutting edge. Too bad they are not interested in doing so, they just want to make hordes of moola off the hurd.

 

[nfusion770]

I am pretty new to headphones, but I am somewhat familiar with business models. I am going to assume that those companies who produced super high end headphones never produced them with mass production profit in mind (although they certainly make larger margins on the flagships than they do cheaper models). Their flagships are intended to not only further technology- (the stages of which can be utilized in lesser, more attainable, thus, more profitable models) but also as a benchmark that creates an image in the consumers mind. Its kind of a pyramid business model with cheaper models creating brand awareness and hopefully brand loyalty, which, if effective, creates future profits as the customer inevitably moves up the lifelong financial food chain and can upgrade to better (more profitable) models. A similar thing happens with cars (though not identical, similar)- Scion, Toyota, Lexus- for example. The largest value (profitability wise) of those high end models is probably to create an indelible image of excellence in the collective public conscience- an image that inevitably rubs off on the lesser models helping to sell more of them and creating lifelong customers

I dont know that the headphone companies are based on this profit model, but it stands to reason from a business perspective. If that is the case, I would assume new flagships/prototypes are in the works.