How long can headphones (HD580) last

I remember that some of the board members use/used Sennheiser HD580, so I think this is a good place to ask. How long can these last?

Mine are 10-12 years old, and the cable got intermittent again, the headband padding is completely flat, the ear cushions are worn, the foam over transducers is crumbling. I love these headphones, and I would be willing to pay another "sennheiser tax" of ~$85 to buy all these parts. But I don't want to if the transducers or other vital parts are likely to die soon.

An alternative would be to buy new headphones, probably HD518 or HD598 - $120-230, but they would be new. But maybe worse?

What would you suggest?

Mine are 10-12 years old, and the cable got intermittent again, the headband padding is completely flat, the ear cushions are worn, the foam over transducers is crumbling. I love these headphones, and I would be willing to pay another "sennheiser tax" of ~$85 to buy all these parts.

Hehe! You've described mine as well! Pretty exactly, in fact, except that the ear cushions aren't too bad... In my case, it's simply a matter of not getting around to sorting this out. If you don't overdrive these headphones, there's no reason why the transducers shouldn't last for absolutely ages.

The one thing that worries me slightly though is the somewhat ridiculous method of attaching the cables to the 'phones. If you gave me a free choice, I'd much rather have something like the Beyer secured plug and socket going to just one side, and a lead over the top. But there seems to be no easy way around that, so I suppose it's going to have to be a new cable (mine is occasionally intermittent on one side).

But essentially it's the foam-based parts that have worn out, not the mechanics. Is it really worth the repair? I'd say unequivocally yes.

So I suppose I'd better get on with it!

Thanks! In such case I'll probably spend $85 on the parts and rejuvenate my HD580s, instead of spending $370 for new HD600s, or rather $420 for H650s, because I can't stand the looks of the 600s.

I have a collection of headphones that have accumulated during the years. Despite some occasional short overloads I never had a failure  of transducers but several times problems with the cables and plugs. There is also a HD 540 reference II which seems to be a forerunner of the 580 I like very much though it may be some 20 years old. The cushions have become (too) soft, but otherwise no problem, except low volume on some battery operated items, since the coils are 600 Ohms. The Sennheiser plugs are indeed very special, but the cable have a steel litz core which is rather robust but at the same time make the cable somwhat stiff. These cables are difficult to solder on the outer end.

For monitoring in the field I prefer the AKG 271 which is a closed type with very clean reproduction respecting all the pros and cons  of closed cans. The cables are interchangeable, very soft and have decent plugs on the transducers side.

Think my AKG K240DF must be 20 years now. Still doing fine. My hearing probably deteriorated more than the headphones over that time.

I replaced the pads, cable and one capsule (it had started rattling occasionally) of my 13-year-old Sennheiser HD 250 II phones a little while ago.  The two capsules (old and new) are perfectly matched as far as I can tell.  They sound pretty similar to my new Sony MDR 7509HD phones, as well.  The Sonys are more convenient for transport (they fold), but the Sennheisers are more comfortable.

Paul

Here I found that swapping the cables (left and right) from the 580's swapped the poor connection problem (of course, now wearing the originally "right" transducer on the left ear etc) so the problem is in the transducer connector not the cable itself.  A regular plug/unplug keeps it going. 

OT, My 580's have recently got a lot of extra use connected to a very cheap Android phone on which I run the "UPnPlay" app, which plays anything from the 11000 tracks on my PC.  The ultimate in wireless headphones.