reviewed: sennheiser HD580 replacement headband

This is the moral hazard induced by dangling a $250 gift card carrot in front of the Internet: purple prose in praise of piffling products. —Ed.

( the product in question, and review location once it’s approved )

A mark of quality consumer goods, in my estimation, is the manufacturer’s willingness to continue to support them long after their introduction with replacement parts. The Chevy 350 small-block engine, Campangolo bicycle components, Rancilio espresso equipment, and (fortunately for me) Sennheiser’s HD series headphones all exemplify this trend. I bought my HD580s in 1997 and have used them not-quite-daily ever since for listening to sweet tunage while I am jockeying my desktop computer at work. The drivers sound as good as when I bought them and the outer head-strap is intact, but I’ve replaced cables twice (the second time with the upgraded version which finally fixes the all-too-common intermittent dropout problem) and all of the contact points have inevitably worn down over time in contact with my fleshy, fluid-extruding outer shell.

The procedure is very easy, you just pop off either of the end caps and slip the old headband out, slide the new one in the same way, and pop the cap back on. Boom: instant cushiness.

This is my second replacement headband and I’m about two years away from needing a replacement set of ear pads. It’s comforting to know that the parts will be there when I need them.