There are some things you buy that last a few years before you ultimately replace them having either fell apart or technology has moved on and there's those that you keep and this is one.
I've had these Sennhesier HD560 II "Ovation" headphones for a good while having been introduced in 1991 but in the intervening years a lot of work was needed on them.
Starting with the leads to each headphone, the red right hand plug had become badly frayed at that plug end and needed replacing as the sound just cuts out.
The connections are actually on a plug and with a pair of pliers, you can pull them out and I was able to get a replacement lead set that also had better quality oxygen free cooper and gold plated connectors and have them fitted which solved that problem
This part, the centring insert and foam inner pads was a bigger problem because the foam inner pads had chemically become unstable disintegrating into a sticky powdery mess so not only had the pad fell apart, it had left deposits on that insert that needed to cleaned off.
I ordered some generic circular pads for them and inserted them and then refitted the outer cushion pads having given them a clean.
They now sound a little more open and deeper than they originally did which baring in mind at the time these were very expensive new,now not only have they been restored but are better than ever.
There are somethings you don't anticipate doing but then for reasons best known to themselves, it just happens like having being using for a good two and a half years with one pair of headphones they are picked up by a n other and you find the wire has broken.
You repair that only to find the transducer that makes the sound in that ear seems to be damaged too.
With that in mind, you've only one real option here, replacing it and as I have have a small female face many bigger headphones just don't sit right on my ears which leads to a bass light sound your options are a bit limited.
One I did find was Beyerdynamic's DT235 which is quite a smaller fitting model with a soft piece over the plastic headband rather than anything chunky.
One big improvement is the lead which is quite a bit thicker than similar models around this price (about GBP £45), wired from the left with internal connections to the right unit which is less likely to break off.
Looking around I spotted a vendor selling a pair off at substantial discount as a unused catalogue return less than what most wanted my previous pair for for I bought these instead.
The sound is a good deal less congested on busy tracks sounding very open, the bass while extended doesn't over dominate proceedings and the transients, those very fast sounds often associated with percussion are surprisingly good.
I'm impressed by this unplanned for upgrade which works well with my Fiio X1 digital audio player.
