Endurism Dossier: Sennheiser HD 25

1. NCO Ledger: the electronics variant, with an exception

Electronics usually lose the repair argument. This one is the exception. Sennheiser's own spares catalogue lists every piece of the HD 25 with a price: cable €21,60, hygiene covers €2,47 a pair, pads, headband, capsules. The counterpart is the wireless earbud, sealed at the factory, average lifespan 2 to 3 years per Dutch consumer sources.

Reference: Sennheiser HD 25, €139 (bol.com, July 2026). Mid-range earbuds: €150.

Year three.

The HD 25 wins its first three years by €136. There is no waiting period on this one.

Year fifteen. Reviews on Sennheiser's own parts pages describe units from 2001 and 2009 still in daily service, refreshed with pads.

Six sealed pairs to landfill against one headphone and a small bag of parts.

2. Long-form

The headphones on the mixing desk are older than the DJ's career. The pads have been changed twice. Nothing else has.

The Sennheiser HD 25 has been the broadcast and club standard since 1988. Steel headband, closed earcups, a build that comes apart in your hands. The cable unclips at the cup. The pads pull off. The headband strap slides out. Sennheiser's spares shop prices each piece like a hardware store: €21,60 for a cable, €2,47 for hygiene covers. The whole instrument costs €139.

The earbud is its opposite in every dimension except price. It tops the Amazon electronics charts in 2026. It carries one design fact the listing never mentions: the battery is glued in. Dutch consumer sources put the average life at two to three years. When the battery fades, the case cannot open without breaking. That is a manufacturing choice. The sealed unit is cheaper to build. The sealed unit guarantees the next sale.

The ledger refuses the usual patience. Most Endurism objects lose the three-year window and win the decade. The HD 25 wins immediately: €164 against €300 by year three, because the earbuds have already died once. By year fifteen the gap is structural, €214 against €900, one headphone against six funerals.

The proof lives in Sennheiser's own review section, the least glamorous marketing on earth. Owners writing in about pads restoring a fifteen-year-old unit. A pair from 2001, worn daily. Nobody writes that about earbuds, because no five-year-old earbuds exist.

Ownership is a five-minute job every few years. Peel the pads, press on new ones. If the cable frays, unclip it and fit another for the price of two coffees. The steel takes a working shine.

The earbuds die with their battery. The HD 25 has been on stage since 1988. Every part of it still has a part number.

3. Verdict card

Six pairs of earbuds die in the time one HD 25 needs a new cable.