I replaced the pads on my AKG Q701 headphones today for the 4th time. It made me realize that I’ve used these headphones for at least 40 hours a week for 14 years straight. I’ve had to repair the left side speaker solder joint a few times, but they’re designed to be easily torn down and repaired. Truly BIFL headphones.
I’ve heard that the newer AKG K702 headphones are identical but I can’t vouch for that. They go for around $250.
I’d had a pair of K702s, and yes, the whole family is more or less just slight tweaks (K701, K701, K712, K7XX, Q701). I did have a part that kept wearing out though, the little elastic bands that let it auto adjust. They sell the part cheap, but since you need to order them from AKG, the shipping was killing me. I ended up modding them to not longer auto adjust but just fit my head specifically.
Edit: I’d like to shout out to Beyerdynamic for also being on this “headphones that just won’t die” train. My DT-770s are easily as old as OPs.
Bad news: Beyerdynamic was purchased by another company this year, so that may change.
That is sad news indeed. The good news is that I already own two sets of Beyers and they will hopefully outlive me.