Five years. That's longer than most marriages last, and longer than any competitor's headphones were ever designed to survive. Respectable performance, from both you and the headphones. But nothing lasts forever, except maybe Valco's ambition to build that Death Star.
So let's figure out how to handle this.
What's actually going on?
After five years, headphones have lived their life. All electronics wear out, pads get crumbly, connectors get tired. That's physics, not bad design. Sure, at Valco we build things to last longer than the industry would like, but a lot happens in five years.
Speaking of warranty: Valco's warranty is 24 months, or two years. Five years blows way past that. So a warranty repair is off the table, but don't worry, we're not leaving you hanging.
Figure out what's actually broken first
Before you send anything anywhere, check these:
- Sound only coming from one earcup? Try an AUX cable. Plug the 3.5 mm cable in and pull it out again, this also works as a reset. If the sound comes back, the issue was the Bluetooth connection.
- Won't power on? Charge the headphones for at least an hour via USB-C. A red light means it's charging. If no light shows up at all, the charging port might be blocked, clean it gently.
- Pads getting crumbly? After five years, that's normal wear and tear. The pads twist off and you can order new ones separately.
- Hear rattling or a loose part inside the earcup? Then something inside has probably come loose. That's not something you want to start fixing yourself.
Here's how to proceed
At Valco, we don't throw headphones in the trash. We have our own service center in Kajaani, and Hannes's team fixes gear every day.
- Send an email to info@valco.fi
and in your message: - Tell us
- What's wrong (as precisely as possible)
- Your order number, if you still have it
- A photo of the device and the problem
Customer service will tell you the next steps: where to send the device and what the repair will cost
Since the warranty has expired, the repair isn't free. But we do have a repair package: a flat 69 € whatever the fault is, including spare parts and postage both ways. On top of that, a repaired pair gets an extra year of warranty from the repair date.
What if the repair isn't worth it?
Sometimes after five years, the smartest move is just getting new headphones. That's an honest assessment, not a sales pitch. If the repair cost gets close to the price of a new device, we'll tell you straight up.
And hey, headphones have come a long way over the years. The newer models might have improvements you didn't even know you were missing.
Five years is a solid run. Thanks for taking care of them for that long, and thanks for the money, which has gotten us roughly 0.000003% closer to the Death Star.
