What to do once you’re finished listening

Airborne oil, moisture, and dust slowly polymerize into a sticky yellow film on surfaces, bonding especially well to glossy finishes. Dust can also slip through ventilation gaps on the tops of components and accumulate inside, where it becomes difficult to clean. Buildup on speaker cones and drivers is far harder to remove and can be detrimental, as it alters the vibration characteristics of the drivers and negatively affects sound reproduction.

I certainly understand the visual appeal from an owner’s perspective. Cover them before going to bed, when you can’t see or appreciate them, and uncover them during the day to enjoy their appearance. If you have guests, by all means uncover them for showing off and visual enjoyment.

I’m not sure that dust problems are more than a theortical problem. I have had great quality headphones for a decade without noticing any issues. A decade is probably a long time for headphones, not because the degrade, but because you get better ones. I have had top of the line Sennheiser headphones that I used eight hours a day while bouncing around in a four wheel drive on dusty roads in the Southwest. I used the for seven or eight years before Sennheiser had a new top of the line. 

I use my Sennheiser 800s every day. I have used them for at least four years. They are covered in oil paint smears and get plugged in and unplugged daily. They sound astonishingly good, just like the first time I used them. On the hook next to them are a set of Focal Utopia. I don’t listen as often to those... no paint smears yet. 

Life is short. My personal opinion is that you should enjoy what you got.

I have several custom made bicycles that while not scratched show their wear... they have over 20,000 miles on them each. To me, that is the badge of pride. Not  owning great bicycles and headphones... but the evidence of a lifestyle of actually using great stuff. 

What may be a theoretical issue to you is a very real one to others. I have glossy finish upright piano, and over time the buildup on the exposed surfaces is difficult to remove. In contrast, the covered surfaces look as new as the day it was delivered 20 years ago.  

You can certainly speak for yourself, but you shouldn’t present it as a blanket statement for everyone. If your memory serves you well, there are a couple of threads here discussing cleaning solutions for glossy-finish speakers.

Of course the upside of it is that my 63 year old ears may not even notice and minimal degradation of sound quality.

Wow! An upside to getting old.

+1 kofibaffour