Sennheiser "discontinued" – some of the best headphones of all time at serious risk

The world of consumer audio looks set to be dealt a blow in the coming months. That's because legendary headphone manufacturer, Sennheiser, has had its operations discontinued by parent company, Sonova.

That suggests that the company is up for sale, in what could end up being quite a convoluted process. And beyond just the business aspects, it could quickly become a tough situation for users of the brand's products.

First, though, let's look at why the sale could be more complex than usual. As reported by Headphonesty, there's a lot of conjecture over the naming rights.

Current owners, Sonova, own a perpetual license for the name, which was granted when the sale was closed. There's no word on whether or not that license can transfer to a new owner – if not, the Sennheiser family would have effective power over who the sale could be made to.

Of more practical importance to most people is the consumer side of what happens next. That's because the sale of the company could alter the way things like spare parts, repairs and warranties are handled.

The worst case scenario would be a world where the brand is shut down altogether, making spares and repairs from the source all but impossible. It's a notion which will be concerning to those who already own products from the brand, and downright off-putting for anyone thinking of picking something up at the moment.

After all, if you have cash ready to spend – particularly the kind of cash reserved for a pair of decent headphones – you're going to want to invest in something solid. Fortunately for consumers, the market is filled with great options at a wide array of prices, which can be seen as alternatives for right now.

That won't do anything for the brand, though – every second counts in a sale like this, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a conclusion reached pretty swiftly.