I have had my 989s for a year and a half now, with no
problems yet (I even moved 800 miles to a new job, and
they survived just fine). I use them a LOT, up to several
hours a day. I tend not to listen very loud, perhaps
around 86-88 dB (with peaks up to 6 dB higher).
Before my 989s, I had the ESL-63 US monitors for 10
years. It never failed on me even once in all that time!
Perhaps I've just been lucky. I do have a spare speaker
just in case my 989 dies (a Harbeth M40).
- Sridhar