I bought one of these, and after a year or so of relatively careful use one of the speakers started cutting in and out like there was a loose wire

I have had a pair of these for 4 years , the only issue being the loose wire which happens if the cable is caught or snagged....plenty of you tube clips showing how to repair them

it's hard wired and not replaceable when it eventually breaks

I don't know if there is a way to open up the headphones to see if there are loose wires, but I don't know how to open without breaking

If the headphones fail (and let's face it, eventually any wire will die), you only have to buy a new pair of headphones

But bad quality wire without protection.

I bought one of these, and after a year or so of relatively careful use one of the speakers started cutting in and out like there was a loose wire

What's worse is that the wires eventually become damaged and stop feeding sound to one or both speakers

I the was able to see that the wire where it goes into the ear piece through the plastic strain relief had broken (from repeated flexing no doubt) and I spliced it and more or less got the thing back together but not like new