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B&W P5 headphones

P

pianoman

pfm Member
Hi all,

Considering a pair of these, but can't get to hear any round here. Just wondered if anyone has experience or owned a pair.

I do need decent isolation, but obviously sound quality is important. These are not for a commute but will be used with laptop/ ipod as well as main rig.

Reviews are positive, but they are pretty expensive, so thought I'd canvass some opinions...
 
Hi Pianoman.

I demo'd them recently while in a London store.

Firstly - wouldnt reccomend you buy any pair of headphones ''blind''. Doesnt work for speakers or headphones either!... (look at the guy with the ''I miss my KEF'' speakers thread going on at the same time right now....)..

To my tastes, I found them very similar to Sennheiser Px200's, which is fine except they are a quarter of the price.

For ''big can'' home listening ... there are much, much, much better cans than the P5's. Just no contest.

The P5's are a portable can, and can be compared to portable grado's, sennheissers, Koss and other makes for a more fair comparison in sonics.

Again (me personally) I have about 5 pairs of cans, depending if I'm travelling, in a gym, on a plane, at home with the audio system etc.

Anyway... find somewhere you can demo, that's for sure :)

Good luck
 
They aren't all that good, all bling and no sing. My little Sony in ears beat them in every dept except 'use of leather'. Better is available for less.
 
Thanks for that - you're right, I certainly don't want to spend that kind of dosh and then be disappointed. I currently have little px100s for portable listening and Stax for main, but I really want best quality closed for library/ evening use.

Was there anything in particular you didn't like about them, or was a 'pound for sound' thing
 
Hi -

Just my opinion.

For home use, a big pair of headphones can give you a lot more for £200-£300.

For portable use, you can get similar performance I feel for well under £100.

You say library/evening - (and closed back)

I would have these near the top of my audition list.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0708/audio_technia_ath_a700.htm

Also the A900's, which I believe Sam Tellig of Stereophile very much likes.

not a portable pair though ?
 
I love the inability to read...So with Stax at home in the big rig, there is no need for large phones - which the AT A700s certainly are. For good quality small closed phones I'd say the candidates are:

Aiaiai TMA-1 (DJ phone, fairly dark, recessed highs, mid emphasis)
AKG 171/172 (Home and DJ versions, a little bulky, bass light, massive soundstage)
Audio Technica ESW9a (wooden cups, very mellow, excellent timbre)
Audio Technica ES10 (very good bass for a portable, slightly overwhelms the mids and treble)
Beyerdynamic T50p (typical beyer signature -bass light and treble tilted up, very good instrumental seperation, early models suited larger head sizes)
Beyerdynamic DT1350 (atypical beyer signature, good bass and neutral treble, very much FOTM on headphones sites, but with good reason)
Phiaton MS300 (neutral in both the positive and negative senses, inoffensive but also unengaging)
Phiaton MS400 (warm slightly overblown bass, good prat)
Sennheiser HD25-1 (the old trooper, indestructible, somewhat restricted at both ends of the frequency, prat in spades, suits the broadest range of music)

and the B&W P5 (fairly dark, restricted top end, but very good commuting phones0

I've listened to all of them and own more than a few (AKG 171, the two Beyers, the Senns, the Phiaton MS300). Generally the sound quality of them all will be several steps higher than the Px100 and several steps lower than the Stax, the sound signature differs quite a bit and would probably need to be considered in light of your unstated tastes in music.

As a left field suggestion, Stax used to have a portable electrostatic the SR001, which came complete with it's own battery powered amp (about the size of a box of cigs). Whilst it was recently discontinued, it may still be available from some dealers. It is the only portable phone I have which can replicate the timbre and decay of an acoustic bass. Like a lot of these models though ultimate extension is somewhat compromised.

regards,

Giles
 
Bluebeard said:
I love the inability to read...So with Stax at home in the big rig, there is no need for large phones - which the AT A700s certainly are. For good quality small closed phones I'd say the candidates are:
Click to expand...

Hi Bluebeard...

I was a bit perplexed, so I re-read ''piano-mans'' two posts three times, to be sure..

At no point does he say he is looking for "small closed phones''.

He does say that they are for library/evening use, and that closed-back is important so that others are not disturbed.

He also states that he already has small PX100's for commuting purposes.


Without wishing to put words into mouths, are you sure that you have read his original posts properly?
 
Thanks again for suggestions.

The reason the P5s appealed at first is that they are light, portable and with a short lead, as well as sound isolating. The PX100 are good for super budget, the Stax are great but not portable and people in the next room can hear. So something to bridge the gap, as it were.

The top candidates were the HD25-1, which I agree are excellent for a very wide range of music, light and good isolation. Problem? They're on-ear, and the pressure was too much, even though folk said they would loosen a bit. They really did hurt, so had to send them back, which was a great pity.

So there's the dilemma, and I imagined the P5s might be a solution. I don't want a 3m cable or anything too massive on my head, but over-ear or softer pads would probably suit me.
Will check out some of the above.

edit - mainly classical all genres
 
HI Pianoman

thank you for clarifying.

For smaller closed back phones - I personally own Bose On Ear's.

I bought them because -

1) I heard them in an apple store, and the slightly mid-range accentuation of the headphones worked well with the thin sounding apple Ipod (which I own).
2) The headphones are collapsible, removable cable, and have memory foam for ear-pads (and are closed back). This made them a portable solution and comfortable to wear.

Lastly, when I bought them, they were around £150 - they now seem to be £89.99, and they are certainly a good buy at that price (see amazon private traders)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002LK2QJK/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21


My main criticism of them - the headband is not particularly long, which makes wearing them around the neck (between listening) not very comfortable.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
P5's are on ear and although pressure's not a problem I find mine pinch the top of my ears a bit and get a little uncomfortable after extended use. For home office/evening use I've just bought some Denon AH-D2000's and although they only fulfil part of your brief they are closed back, very comfortable and the sound quality is superb; the P5's aren't even in the same league but for me they do a different job.
 
Yes I heard a pair of the Denon at the Manchester show last year and was very impressed, it's just the 10ft lead again - pity they don't give the option to put a 1.5m lead in for portable use, but I suppose I could say that about others. Ah well, shall keep looking..
 
pianoman said:
Thanks again for suggestions.

The reason the P5s appealed at first is that they are light, portable and with a short lead, as well as sound isolating. The PX100 are good for super budget, the Stax are great but not portable and people in the next room can hear. So something to bridge the gap, as it were.

The top candidates were the HD25-1, which I agree are excellent for a very wide range of music, light and good isolation. Problem? They're on-ear, and the pressure was too much, even though folk said they would loosen a bit. They really did hurt, so had to send them back, which was a great pity.

So there's the dilemma, and I imagined the P5s might be a solution. I don't want a 3m cable or anything too massive on my head, but over-ear or softer pads would probably suit me.
Will check out some of the above.

edit - mainly classical all genres
Click to expand...

You appear to be overlooking the Beyer DT700pro suggestion. They're comfortable sealed cans and they'll do very well with classical music IMO. They're also better than the HD25 IMO. The Denons are supposed to be excellent, but not that much better than the DT770s at nearly twice the cost.
 
I did indeed look on Amazon at some very favourable reviews and a pretty decent price - it was purely the long lead again, which so many do now. Maybe I should find a way to keep it neatly coiled up for portable use, and give those Beyers a go, though I don't really like anything too bass heavy (another reason why people have criticized the P5s)
 
pianoman said:
I did indeed look on Amazon at some very favourable reviews and a pretty decent price - it was purely the long lead again, which so many do now. Maybe I should find a way to keep it neatly coiled up for portable use, and give those Beyers a go, though I don't really like anything too bass heavy (another reason why people have criticized the P5s)
Click to expand...

Gotcha. The cable is annoyingly long, and the bass is strong, though this I find less of an issue with classical music because it's not mixed to have a strong low end.

I've read that the 250ohm version has less pronounced bass and better mid range, but I think an ipod might struggle to drive them (any decent preamp would do fine).
 
Hi Bottleneck,

I was a bit tetchy and for that I apologise though my comments were not directed at you alone.

I provided comments on small closed back phones because that is the category the P5s fall into, the additional points on cord length certainly concur with that category. The Bose On-ears, in my opinion, can not hold a candle to any of the candidates I nominated which is why I did not mention them, nor the Monster Beats, Skull Candy or other dire marketing over sound 'phones I have auditioned.

Pianoman, in terms of your additional criteria, the AKG K171 or K271 may be suitable. These are the "professional" models (the home models are the K172/K272) and come with replacable cords. They come with two cords as standard, one a 2m straight cable the other a coiled 60cm cable. The difference in the two models is cup diameter the K171 being on-ear, the K271 being over ear. Both are very comfortable (they come with pleather and velour pads). And I think they're very good with classical. The only caveat I'd have with these is that the K271 is hard to drive stright from an Ipod or a computer, though the Nuforce Udac discussed elsewhere on this forum would be useful in overcoming the computer side of things.

regards,

Giles
 
The K171s are chunky, no doubt about it. The cup size is slightly wider than the Bose, but its the way in which the cups are attached to the headband which makes them significantly deeper and stick out a bit, not to mention the two stiff wires over the top...All in all the standard AKG look. Again in my opinion, the AKGs (all models) are the most comfy brand for any long term listening. This video gives the comparative size of the over ear K271 and the on-ear K171.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R90oBzIan9A

I've used the K171s outdoors and you do get the odd stare, but no more so than people wearing Senn HD600s and the AT A500s (which here in Sydney happens more then you'd suspect...) and less than the Ferrari red Phiatons... The looks are why I suggested the AKG K171 as a non-commute phone...Still I'd really echo your first post and recommend listening before buying any headphones.

regards,

Giles

regards,

Giles
 
Have you got a John Lewis nearby? The one by me has a pair of P5 in amongst many other pairs of phones in the ipod/MP3 section. Take along your own player and plug them in :)
 
John Lewis is where I heard them.

They sounded pretty much the same as Senn PX200s (£47) through an Ipod headphone out as a source.

Maybe through a quality headphone amp they may come into your own, but if you just plan on using them with an Ipod .. not worth it IMO.
 
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