Bowers & Wilkins P5 user reviews

Pros Sleek and stylish, sound and feel phenomenal, mobile and durable, rival my Bang & Olufsen (then again, they don't make headphones in this class).

Cons A bit clunky when you're in a hurry, leather pads can become uncomfortable when I wear my glasses (expected though).

Summary I have had Bose, Bang & Olufsen, Apple, and for a short but hellish time, Beats by Dr. Dre. Without a doubt, the British have outdone the Danish. Sleek, sexy, solid construction, unbelievable sound quality, and backed by the customer service you can expect from Bowers & Wilkins. It's as if they have taken my B&W home theatre and compressed it into a pair of stylish cans! Beats; too much bass. Bose; too much hype, cheep construction. Bang & Olufsen; cool looking and good sounding, but not as good. Apple; over-priced for the quality and too white and cultish... From what I have ascertained, I am an audiophile (no I do not have wet dreams of a home theatre speaker),or a picky individual with a inclination for finding the right sound producing device and I am a damn picky one. Bowers & Wilkins have not only answered my quest for, dare I say, perfect desktop speakers (MM-1) but for headphones as well. If you are willing to spend the cash, go for it!

Pros Build quality, cool looks, killer sound quality, iPod/iPhone controls and mike control standard, cord is anchored at 90 degrees to remove strain hopefully.

Cons cord is a little short, they're $300, leather might get a little warm for some folks in a hot environment

Summary I used a set of Shure SE530 for a long time as my noise cancelling solution on airplanes. I hate background noise and I hate having to listen to flight attendants. I also hated having to pull them out to hear and put them back in all the time and just didn't like in ear monitors much in general. I was going to buy a set of Blowz out of desperation but then saw these in an Apple store. A little research and they're now mine. Wow. After break in I'm sure they'll get better but already they just seem to get everything right. Treble is neutral, bass is tight and present, midrange is somewhere between warm and neutral but they just have fantastic tone and detail and staging (for headphones). Great stuff. They seem to "do" all music types so far - Diana Krall to the 'Peas to acoustic jazz from Fourplay. They are also "ruthless" in that your bitrate and the entire equipment chain will be pretty apparently to your ears. If it is a crappy, compressed source with a bad op-amp pushing it through your laptop then that's what it sounds like. Plugged into a 2nd gen iPod touch with AAC lossless files, it sounds a whole lot better. If it is a bad recording, you get that too. Can't wait for the Stones Exile on Main Street remix to hear what they remixed now!

Bottom line - they just get you into the music which is the whole point. Excellent product - and they are the first headphone B&W has ever made so double wow. Some things are truly "you get what you pay for" and these fit into that category. Maybe the top of the line Grados or Sennheisers would surpass them but that takes $1,000 + dedicated headphone amplification and they aren't really suited for travel/noise isolation duty anyway. These guys are made for mobile and do an outstanding job. Solid 4.5 rating in my book.

Pros Can replace the cord and ear cups

Cons The leather cups can get very warmer in summer

Pros love the lambskin, crisp sound, well balanced, comfortable

Cons a bit of a tight fit, does get my ears a bit swampy during the summer months but for cooler months and indoor use, it's fantastic