Bowers & Wilkins P7 Headphone Review

There  seems to be an ever increasing sense of escalation of gift giving in my home. My girlfriend and I have almost gotten to a point where we're constantly trying to outdo each other when Christmas or a birthday comes along.

It's both incredibly enjoyable, and somewhat costly.

So when it came about for thathifigal's birthday, I felt that need to step it up. Initially, I had planned on a pair of #Sennheiser #Momentumheadphones, but after thathifigal bought a pair of those for her sister for Christmas, I ended up having to knock it up a notch and bought her a pair of +Bowers & Wilkins #P7 headphones instead.

So here I am, while thathifigal is at work, taking advantage of the fact she rode her bicycle today, and giving her headphones a good going over.

Bowers & Wilkins are a name that have always been synonymous with a certain level of quality, and these headphones certainly do nothing to change that. There are very well built, feeling very robust in the hands. The ear cups are good in size and fit quite comfortably over my somewhat large ears. The leather bound headband oozes premium and Bowers & Wilkins have matched that to the outer layer of the earpieces too. 

The P7's come with a protective case, two options of headphone cable, one with and one without a play/pause function and volume control fitted as well as a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter. My only grudge here is that the moulding for the 3.5mm plug on the headphone end is very specific, so there wouldn't be an option to use heftier cable should the desire arise. Having said that, the cable provided seems sufficient.

Now, typically I use two pairs of headphones, #AKG   #K495NC 's when I'm out and about, and AKG #K550 headphones when I'm at home. That's not to say I'm an AKG fanboy, I'm not at all, in fact I have three more pairs lying at home, all made by Sennheiser. 

Now I use the K495NC's often enough to know I don't need to do a track by track comparison, the P7's are clearly better musically. It's obvious the moment you start listening. I've been going through an unashamedly evident Lana Del Ray phase recently, and have been listening to her Born to Die album on high rotation.

I plug into my #iPhone #5S, open my #Onkyo #HFPlayer app and start listening. Compared to what I hear through the K495's, the sound from the P7's is far better spread and the sense of scale is much larger, even at lower levels. 

My one gripe became obvious as I started listening to her track "Video Games". I find the P7's started to highlight the fact this was a compressed track. Yes, this is indeed an iTunes Store download.

The treble started to sound strained, though I feel this is more a result of the compression on the track rather than a weakness in the headphones themselves.

To test out my theory, I connect to my "reference" system.

My main system would be considered a high end consumer system/low end audiophile system. It consists of a #Marantz #TT-15s1 turntable, #Audiolab #8200CD CD player/DAC, Mac Mini,#Roksan #Kandy #K2 Amp/Power amp combination and #Jamo#C803 Standmount speakers. 

I open iTunes and BitPerfect and away I go. Plugged into the headphone output of my K2, playing through the DAC of my 8200CD, there is a noticible improvement in the presentation. While some slight hints of that compression still lingers, it isn't as obvious which suggests to me that you may want to consider a separate portable DAC/headphone amp if you're planning on permanently listening to lossy files with the P7's.

I unplug from my main system and back into my phone. I begin playing an ALAC rip of the first track from Jack Johnson's Sleep Through the Static album, All at Once. 

This is much better. The sound is clean, crisp and the bass is punchy. The mix is lively with instruments, but everything has its place is defined accordingly.

The next track I tested was one I stumbled across after buying Angus & Julia Stone's album Down the Way. Track 6, Yellow Brick Road became somewhat of a reference track for me. Yes, it is exceptionally well recorded, however it can highlight weaknesses in systems. The trick with this track is to demonstrate a clear and concise treble without making it sound overly hissy and bright, which seems to be a flaw in a great many systems I've heard.

The P7's handle an ALAC rip of this with ease. Sound is natural without any hint of harshness in the top end. Angus' vocals are arranged neatly and again, no emphasis of hiss is evident. When the bass guitar and drum kit kick in at the end of the first chorus, the P7's display it confidently with a nice, rich sounding warmth, all the while maintaining that clean, clear treble and midrange.

For comparison's sake, I decided to try out my AKG K550's. These aren't designed as portable headphones, more for use at home, however, I would consider them to be of a similar level of performance typically. Lana Del Ray's Video Games starts to play from my phone again. Sure enough that same hint of compression is evident.

Again I connect to my main system and just like before, the improvement is indeed obvious, but underlying elements of that compressed sound still linger.

Jack Johnson plays again, and the K550s tell me that the bass response from the P7s is slightly warmer. The K550s, while they do have bass present, don't do as good a job of displaying it.

I can safely say that Angus & Julia Stone are going to make it to the wizard by lunch with how frequently Yellow Brick Road has been playing. It's on this track the distinction between the two headphones becomes more obvious, the AKG's are a little brighter sounding, with slightly more emphasis on the top end. Not to the point where the track sounds harsh, but they are obviously brighter in the top/mid range.

All things said, I really enjoyed my time with the P7's. They are musically very enjoyable, they are built incredibly well and are rather stylish I must say. If you're after a pair of headphones, be it for out and about or even for at home, and these fall into your budget, they are well worth an audition. Highly recommended.