[dlhen68]

Another note re: burn-in.
Yesterday I dropped by the Magnolia room on my way home. I had some time so I decided to give the Momentums another listen. Also spent some time with the H6. Then, for comparison purposes, I plugged my iPod into the P7 they had on display. It was like being hit over the head with an aluminum baseball bat! They sounded much harsher than the ones I've put about 200 hours into. When I got home I plugged my P7s into the same source and played the same songs. Much mellower sounding.
I've also found that after long sessions my earlobes do start feeling some compression.
Makes me wonder if maybe B&W will eventually offer some alternative ear pads for these...

 

[xanlamin]

Anybody knows the cheapest place online to get this? So far, the lowest price is USD399 at Apple or Bestbuy. 

 

[Speakerphile]

  Anybody knows the cheapest place online to get this? So far, the lowest price is USD399 at Apple or Bestbuy. 

B&W keeps a pretty tight lid on discounting.  eBay is probably one of the only ways, unless you get lucky.  

 

[moot11]

  Anybody knows the cheapest place online to get this? So far, the lowest price is USD399 at Apple or Bestbuy. 

 
I found this on ebay, last week, new for $325+$25 (shipping). Fingers crossed that they're not knock offs!

 

[Speakerphile]

   
I found this on ebay, last week, new for $325+$25 (shipping). Fingers crossed that they're not knock offs!

You should be good!  It's pretty early to start seeing knock-offs!  

 

[moot11]

  You should be good!  It's pretty early to start seeing knock-offs!  

 
Good point, and good to know! THANKS!

 

[LFC_SL]

Lol I can understand how to some the P7 is the best mobile headphone. I'll even accept the P7 may have a unique sound that makes it the best for some songs, though that's really pushing it. But there is no way it can play with the big boys. Compare it to a desktop rig and it can't hold a candle to. I really do like the M500, but there's plenty in my desktop rig that I can't unhear and the M500 doesn't come close. I guess what irks me is hearing praise that makes it sound like the P7 is the best headphones anyone has ever heard. I'm sure it is for some, but with the same amount of money, you could get a better sounding desktop rig. I think this kind of praise spreads misinformation for some to believe that getting the P7 and you're set for your audiophile journey. Eh I guess that ignorance would save wallets though.

"Once you hear it you cannot un-hear sadly" - that's a statement that should be reserved for the best rig you've ever heard.

Learn to read and reign it in it was a nice discussion about merits of P7 vs M500 straight out of smartphone and class -db rig. Very relevant to many readers. Having had home listening time with three of the big names in this category I stand by my opinion fully (see Flickr link in sig).

If you have no experience maybe research and then demo for yourself before speaking, just a thought.

No-one is talking about desktop rigs except you and incredibly strange how you mis-read an innocuous post. Disagree fine but not because you cannot read. I do not see how anyone will think I am comparing to my HD600 or TH900 on home rigs. For the avoidance of doubt: I am not

 

[Sonido]

Learn to read and reign it in it was a nice discussion about merits of P7 vs M500 straight out of smartphone and class -db rig. Very relevant to many readers. Having had home listening time with three of the big names in this category I stand by my opinion fully (see Flickr link in sig).

If you have no experience maybe research and then demo for yourself before speaking, just a thought.

No-one is talking about desktop rigs except you and incredibly strange how you mis-read an innocuous post. Disagree fine but not because you cannot read. I do not see how anyone will think I am comparing to my HD600 or TH900 on home rigs. For the avoidance of doubt: I am not

Oh I've demoed both quite extensively:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/691170/kef-m500-vs-bowers-wilkins-p7

That review is all based on mobile use only. My point in this thread has been to say if you're given $600, and you have to make the best sounding setup you can, no limitations on portability or isolation, the P7 is not gonna be in the chain there. I apologize if I misunderstood the context. It seems to be an unspoken precondition that it's for portable use only, though the mention of amping confused me I guess. For portable setups, by all means get the P7.

 

[AykDaddy]

Just sold my P7 after about 3 weeks of intense use to get the M500.
I found the P7 too colored in contrast to the quite neutral sounding M500, especially the quite boomy bass response
Plus I like the more natural mids on the Kefs, the vocals sound really good.

 

[Chimichanga]

^Aren't M500's 'on-ears'? Sounds like NAD HP50 would be right up your alley.

 

[moot11]

Picked up a P7 and using it with a vali modi combo. I hear a lot of white noise when my music is paused. I emailed Schiit and someone responded that the P7s are insanely efficient, so they would expect that I hear the noise floor. 
 
Can someone confirm that this is the case? I don't have another pair of headphones to test at the moment. 

 

[LFC_SL]

Have you tried surge protector or something to filter wall power noise

I hear no noise with P7 on portable rigs so guessing the noise is your combo in your specific environment

 

[xriddler]

So I just picked up the P7s breaking them in at the moment. I tested both these and the momentums and I have to agree the P7 has quite a boomy bass. Sometimes it would just shake my head a little when it kicks in. I would have gone with momentums but they were a little tight and small for me even though the SQ was mesmerizing. I'm a bit rough too so I like the p7s ability to replace the earcups if needed, would be cool if they make a few more earcup colors just to personalize it a little. If I had to choose again I think I might have gone with the momentums cause they just suck you in, too bad the earcups were too small for me. Why not return the P7? Well live and learn I bought it from a place that has a no return policy for headphones so make sure you find a place that has a good policy if you aren't sure about your choices.

 

[Sappy]

Give them some more time. I let them play during nights for a week or so and listened by day to them. the boomy gets better and the highs will get smoother. At least that worked for me. Please report back if you still don't like them when they are "burned in". just being curious as many people seem to have this problem and therefore not liking the P7. or they don't like them because they don't sound good to them despite burn in. I don't know.

 

[Sonido]

Picked up a P7 and using it with a vali modi combo. I hear a lot of white noise when my music is paused. I emailed Schiit and someone responded that the P7s are insanely efficient, so they would expect that I hear the noise floor. 

Can someone confirm that this is the case? I don't have another pair of headphones to test at the moment. 

According to Jason here, http://www.head-fi.org/t/685162/new-vali-schiit-amp/30#post_9876674 , the Vali has 8 ohms output impedance. That's likely why there's noise as you need 64 ohms in your headphones to not hear noise based on the 8 times impedance rule. You could try getting a cheap $5 iem that's 16 ohms and see if the background noise is even worse. That would confirm the problem being poor impedance matching.