[BlindTiger]

Is $20 for the Philips HP625 a good buy?
How bout the HP550 for $17?

 

[4fatcatz]

Nice prices for both of them. I happen to own both models and
they are very nice (for the money) and when used within thier
limits (dont A/B test them against Senn 600 or Grado RS1).

The 550's have a nice deep bass, very easy to listen to and
enjoy music with. The 625 are very different though, bass is very
strong, very tight, and deep. They are slightly on the bright side
but this adds to their "speed". This is the first thing I noticed about the 625's. They are very fast with lots of impact. I like
them quite a bit for the $25.00 bucks I paid for them. Again,
slightly bright but your taste may be different. One other thing,
the 625's are butt ugly, where as the 550's fold up and dont look
so silly on your head. I hope that helps.

 

[BlindTiger]

wow, those were my thoughts too.
I just finished listening to them for 2 hours.
It's definately bright. The high hat, tamborine and acoustic finger strumming is noticeable. I wouldn't say it's lifeless but but when you strum the strings on a guitar you get tones, this almost sounded like those toy nylon string guitars.
Vocals were fine along with the bass. I think my Grado 80's had more bass but it was tight with impact. But then I don't listen to bass heavy music.
I found the soundstage is wide and excellent stereo separation.
They sound better than my Senn PX100, which I use for portable use.