[Epicurean]

I don't see a lot of people with these phones in their sig. I suppose one major reason is that Philips just isn't regarded as very 'hifi', so most people simply ignore them. They are probably also hard to find in the US.

I first heard of these headphones over a year back at a finnish forum, where there was a lot of hype about them, i guess mostly because they happened to be on sale for 99€ in a lot of places. I just so happened to be looking for a new pair of headphones and had heard of the mighty Sennheiser brand, which was - and is - the trendy and most readily available choice in Finland. I happened to walk through one of the stores which had the Philips on sale, and decided to try them out. I compared them to the only other decent headphones in the store, which were the Sony's mdr-580 and mdr-780. It took only a couple of listens and I walked out the stores with my new Philips SBC-HP1000, and I haven't regretted my purchase for a second.

I have now used them as my main headphones for over a year and have yet to find a worthy replacement. They have - to my ears - a very balanced and natural tone and work excellent with just about any music genre. They are very good all-rounders. If I were to trust the frequency response diagram on the box, I think they would actually have the flattest response I've ever seen. I could post some pictures of the diagram later.

The areas where these need to improve would be detail and bass accuracy. My combination of EMU-0404 and PPA can get out a lot of detail from them but I think the limit of the Philips' is passed here. The bass also seemed a little blurred over all, but goes very low and with decent impact. Another thing I like about these cans is that they can go very LOUD without getting too harsh. They actually get better at higher volumes. The soundstage is also very large, and one of the best I've heard.

Rated at 32Ohms and a sensitivity of 106dB they can also be driven un-amped quite well, but they definately improve when amplified, especially the bass.

And priced at around 100€, I definately think these are the best bang for buck in their price class(At least in Finland, that is, where grado rs-1s cost 1200€

).

So, are there any other happy Philips owners out there?

 

[kramer5150]

Do I qualify?
I like my HP910.. a very good value IMHO.

Garrett

 

[JazzJackRabbit]

I've never owned 1000. I did buy my dad 910 and while they are very comfortable (probably the only point going for them), I don't like how they sound. My headphones are HD600 and those are way way better than 910. Of course it's not fair to compare headphones with 3x times the price, but the difference between say 910 and 580 shouldn't be more than $70-80, so if it was my personal choice I'd get 580 for a little more. 910 sound more aggressive, but they also lose a lot of detail in the process, nor they are as transparent as 580/600. Another thing I don't like about 910 is that they are almost as hard to drive as HD600, however two amps I've tried them with - pimeta and ppa give an audible hiss. Meh... 910/1000 may or may not be a good value for the money, that's very subjective to ones ears and wallet, however make no mistake, these cannot even be compared to higher quality headphones.

 

[Epicurean]

I've never heard the HP910s, so I have no idea how they compare to the SBC-HP1000. I do have a pair of HP800s though, and they are MILES below the 1000s in terms of sound quality. I've heard most Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic models and some AKG and Grado models and none of them have put my HP1000s to great shame. In specific areas yes, but overall no.

 

[sgrossklass]

Here in Germany, the HP1000 retails for only slightly less than the well-established HD595, to which is it supposed to be quite similar in sound (can anyone confirm?). Also, it is only available at a handful of dealers on the web. Not the best conditions... I've never heard one, unfortunately, but I remember reading about it being fairly hard to drive.

 

[mektarus]

I have a pair of HP890's and really like them a lot. Of course, I use my HD590 Equinox cable with them rather than the stock cable. I have been very curious about the HP1000's every since I got the 890's and in fact was about to buy a pair when I lost my job. I hope I get another chance someday.

 

[Disiskurt]

I haven't had enough experience with them to give a full impression, but since this is an appreication thread I felt I should chime in and say that I truly appreciate them. Just recently got them for a fantastic price, and haven't been more satisfied with a Head-Fi induced purchase. Granted, these are my first open circumaurals, but at least I can say that they certainly beat my Beyer DT770-80's. Maybe it's like this for all open headphones, I wouldn't know, but the sound leakage on these are much less than I thought they would be (my roommate can't notice them when sitting less than 7 feet away.) I can vouch for them being driven easily. They were easier to power out of my Sony HD3 than my Senn PX-10s!


And how about that case?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass Here in Germany, the HP1000 retails for only slightly less than the well-established HD595, to which is it supposed to be quite similar in sound (can anyone confirm?). Also, it is only available at a handful of dealers on the web. Not the best conditions... I've never heard one, unfortunately, but I remember reading about it being fairly hard to drive.

EyeAmEye has made that claim in the past, and even holding a slight preference to the HP1000's!

 

[TJ Elite]

Philips SBC HP1000s are indeed probably the best bang for the buck if you can get them for 100€. I paid 99€ for mine when they were on sale here in Finland. Their original price was 199€ which is a bit too high but for for the price I paid for them they are the best headphones you can buy for 100€.
SBC HP1000s were my first actual 'HiFi' headphones. I had bought Sennheiser's HD 515s a few months earlier but wasn't satisfied with their sound quality. Well at least not for the price which I think was just a bit over 100€. HD 515s sounded a bit better than anything I had at the time, but I was expecting a more notisable improvement in sound quality because they cost many times more than any of the headphones I owned.

I was really happy with the SBC HP1000s, listened to them for a few weeks and then I ordered my HD 650s. I still use the HP1000s with my computer. I've also noticed that any DAP can easily drive them, though, they are a bit too big for portable use IMO.
I highly recommend HP1000s as very good entry-level headphones if you can get them somewhere for ~100€.

 

[]|[ GorE]

Eagerly awaits pics of the response graph.

 

[OliT]

They certainly aren't all bad, actually really good as far as treble goes. They aren't bad for vocals either, but the bass leaves one wanting a bit more.

I've had a pair for a few years now, got them right after they came out, have had to switch them out for a new pair several times, the build quality is simply horrible, and well, the philips consumer care department is also far from satisfactory.

I'm doing a tiny bit of testing between them and my K701 right now, and well, the intial impressions are very good for the HP1000.

edit: Compared to the K701, both driven to a mixer to be able to switch seamlessly the HP1000 lacks lustre and the backing in the vocal that the K701 can bring to the table, but they are also considerably more expensive. The HP1000 isn't all bad, if it weren't for the lousy build quality, and the poor bass extension they could be considered to be a really good phone. Now, they just don't quite reach there, atleast not for me, for the price though, they are probably among the better you can find.

edit2: Also, the K701 are able to give a much more open soundstage, it feels wider. Naturally, the comparison isn't quite fair, but still it can be an indication of the fact that the HP1000 actually perform quite well.

 

[TJ Elite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE Eagerly awaits pics of the response graph.

Well here you go!

http://img445.imageshack.us/img445/5...onsegraphr.jpg

 

[Epicurean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Elite Well here you go! http://img445.imageshack.us/img445/5...onsegraphr.jpg

Thanks TJ Elite! I just took some pictures myself and was trying to find a place to upload them, but it seems you saved me the trouble.

 

[Epicurean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OliT The HP1000 isn't all bad, if it weren't for the lousy build quality, and the poor bass extension they could be considered to be a really good phone.

Now that's strange, because I'm actually very satisfied with the bass extension. It goes very deep IMHO, but as you can see in the frequency response diagram the usual low frequency hump isn't there, which could make it seem a little light for some. Perhaps your amp/source is to blame?

As far as build quality goes, yes, they look and feel a little fragile, but I've been using them a lot now for over a year, dropped them to the floor several times, and they are still as good as new...

 

[EyeAmEye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disiskurt I haven't had enough experience with them to give a full impression, but since this is an appreication thread I felt I should chime in and say that I truly appreciate them. Just recently got them for a fantastic price, and haven't been more satisfied with a Head-Fi induced purchase. Granted, these are my first open circumaurals, but at least I can say that they certainly beat my Beyer DT770-80's. Maybe it's like this for all open headphones, I wouldn't know, but the sound leakage on these are much less than I thought they would be (my roommate can't notice them when sitting less than 7 feet away.) I can vouch for them being driven easily. They were easier to power out of my Sony HD3 than my Senn PX-10s! And how about that case? EyeAmEye has made that claim in the past, and even holding a slight preference to the HP1000's!

Yes, I have, and the HP1000 is still with me as my only open can. I sold the HD595 because they were so similar in sound, and the HD595 was more expensive. With stock cable, I gave the slight edge to the 1000. Adding a headphile cable makes the treble more lively, and beats the 595 by a wider margin. The 595 was easier to drive, but not by much. My Rio Karma drives the 1000 pretty good.

Build quality hasn't been an issue for me. It isn't the sturdiest can in the world, but it's comfortable and light. For anything under $100, it's a steal, and if anyone's willing to pay $175-200 for a HD595 (I did and didn't feel ripped off), then the 1000 could easily sell for that price, too.

 

[TJ Elite]

I just took a look at the specs given on the box and the frequency range mentioned sounds a bit too good for the phones.
Frequency range: 5-40 000 Hz
Frequency response table also looks a bit too flat to be credible... These specs might be quite accurate but I think that they might have been 'adjusted' a bit. I have never before seen such a flat responce from 20 to 200 Hz. Sennheiser only promises 10-39500 Hz for the HD 650s. But specs are only specs and don't tell you much about the sound quality itself.