[nofacemonster]

I have a pair of 12 year old Philips SBC HP200 with me and i looked for any discussion threads that might be out there, but there is none so i thought of opening one since i am sure one you owns this. I am not much of a technical fella or audiophile. Just love good sound and that's all. I've been having them for a very long time and they work perfectly well as the day i bought them. Built like tanks to last forever, and it only cost me around 14$ back then. They were my first full size cans it got me in to this hobby. I didn't had anything to compare it with back then but now i do and they sounds amazing for what they are. They have such a big huge heavy full bass sound. If you like bass and wants to find some old cans, they are the ones for you.

I tried the similar priced Philips cans later on but they can't even come close to what SBC HP200 sounds like. They are that good.

These cans always felt low volume and under powered when i used them but recently i got a V.E Odyssey dac dongle from venture electronics and now they are on STEROIDS. they sounds out of this world good with full volume.

nothing much to say other than they are build like tanks with a thick cable and good sound for the price. Very comfortable to wear as well. Also they are SEMI-OPEN back i think because i can hear outside sound very well and they feel airy. there is almost no seal from outside sound.

Here are some specs i dug out of the internet.

32 Ohms
15 - 22hz
100db sensitivity

 

[brickZA]

Hi,

I also re-discovered these headphones recently. My history of them is long. In the late 1990's early 2000's I had either the exact same headphones, or very similar looking predecessors, not sure. I was very happy with them, I thought they sounded good and, most importantly, they were _very_ comfortable, an important consideration as a postgrad student doing 16 hour thesis writing days I used them mainly with a mid-1990's Sony DiscMan and a SoundBlaster 16 equipped PC.

Then I went to Taiwan teaching English as a working holiday from 2002-2004. There I had some Panasonic portable CD player and a new PC with onboard sound. I bought the SBC HP200's around 2003. I was happy with the comfort but I thought they sounded trash. I used them on and off when comfort was more important than sound. Then they ended up on a shelf for 10+ years.

Recently I tried them again using both a Schiit Fulla E and a Schiit Magni+ with Topping D50s as source. I was surprised. They aren't exaclty hifi by they have a pleasing signature for some kinds of music. I suspect my problem in 2003 was that my sources had weak amplification as compared to the older DiscMan and SB16 that had outputs that were even capable of driving small "Multi Media" speakers as was popular for PCs back in the day.

When you see their construction you may be surprised by their comfort -- it's all hard plastic apart from the velour ear-pads. I think their comfort stems from A) their large earcups that (for me at least) doesn't touch any part of my ear directly, contact is all with the side of my head and B) their light weight -- their weight is almost completly supported by their relatively light clamping force so the hard plastic doesn't really rest on your head. I can also confirm nofacemonster's impression that they are semi-open and don't cut much noise either way. Got a "your music sounds loud" from my partner for the first time in a while

While they are somewhat solidly built, both these and my previous pair broke at the part where the head-band connects to the earcups. Realitvely easy to repair, note the organge Sugru patch in the picture

I have not listened particularly critically, but I'll try compare to my daily driver AKG K371's.

I'd say they have a bit of a V shaped tonality, definitely more "fun" sounding that the AKGs. I find them somewhat warm and easy to listen too over long periods, but definitely lacking in the detail department. Actually works better than the AKGs with the electronic and some rock music that I listen to while working as background / distraction blockers. Their bass is definitely less clear but has a nice heft to it[**]. When listening to electronic music (E.g. Properllerheads Decksandrumsandrockandroll) the bass is full and the percussion has a bit of added sizzle. On music requiring more detail or neutrality (e.g. Jazz, solo piano, instrumental) the sound signature and lack of detail make them far inferior to the AKGs. In spite of being semi-open they don't seem to have much of a sound stage and only fairly faint imaging. They are also quite a bit less sensitive than the AKGs, requiring a significantly larger twist of the volume knob on the Fulla and the Magni+.

[**] I've seen some reviews that describe the AKGs as having overblown sub bass, but that is definitely not my experience. I find the AKGs bass "fast" and it is very good at giving you the transient impact of a drum hit or bass-guitar slap but somewhat light on sustained bass notes unless you're listening pretty loud. I often find myself EQing up the sub- and low bass when listening to electronic music.

In summary, I find these old cans still have a place in my arsenal. They've become my permanent home-office solution. Their laid-back sound works well for background music. With a lavalier mic clipped to the headphone cable going into the Fulla E they work pretty well for conference calls. And they free my AKGs to permanently reside at my "serious listening" station