PHILIPS SHP 5401

[garcsa]

Sorry, but I have to share these pics.
 
Between Árons head and the 5401 is Curt....
 
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[nick n]

Boy you aren't kidding when you say they are getting hard to find.  All seem to be in UK or Europe. Searching to see if some local places still have stock in Canada. I have a couple Philips and always enjoy them. Can't wait to see that new flagship one they are releasing soon.
 
Thanks for the reviews in here.

 

[Tisch]

These are nice portable headphones. They have more bass than Sennheiser 201, and a bit less highs, but just a bit. Open by design, so the sound leaks outside quite a bit. But for the money they are very good - cheaper than Senn 201.

 

[agoston.berko]

I bought 3 of them for 20€ each. Amazing price/performance ratio. I have also iGrado. iGrado sounds better. But Philips has also a very competitive sound. Comfort is 10/10. I mean 10/10. Comfort matters too for me. This is a wonderful headphone. It has a transparent sound, without distorsions at any freq range. If you can find them, buy them immidiately even for 40€. This is superb. Never thought Philips can do something like that. One sided cable, light, nice design, noise free cable (100% noise free!), even out of the box it sounds pretty right. I can hear it's limitations in sound compared to my Alessandro MS Pro, but still very very good value.

 

[sofastreamer]

i bought them last week just because of this thread, but did not notice, that they are open back. to bad, because i liked what i heard. did return them today.

 

[agoston.berko]

how much did you payed for it ? why don't you keep it ? it's a no brainer and a keeper. open vs closed: prefer open because of sound.

 

[sofastreamer]

i have k701 and some more as open cans. i would have needed it on the go. payers about 25 euros.

 

[agoston.berko]

maybe some in-ears.

 

[Sleep Mode zZ]

I've had these for about a year. Got them the day before I got Porta Pros and PX-100s. I was very impressed with the sound of the SHP5401s and consequently dissapointed with the other headphones. The Philips is definitely a step further into the land of HiFi, albeit with the price of bigger size and reduced portability. Unlike |Joker|, I do find them quite bass heavy (but not disturbingly so). The only problem for me is lack of comfort - a mismatch between the pads and my ears.

 

[Astrud]

Quote:

I bought 3 of them for 20€ each. Amazing price/performance ratio. I have also iGrado. iGrado sounds better. But Philips has also a very competitive sound. Comfort is 10/10. I mean 10/10. Comfort matters too for me. This is a wonderful headphone. It has a transparent sound, without distorsions at any freq range. If you can find them, buy them immidiately even for 40€. This is superb. Never thought Philips can do something like that. One sided cable, light, nice design, noise free cable (100% noise free!), even out of the box it sounds pretty right. I can hear it's limitations in sound compared to my Alessandro MS Pro, but still very very good value.

Three pairs at once 

 , cool! BTW  - bought mine in Hungary, for some 4.700,- HUF in 2011. Very interesting and impessive sound. Worth the price, love them!

 

[agoston.berko]

Quote:

Three pairs at once 

 , cool! BTW  - bought mine in Hungary, for some 4.700,- HUF in 2011. Very interesting and impessive sound. Worth the price, love them!

Three pair for backup yes

I love em too and the comfort level for me is top notch. Actually this is the most comfortable headphone I have ever tried.  It's light and has a great big pad and headband. The price is even for 50€ great deal for that sound & comfort.
And after burn in it's even better sounding. I never thought I would like a 35€ Philips headphone that much. Strange but true.

 

[brawl]

  Ah, good. Their signature is a bit different from everything else you've got. Too bad they are now difficult to find here in the states.

Hello |joker| how are you? I'm a 5401 lover too, I live in Italy. do you remember me? we talked in PM some years ago. I have dress those headphones for years, I still use them they are my only headphones (I send the 3,5 little jack to repair frequently).
Unfortunately today is no longer easy to find them in my country: no ebay. no amazon.it, no amazon.de, no amazon.fr. there is only one that sell them but it's 35,90£ pounds + £4.59 UK delivery. but this UK shop can't sent them to my address (italy).
so, I guess, is end. I wish to ask you please, does exist a new model that can take the heredity of the 5401 that I can buy?
I bought the 5401 after reading your review years ago and I really wish to follow your advice once again if possible. I wish to thanks you for the quality of the sound that I have heard in those years.
 
Hugs,
 
Daniele

 

[ljokerl]

  Hello |joker| how are you? I'm a 5401 lover too, I live in Italy. do you remember me? we talked in PM some years ago. I have dress those headphones for years, I still use them they are my only headphones (I send the 3,5 little jack to repair frequently).
Unfortunately today is no longer easy to find them in my country: no ebay. no amazon.it, no amazon.de, no amazon.fr. there is only one that sell them but it's 35,90£ pounds + £4.59 UK delivery. but this UK shop can't sent them to my address (italy).
so, I guess, is end. I wish to ask you please, does exist a new model that can take the heredity of the 5401 that I can buy?
I bought the 5401 after reading your review years ago and I really wish to follow your advice once again if possible. I wish to thanks you for the quality of the sound that I have heard in those years.
 
Hugs,
 
Daniele

 
Wow, lucky one of my other threads got bumped and I noticed that this one did too. Normally Head-Fi doesn't send me notifications from old threads, for whatever reason. 
 
The 5401 still stands in my mind as a pretty unique-sounding headphone. With IEMs you have some options for this type of sound but headphones tend to be more conservative and less varied in sound signature - at least the ones I've tried. The closest thing that comes to mind potentially is the Audio-Technica ESW9, but that's so much more expensive and so very different in design and purpose. 
 
If I were you, I'd probably stick so something on the neutral/accurate side - it might not have the magic of the SHP5401, but it also won't sound horribly bloated or out of whack, either. For instance, the Sennheiser HD428/429 or Audio-Technica ATH-SQ5.
 
A little more fun would be an Ultimate Ears 6000 or Panasonic HTF600. The former may be pricy (I think UE products tend to be a lot more expensive in Europe) and the latter is not very portable, but they are good headphones with a bit more punch than the more neutral ones above. Again not an amazing match for the unique SHP5401, but good options on the market right now, IMO.

 

[brawl]

   
Wow, lucky one of my other threads got bumped and I noticed that this one did too. Normally Head-Fi doesn't send me notifications from old threads, for whatever reason. 
 
The 5401 still stands in my mind as a pretty unique-sounding headphone. With IEMs you have some options for this type of sound but headphones tend to be more conservative and less varied in sound signature - at least the ones I've tried. The closest thing that comes to mind potentially is the Audio-Technica ESW9, but that's so much more expensive and so very different in design and purpose. 
 
If I were you, I'd probably stick so something on the neutral/accurate side - it might not have the magic of the SHP5401, but it also won't sound horribly bloated or out of whack, either. For instance, the Sennheiser HD428/429 or Audio-Technica ATH-SQ5.
 
A little more fun would be an Ultimate Ears 6000 or Panasonic HTF600. The former may be pricy (I think UE products tend to be a lot more expensive in Europe) and the latter is not very portable, but they are good headphones with a bit more punch than the more neutral ones above. Again not an amazing match for the unique SHP5401, but good options on the market right now, IMO.

 
Thanks a lot for your help ljokerl now I'm tryng to find out a way to buy the 5401 in UK, I have a brother in UK maybe I can try this option (to deliver the headphones to his home). I will evaluate the headphones that you suggest to me, I really wish to try the Panasonic HTF600, thanks so much!!!  

 

[CantScareMe]

The 5401 is one of my favourite phones to be honest. Glad that there's a liking here since i guess it's a low key headphone. 
 
I've got a bigger-than-average head so it just about fits me, but the sound is impressive regardless of headphone price. Becomes even better when paired with a good dac/amp.