[Review] Bowers & Wilkins P7, a highly musical closed portable option

[Thunder240]

How long have you been using them for? I found the bass to be a bit bloated and sluggish but it tightened up (or I got used to it, who knows) after a fair few hours of use. I've been running it through my nexus 5 phone and also a cheap soundcard on my computer. Got a cayin c5 and an apex glacier currently in the mail on the way here so I'll let you know if it noticeably changes the sound.

I've been on the road with them for about a week now, probably totaling 15 hours of listening time (give or take two hours). Before I got on the road I A/Bed them against my Momentums for about 45 minutes. That was my first impression of the P7s, so it's quite possible that when I get home next week and A/B them again I'll have a completely different impression. Also, I need to check with the friend who lent me the P7s how much time they've had to burn in. I got the sense he doesn't listen to them much (his go-to cans are Alpha Dogs). If so, my knock against the P7 as having boated bass might be premature. Please let me know how the Glacier and the C5 affect the P7 as compared to your Nexus once you've had a chance to form some impressions.

P7s require a good bit of burn in before the bass settles down. I noticed a good improvement after 50 hrs and at 200 hrs it settled down nicely and find no longer the bass bump.
It scales up beautifully with the quality of amp. Right from 200$-2000$ amp, you'll notice big improvement.

Ok, I'll give the P7 a fair shake! When I get home from this trip, I'll listen to them through my NuForce HDP and my Denon 3808ci and see what they can do for bass.

 

[Jazz1]

They really do sound better I found after about 50 hours. I thought the out of the box bass sounded "flabby". Now they sound great and they are my go to cans for mobile use, but they do deserve some desktop amp/DAC time.

 

[randy98mtu]

I have been using my P7's as my primary headphone for over a year.  I have tried MANY other cans and they all got returned except the Beats Studio Wireless, primarily because I wanted a wireless can.  I'm not the most critical listener.  I mostly just love music and these make the music so enjoyable.  This review helps me realize this may be why I like these so much.  I'm hoping 2015 sees a B&W bluetooth noise cancelling set!

 

[keanex]

I'm curious if everyone who has contributed to this thread has been listening to the P7 amped?

I own a set of Momentums, and a friend is lending me his P7s on a long term basis in exchange for my Shure SRH-940s. So far I haven't had the chance to listen to them amped, just straight from my iPhone 5. While I do really enjoy the mids and treble, I find the bass to be muddy and sluggish compared to the Momentums also unamped. I look forward to trying them out with an amp and hearing the improvement, but for now I'll be the lone voice of dissent on the Momentum vs P7 comparison. For me the muddy bass is a significant blemish on the otherwise very enjoyable sound signature.

 
My review is amped with the Oppo HA-1, but I found the Sansa Clip+ sounded fine with the P7.

 

[Bark Snarly]

Okay first impressions of the p7 and the glacier, it expanded the soundstage width and I feel it made the overall sound just a bit cleaner, tighter and musical than from both my phone (which was quite warm but quite low quality if I'm honest, my pc eas much better) and my pc (which sounds pretty decent as it has an okay soundcard). It also brought forward a bit more detail and added a slight touch of warmth to the mids but the difference wasn't as pronounced as with a couple of my other cans.

I'll update when I get my c5 too as I feel the warm sound from it will synergise better with the p7's than the glacier does but there was definitely an improvement with the glacier by itself. I definitely felt myself drifting away in the music a LOT more with the glacier than just with the phone.

 

[immtbiker]

Thanks for this review.
 
I tried these out at an Apple store after watching Tyll's positive review of them on Innerfidelity.
I was concerned about the fact that if they were sold to the masses at the Apple Store, how good could they be?
 
But, I owned the P5's and after all, it is a Bowers and Wilkins product, isn't it? These headphones could have easily
been priced at $1K based upon the build quality, and materials used (sans the cables). Not sure how, compared to other
HP companies, they could charge the same amount of money as a cheaper Sennheiser, or mid-priced Sony? 

 
The P7's are a steal, and should be a part of every headphone collector's stable. They sound pretty darn gooood!
 
IMHO-

 

[keanex]

  Thanks for this review.
 
I tried these out at an Apple store after watching Tyll's positive review of them on Innerfidelity.
I was concerned about the fact that if they were sold to the masses at the Apple Store, how good could they be?
 
But, I owned the P5's and after all, it is a Bowers and Wilkins product, isn't it? These headphones could have easily
been priced at $1K based upon the build quality, and materials used (sans the cables). Not sure how, compared to other
HP companies, they could charge the same amount of money as a cheaper Sennheiser, or mid-priced Sony? 

 
The P7's are a steal, and should be a part of every headphone collector's stable. They sound pretty darn gooood!
 
IMHO-

 
I dunno about $1,000, but the $400 price I once thought was too high has shown, to me, to be well worth it.

 

[Prolificaudio]

Can anyone please comment on how these compare to the shure 1540s and which you prefer and why? I don't know which I should go with. I got a killer deal on the shures (375$) brand new! They retail for 500  one dollar bills. Still I don't know if I should switch to these babies. Any help asap would be greatly appreciated.

 

[potkettleblack]

1k?
 
 
lol

 

[manbear]

Nice review! Pretty much matches my impressions although I found that my issues with bass (primarily the midbass being occasionally bloated feeling) have pretty much gone away now after a lot of use. Dont know if I've just gotten used to it or what but it just makes already nice headphones a bit nicer.

Same here. I initially heard them as much more V-shaped than they seem now. 

 

[johnkkraus]

I read a few mentions of the P7s sounding better with the Apple control cable removed and the other cable used. I made the switch and to my ears the P7 sounds MUCH better. Less distortion at higher volumes, better DR, especially at the low end, better sonic immersion in the music. Not sure why this is so, but it was a a big improvement to my ears.

 

[1781cc]

Just wanted to say that I found your review on the P7 very helpful in narrowing down a list of headphones before I parted with cash.
 
After loads of listening time in various shops, assessing various brands the P7 did it for me and I love them. Its only been a few days of having them, but I can't wait for them to burn in and for my Fiio E12A to arrive!

 

[keanex]

  Just wanted to say that I found your review on the P7 very helpful in narrowing down a list of headphones before I parted with cash.
 
After loads of listening time in various shops, assessing various brands the P7 did it for me and I love them. Its only been a few days of having them, but I can't wait for them to burn in and for my Fiio E12A to arrive!

 
Thanks!

 

[immtbiker]

Even though I have a bunch of higher priced headphones in my stable, I still feel that the way the leather feels in my hands and on my head, and build quality of the P7's is top notch!

 

[keanex]

  Even though I have a bunch of higher priced headphones in my stable, I still feel that the way the leather feels in my hands and on my head, and build quality of the P7's is top notch!

Yeah, they are like my A900/A900x, they'll never be sold.