[Elsweyr]

  ^ There are lots of other better cans out there, but for much more money.
For the price paid though, the Uptowns really are very nice.  They have a nice natural and mostly flat EQ sound.
Very good for hearing sound exactly as it is coming from the source, assuming the source is nice and neutral.
I paid $50 (brand new on Ebay) for mine and it was well worth it. You'd have to pay $200-$250 or more to get better sound. 

what examples of 200-250 more?
the ath-m50 or the UE6000 are one of those or the uptown is still better overall?

 

[Smarty-pants]

  what examples of 200-250 more?
the ath-m50 or the UE6000 are one of those or the uptown is still better overall?

More than 200-250? Take your pic, there are TONS in that domain.
I forgot about the ATH-M50 though, and those would be just about equal to the Uptowns, but at a higher price.
I've seen some post they like the Uptown better, yet some like the M50 better. I think they are really close.
You do get the portability option with the M50 though, if that is worth the extra money to you.
There is also now the M50x with detachable cable too.
I am not familiar with the UE6000.

 

[Arvan]

I think the uptowns is a much more enjoyable package compared to the M50. The pads are way better, so is isolation which is pretty damn good on the philips. They do sound very similar though. None of the mentioned are flat sounding, and even though the M50 is marketed as a studio monitor it´s way way off in the tuning to even come close to a monitor headphone. 
 
Yes there are better cans out there, but i don´t think the m50 is one of them. And it really depends on what you want. For pure listening pleasure the M50/uptown is a good choice for most people who like a little bass and some treble peaks to make things sound enjoyable and fun. For people who want a true sounding monitor and all the pro/cons that comes with them, look elsewhere. 
 
This is one of the reasons i think you can´t just have one set of cans. I change headphones / iems alot depending on what i am listening to and what mood i´m in. But as a all round headphone the philips is good, if you still can get it since it is discontinued. 

 

[Mikeopellos]

 

[cpt000]

Just got them a few hours ago and these headphones are wonderfully comfortable. My ears pop out a bit and they nestle comfortably in the ear cups. They were pressed in in my other headphones the HD681 Evos, so I could only wear those for short periods. Still breaking them in but I played some opera and the Uptowns gave me goosebumps! Superlux's never did that. Looking forward to spending more time with them.
 
They're still on sale on ebay but prices have gone up - I did an offer of $70 and the buyer accepted.

 

[regularcrowd]

so i also bought these and have an update 3 years and 1 month after purchase.
never really liked them as they were too pretty to look at, but the missus insisted we buy the headphones. it looked decent, but after having tried several midrange philips audio pieces since the early 90s, i knew they weren't going to sound brilliant.
these were just used in the office, sometimes to listen to some flacs via a laptop; sometimes just worn over my ears to warm them as the A/C can be overpowering. after use, they're just stored in the cabinet under my desk. a few months ago, i noticed some "bubbling" on the surface of the earpads, and the brown nubuck-ish leather on the band were cracking/bursting. i figured i should take better care of these, even though i wasn't doing anything extreme with them.
just this monday, as it was hanging on a padded hook (it was placed in there to minimize contact with anything so as not to hurt the pads further), the left earpad just suddenly divorced itself ever so mildly from the earcups. i hated the asymmetry so i just tore the right one off. it also gave way too easily, like it was gonna follow the footsteps of the left one in a few days.
3 years and 1 month. that may sound long enough to some, but i really am disappointed at how these pretty things seem to have some sort of self-destruct mode at a set date and time.
the headphones are still functioning, but over the years of mild tugging and pulling from the jack, the static and crackling seems to have worsened (as expected) and it's not helped by the clunky volume slider that never seemed to work properly since day 1.
 
here are the foam pads