Bowers & Wilkins P7 Vs Sennheiser HD 700

[mrunalkapadia]

What's up people ? I am planning to invest in a good set of near or actual audiophile headphones soon and have shortlisted 2 of em' :

1) Bowers & Wilkins P7

2) Sennheiser HD 700

Not a good comparison, as one is enthusiast and other is audiophile but wanted to know which one is a good investment. My priority in order for headphones :

1) Good Bass, not very punchy or a total bass driven sound but balanced. Should not muddle on high volumes.

2) Soundstage, require this to be believable with good instrument seperation.

3) Design (I know B&Ws are designed better than Sennis, but wanted to include this point).

You can also post different set of headphones if you feel as a recommendation which falls in between the price range of these 2 shortlisted candidates.

 

[dalethorn]

What's up people ? I am planning to invest in a good set of near or actual audiophile headphones soon and have shortlisted 2 of em' :

1) Bowers & Wilkins P7

2) Sennheiser HD 700

Not a good comparison, as one is enthusiast and other is audiophile but wanted to know which one is a good investment. My priority in order for headphones :

1) Good Bass, not very punchy or a total bass driven sound but balanced. Should not muddle on high volumes.

2) Soundstage, require this to be believable with good instrument seperation.

3) Design (I know B&Ws are designed better than Sennis, but wanted to include this point).

You can also post different set of headphones if you feel as a recommendation which falls in between the price range of these 2 shortlisted candidates.

I've never heard or seen in person the HD700, but I'd take it without hesitation over the P7. Reasons include 1) The HD700 is/was a $1000 USD item, while the P7 is appropriately priced at half that. 2) The P7 has a loose or slightly muddy/boomy bass. 3) The P7 treble is not extremely clean and smooth. 4) The P7 is very, very snug - somewhat claustrophobic. But the P7 is closed, and portable....

 

[Lauri Cular]

My impressions of the HD700 are that you have the fairly typical Sennheiser sound, warm yet detailed, but with a bit of a midrange bump there which gives a bit more punch. Very noticeable after listening to the more balanced HD800, but not in a bad way.

 

[jamesjoyce]

What about the Final Audio Design Pandora VI?

I spent some time and effort demo'ing the B&W P7, Sennheiser Momentum and even the HD800 and the Pandora VI is blew me away. It sounds incredibly open for a closed back headphone and is beautifully made. The sense of reaslism with this headphone has to be experienced. I highly recommend auditioning the Pandora if you are in the market for a truly high end headphone.

 

[dalethorn]

What about the Final Audio Design Pandora VI?

I spent some time and effort demo'ing the B&W P7, Sennheiser Momentum and even the HD800 and the Pandora VI is blew me away. It sounds incredibly open for a closed back headphone and is beautifully made. The sense of reaslism with this headphone has to be experienced. I highly recommend auditioning the Pandora if you are in the market for a truly high end headphone.

Totally agree - a great headphone.

 

[Lauri Cular]

Hear hear to that!

I had a listen to some Pandoras whilst lying down earlier this week and dribbled all down my chin. Fantastic.

 

[steve_1979]

I listened to both the B&W's and HD700's together two weeks ago and the HD700 wins hands down. No competition.

I also demoed much more expensive Grado's and Beyerdynamic T1's and the HD700 were the clearest and most natural sounding as well as being the the most comfortable. The only slight reservation is that they can come across as slightly polite with rock music but overall they are fantastic headphones. I've never heard classical or electronic music sound as good as they do on the HD700's.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I haven't had a chance to try them out extensively yet, but the Oppo PM1 impressed me just from using music stored on my phone, so try the PM2, a slightly cheaper version.