Philips X1 Headphones

SHAXOS

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Just brought these headphones as I begin to foray into the headphone side of HIFI.

I'll start by saying these are absolutely fantastic headphones and Philips have made a fantastic product. Detailed with a very good bottom end and a big fun sound signature. Oh and the build easily competes with headphones ive seen twice its price.

Although the product is fantastic, why cant they be brought anywhere? Anyone else had as much diffiuclty as me to get a pair? Only one official retailer in John Lewis is quite dissapointing. Especially so when blinking Beats, that dont hold candle to these, are everywhere! Philips should make more of an effort to get these out as these are easily the best I have heard under 350 pounds and compete favouribly with much more expensive cans I have heard. I had to buy "blind" (or is it deaf?) without hearing them first because I could not find them anywhere. This may put lots of people off, which is a shame. Sort it out Philips! :)
 

dalethorn

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I noticed when Philips first introduced the L1, I think 18 months ago now, the brand was still owned by Philips and they made a major marketing effort which could be seen on many videos and their cooperation with Innerfidelity, etc. Now that Philips sold most of their home entertainment product, including their headphones, to a different company, that company hasn't been aggressive in promoting their headphones. Or that's the way it seems to me.
 

quadpatch

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I must say I am really eager to hear these headphones for some reason. I read a pretty positive review of them on Headfonia, but that doesn't explain why part of me assumes these will be pretty great. I've heard the L1 a bit and that is really impressive so maybe I am expecting an open back version of those...

Dale: Have you heard the X1? Just wondering how it compares to the L1, or the SoundMAGIC HP200 for that matter.

I didn't know that Philips had sold off their home entertainment devision, that's a real shame. I did notice that the only place i found the L1 was in a John Lewis, but then SoundMAGIC are even harder to find in shops and they are also fantastic. Such a shame for them both.
 

dalethorn

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I haven't heard the X1, and am reluctant to buy it because of an uneasy feeling about the new supplier/manufacturer. I do seem to remember the X1 is supposed to have a very emphasized bass, like the L1, and I really don't need another one of those. If I do actually stumble across the X1 in a retail outlet of any kind, I probably would snatch it up, with return privileges. Currently on my radar is the B&O H6 (I think that's the model), and possibly the KEF M500. I'd like to get another Beyer someday - the COP possibly. The Tesla models scare me with those high freq. peaks. The only reason I got the Beats Mixr is because one of v-moda's private Facebook members kept nagging me about it. For once, he got it about right, and I've done much worse with other items, for instance the Philips M1.
 

dalethorn

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eggontoast said:
I had high hopes for the Phillips M1's, they have nice packaging, they look nice, they feel nice but boy they sound rubbish.

I think the M1 got caught up in the transition to selling the home entertainment division, and it didn't get finished before they released it. That was my impression from talks with Kevin the rep.
 

dalethorn

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eggontoast said:
Who's it been sold to ?

Funai Electric Co. in Japan. I don't know for sure if that company gets all of the home entertainment goods or just some of it, but it does include the headphones.
 

SHAXOS

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Did not realise they sold their division...

Regardless, the headphones I have are superb. I have listened to a lot of under 400 headphones and these are easily my favourite. Others are more analytical and the X1 are not portable in any way. However they have an excellent sound signature, with a big bold sound. Emphaisis on the big. I can see why others my find the ass intrusive. but to me (and I am no bass head) these are just fun. Also X1 are brilliant for watching movies on. These make other portables I have heard sound malnourished. Best of all these are very easy to drive, I get excellent results from my HTC one phone.

From the others I have heard - -The Kef M500 - Thought they were utter pants. B&W P5s are decent but overpriced for the sound. The sennheiser momentums are excellent but again are expensive but much better than the other two (imo). AKG 702 highly analytical, uncover more detail than the X1 but to me not as good to listen to. Very dry.

So there you go. If you can get a pair ( which is difficult - sold out in john lewis now) I cannot reccomend these enough. Excellent headphones!
 

SHAXOS

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Did not realise they sold their division...

Regardless, the headphones I have are superb. I have listened to a lot of under 400 headphones and these are easily my favourite. Others are more analytical and the X1 are not portable in any way. However they have an excellent sound signature, with a big bold sound. Emphaisis on the big. I can see why others my find the bass intrusive. but to me (and I am no bass head) these are just fun with excellent low end. Also X1 are brilliant for watching movies on. These make other portables I have heard sound malnourished. Best of all these are very easy to drive, I get excellent results from my HTC one phone.

From the others I have heard - -The Kef M500 - Thought they were utter pants. B&W P5s are decent but overpriced for the sound. The sennheiser momentums are excellent but again are expensive but much better than the other two (imo). AKG 702 highly analytical, uncover more detail than the X1 but to me not as good to listen to. Very dry.

So there you go. If you can get a pair ( which is difficult - sold out in john lewis now) I cannot reccomend these enough. Excellent headphones!
 

dalethorn

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SHAXOS said:
Did not realise they sold their division...Regardless, the headphones I have are superb. I have listened to a lot of under 400 headphones and these are easily my favourite.

The problem I had with the L1 was the upper bass was too much, and my bass reducer EQ's would flatten that a little and then the lower bass would be too light. There are only two bassy headphones I've had where I can use bass reducer EQ and the lower bass stays strong - the v-moda M100 and the Beats Mixr. So any descriptors such as "fun" and "big" are meaningless when I have to spend several hundred dollars or pounds - I need to know more precisely how that bass compares to other known items, and what happens to the lower bass when the upper bass is reduced. Getting a return privilege with orders isn't a great help when my cost to repack and return the items is over $100.
 

SHAXOS

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I was talking about the X1's - Never heard the L1. A lot of people who have used both comment on the X1s being superior.
 

dalethorn

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SHAXOS said:
I was talking about the X1's - Never heard the L1. A lot of people who have used both comment on the X1s being superior.

I was talking about the X1 also, by bringing in the L1 for comparison, so anyone who has experience with both, or bassy headphones in general, can maybe tell me just how much the X1 varies from flat - flat being the Sennheiser HD800 or Stax SR009, to name a couple of examples.
 

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