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Bowers and Wilkins Px8 Headphones

Bowers & Wilkins has built on the success of their top-of-the-line Px8 wireless ANC (active noise canceling) over-ear headphones with a beautiful Royal Burgundy Px8. This sumptuous, Nappa-leather-wrapped headphone has a revised acoustic tuning based on the DSP (digital signal processing) improvements that their Px7 S2e used. The previous generation of the Px8 is already a great-sounding headphone. Can such a luxurious new look be more than superficial?

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Royal Burgundy wireless headphones are simply gorgeous. Usually, when given a choice of colors for audio gear, I choose black. Especially for headphones. I want what I wear to disappear; I’m not interested in accessorizing my outfits with audio bling. So, when I was offered an opportunity to audition the new Px8 in burgundy Nappa leather and diamond cut, gold-toned aluminum, I didn’t expect to be wowed.

I’ve always been a fan of anything Bowers & Wilkins (three of my surround speakers and computer speakers are Bowers &Wilkins, as are the various models of my wired headphones), so I was looking forward to the chance to spend time with their Px8. I just wasn’t sure about that burgundy and gold business; it just isn’t me… well, when they arrived and I opened the box, I was humbled. They are beautiful and classy. It’s Bowers & Wilkins, after all, I should have known they knew how to make beautiful gear. After spending enough time with them to really test what they offer, I can also say they sound as lovely as they look.

Highlights

- The softest leather I’ve ever felt.
- Elegant and beautiful.
- Comfortable and light, I wore them for several hours without issue, and the             leather and memory foam earpads never got hot.
- A sound signature that is warm, and very engaging.
- Punchy bass that goes deep.
- Easy to EQ with the Bowers & Wilkins Android and Apple iOS smartphone and          tablet app.
- Decent phone call quality.
- Adequate Hybrid Noise Cancellation.
- 30-hour battery life, with a quick charge of 15 minutes for 7 hours.
- Swiveling ear cups made for easy adjustment.

Introduction

Bowers & Wilkins (never B&W as I learned when referring to “B&W” when I asked the Bowers & Wilkins engineers several questions about the Px8. In their very polite and British way, they said they would appreciate it if I would refer to Bowers & Wilkins by their proper name when possible) is a name that needs little introduction, but here is a brief history that I found fascinating. They began as a radio and electronics shop in Worthing, West Sussex, England after WW2. The company was founded by John Bowers and Roy Wilkins, both of whom worked for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). They worked in radio and were tasked with maintaining clandestine radio contact with British agents and resistance fighters in Europe. After VE day, they decided to go into business together and opened a small shop in August 1946 to serve amateur radio operators. This led to offering other components like amplifiers and speakers. They even rented out televisions when those came along. In addition to sales, they also set up a repair shop and a public address service for local schools and churches. John Bowers was not happy with the sound of the loudspeakers available at that time, especially when playing classical music, especially piano, and recordings of live performances. So, he set about modifying the existing designs and started a small production line in the back of his shop.

His quest to refine and design speakers took a leap in 1966 when a local, wealthy opera singer left John Bowers £10,000 in her will. This allowed him to leave the shop to his partner Roy Wilkins and devote himself to speaker design. He kept the name of his friend Roy Wilkins in the name of his new speaker company, which was called B&W. From humble beginnings rose one of the most prestigious names in speakers.

All but one of my small collection of wired headphones are Bowers & Wilkins, and I was delighted to have the chance to spend some time with the newest update to their flagship headphone. I also own a pair of Apple AirPods Max, which are wireless, over-ear, ANC closed-back Bluetooth headphones, and with which I have the most experience for wireless listening.

The original Px8 over-ear noise-canceling headphones, which come in black leather or tan & grey leather, were a successful follow-up to the very popular wireless, noise-cancelling Px7. The drivers for the Px7 and newer Px7 S2e are Biocellulose. The engineers wanted to create a wireless noise-canceling Bluetooth headphone that could use some of the technology of their 700 Series loudspeakers. The Carbon Dome tweeter of the 700 Series was their inspiration for creating the angled Carbon Cone driver in the Px8 and is the first time Bowers & Wilkins has used Carbon in their headphones. Using Carbon ensured superior stiffness and lower weight, which, as their engineers told me, “Result in more pistonic behavior, i.e., better accuracy throughout the frequency range and, in particular, at the upper registers. This is because the cone is better able to resist unwanted bending and flexing. At the same time, reducing the weight of the cone made it more responsive to individual dynamic impulses (for example, a roll of drums). It also delivered a “bigger” sound from the same size cone as is used in the Px7 S2e, which is a 40mm drive unit”.

After the release of the Px7 S2e headphone, which has DSP improvements over the original Px7, the engineers realized they could add value to the Px8. The Px8 already had a very developed high-resolution 24-bit DSP, however, working on the Px7 S2e, they came across a few new approaches they felt could benefit the Px8, including lowering distortion and thereby delivering improved resolution, throughout the frequency range, including bass response. This new tuning was made available through an over-the-air firmware update last August for all Px8 headphones.

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