My Macworld review of the Bowers & Wilkins C5
All indications are that B&W has been doing a great job with their consumer (that is, Apple accessory) products lately.
I tried very had to evaluate these objectively (and I think I did), but in the end, I just didn’t like them. I found the bass obnoxious, and while most of B&W’s other products have had bass emphasis, it hasn’t gotten in the way of the music, and it is also offset by excellent, practical design. B&W went for the design angle here, too, but in the end, other than looking relatively nice, I don’t think it succeeded.
Inner Fidelity’s Tyll Hertsens is with me on this one, so I’m in good company. On the other hand, Steve Guttenberg liked the C5, but this wouldn’t be the first time he and I have disagree on audio matters.
If anything, though, Steve’s comments show that there’s an audience for these headphones, so if you’re looking for strong bass matched by strong design, they might be for you. If you’re interested, you can purchase the B&W C5 from Amazon through that affiliate link and I’ll get a small portion of the sale.
Addendum: Engadget reviewed the C5. Aside from the rookie mistake of referring to them as earbuds (they’re not; earbuds rest in the outer ear and do not form a seal with the ear canal), Engadget also says they “cancel out background noise” (they block it; “cancel” implies active noise cancellation), and that the bass is “articulate” (the opposite of my conclusion). On the other hand, I agree with their critique of the highs, but disagree with their overall conclusion and have no idea what they heard (other than B&W’s marketing) that made them so smitten with the soundstage.
On the other hand, as usual, Tyll Hertsens of Inner Fidelity gets it right with his review of the C5. I didn’t have his comfort issues, but I don’t doubt they’re real, and we agree on the sound quality issues.
SonicFlare also weighs in on the C5 and seems to like it a lot. But I haven’t seen much on SonicFlare lately that I agree with. In this case, I honestly can’t imagine anyone who loves audio equipment hearing these and thinking they’re worth what B&W are charging. And SonicFlare didn’t give them a a completely glowing review. But given that their only point of comparison is an unspecified pair of “Sony ‘buds”, it’s pretty hard to interpret their comments objectively.
