Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones

I've had Apple's in-ear headphones and dr dre ibeats. The B&W headphones are, by far, superior sound. There are several ear bud tips that come with them. Make sure you try them out for fit. When I first put these on, I was disappointed. When I put the tips on that fit right (duh), the sound was fantastic. They stay in my ears well and are more comfortable.

Bought them yesterday. Sound quality is stellar. I listen to trance while at the gym and these headphones deliver both the highs and lows in abundance. The secure loop system used to keep them in your ears is not only innovative but it actually WORKS! While time will tell if they hold up to using them while working out, I'm absolutely amazed at the sound they deliver. This is my first B&W product purchase, and it hopefully won't be the last.

I've been wanting then B&W P5's for a while, problem is I prefer in ear headphones because I can stick them in my pocket, over ear head phones are harder to carry around (when not in use). So I decided to go with the C5's and figured if I didn't like the sound quality I would return them. The first song I listened to on them was Cloth by Common. I was absolutely amazed. The store that I work in sells Bose, B&W, Beats by Dre, Skull Candy Avaitors and a few other models. I liked the Bose and the Avaitors but I wasn't a fan of the DreBeats. Out of all the headphones I tested, I liked the p5's the best but couldn't decide whether I wanted over ear head phones. I decided to try out the C5's and I'm glad I didn't buy over ear head phones. They sound amazing. I had a long debate over the Bose MEI2's or these headphones. I couldn't test either because neither are available as a display model because they are in ear headphones. I'm glad I didn't go with the Bose. I couldn't be happier with these headphones. Pay the extra money for the Bower and Wilkins. You won't regret it.

I purchased these on the Apple Black Friday sale ($129). Needless to say they are wonderful earbuds. I have read and watched the original reviews of this product online and on Youtube.

It seems that Bowers & Wilkins have made some minor adjustments in the latest batch of products to address some of the minor concerns of initial reviewers. The cable seems to be well designed and is a little bit more pliable and therefore more comfortable when in the ear. Secondly they altered the carrying case slightly by removing the unnecessary scaffolding that was inside in the original revision.

All in all a great product with outstanding build & sound quality for the price.

This product is the best possible in-ear headphones I have ever felt. The sound is back tingling.Bose,Dr Beats and more are no match for this product. I highly recommend it. The C5 are totally worth the amount of money.

Congrats to B&W

There are not many Bowers & Wilkins products you can get into for under $200... these guys make $60,000 speakers and execute the best products. I am not a big fan of ear buds, but they do have their purpose when my P5's just do not work. For everyone that thinks these do not have Bass they did not make sure the C5's have an appropriate fitting eartip for their ears. The cable on these is stiffer than most making them tangle-free! I travel a lot and pull these out of my carry on (not in their case) and they are never knotted up. The cushioned loops curl around my ear holding them in place is perfect and they tend to be balanced toward your ears. Great for all different types of music with incredibly open, detailed and natural performance. Very happy with my C5's!

Sound is relative..... I've tried many pairs and these are my favorite by far. At first I thought they had NO bass at all....then I changed the ear tips and the full spectrum came through....more bass than the bose ones and the separation etc... just wonderful.....

listen to floyd/zappa/beatles/guitar stuff...big band etc....
so far.... comfortable as well..... they are just really cool.

After just having my C5's for just a couple of days and all I can say is awesome! These are my first expensive set of ear phones that I have ever bought, so I really don't have anything else to match them too. But I do have a set of Sony MDR-V6 headphones. In 1987, audio industry journalist Daniel Kumin wrote, "Throw away your loudspeakers. There is now what may be the most perfect transducer yet made by man. Recently I auditioned a pair of Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor headphones, then purchased them. There are not enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe the performance of these headphones. Listening to them with a good CD recording is like being in the center of a live performance."

But when comparing them to the B&W C5's, their is no comparision, the B&W's blow away the closed over the ear Sony Monitor Headphones. When listening to the different kinds of music that I have, everything from Bach and Mozart, to Sade, Harry Connick, Jr., Bush, Peral Jam, Depeche Mode, Gloria Estenfan, Hall and Oates, NKTOB, New Order, Madonna and Billy Joel, all the music sounds totally different than I have heard it before. The B&W's bring out all of the music and sounds that I have never heard before and made me stay up late one night til 2 in the morning, I started to go to bed around 10:30, listening to my music all over again. The bass is just about perfect, not over bearing but just right. The treble is perfectly matched as well. Nothing else really compares.

I once had the opportunity to listen to a pair of 800 Diamond series speakers from B&W at a place here in Houston called the Home Theater Store. It was a room with just the speakers, which cost over $20,000 a pair, and a couple of Macintosh amps sitting on the floor and a plush leather chair sitting in front of them. The salesman ask me what wanted to listen to from the choices that they had and lucky for me that had a copy of Sade's greatest hits CD, so I had heard the songs on that CD many times and knew what each song sounded like. After sitting in the chair, he asked me to close my eyes as he started playing the track off of the CD, which was "Cherish The Day". When the song started playing it actually felt as if Sade was standing in the room in fromt of me singing the song, that is how great those speakers sounded. That is how these Bowers and Wilkins C5's sound, the artist singing the music feels as if they are in the room with you giving you a private concert.

Should you have the means to buy these headphones, please do so, as they will probably be the last set you ever buy.

The sound is amazing as expected from B&W but the material is not durable and needs improvement

These headphones are outside of my typical budget range - I usually spend about $50 or $60 on earbuds from someone like V-Moda. I'm so happy with this set of earbuds, though, that I'll more than likely consider earbuds in this price range in the future, should I need to purchase another set.

This is the nicest and most comfortable set of earbuds I've yet heard. The smallest silicon tips work best for me. Lows, mids and highs are all nice and clear, and the C5s sound great no matter what I'm listening to - primarily rock (like Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Van Halen, etc.), but also some jazz and swing.

Verdict: BUY.