Bowers & Wilkins P5 Mk 1 headphones

A few years ago I bought a second hand P5 without the carrying case from a Carousell seller. There are plenty of clones of the P5 around, so I was taking a chance the headphones I bought were genuine. The P5 headphones are made of premium materials: the headband and ear pads are made of lamb leather, the yolks are steel and even the plastic earcups feel premium. They sound very good with my early IPod Touch and can play very loud.

The leather ear pads are attached by magnets and are user replaceable. I replaced the headphone cable too. Easy enough to do. Just pop off the ear pads. Snap out the old headphone cable and snap in the cable.

The P5 had a MRP of USD 300 about 11 years ago when they were introduced. A wireless version of the P5 was launched later. Then in 2021, B&W finally replaced the P5 with an upgraded MK 2 version, using new speaker units, and changing the brushed steel earcups to black. The black lamb skin ear pads and the steel yolks remained unchanged.