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While B&W may have foregone releasing an anniversary loudspeaker this time, that doesn’t mean its rich loudspeaker heritage hasn’t played a part in the P9 Signature’s design. B&W has tried to emulate the effect of listening to stereo loudspeakers by angling the transducers. It feels like a completely flat response. Bass is present but never overwhelming, and mids and highs are similarly balanced. Works with iPhone 8 or later and iPod touch (7th generation) with the latest version of iOS; and 12.9‑inch iPad Pro (2nd generation or later), 11‑inch iPad Pro, 10.5‑inch iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later) and iPad mini (5th generation or later) with the latest version of iPadOS. They sound good regardless of what you put through them. Even just streaming Spotify at its highest bitrate you’ll hear an improvement. Of course, feed the P9 Signature something of higher quality and they’ll really shine. Driven by a Creative Sound Blaster E5, clarity and detail from my Hi-Res Audio test files was dialled up to 11.
Well, that’s the best description we came up with of the Bowers and Wilkins P9 Signature headphones after several months of exhaustive testing. They perfectly envelope your ears while providing plenty of clearance for your lugholes to breathe and, more importantly, for more air to move in and deliver the P9 Signature’s sound. Once you put them on, they begin justifying their position as Bowers & Wilkins’ top-of-the-range headphones, too. These are seriously excellent headphones, and a fitting anniversary celebration. Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature design and comfort — A premium pair of over-ears that are supremely comfortable As the P9 Signature are wired headphones – unlike B&W’s other recently launched headphones – you get a range of cable options included. There’s one Apple-friendly three-button remote cable with a microphone, alongside two standard 3.5mm cables – one of which is 5m long for home hi-fi use. A 6.3mm adaptor is also thrown in. Swapping out cables just requires you to remove the left ear cushion in customary B&W fashion.The design of the connection does at least mean the cable becoming detached is never going to be an issue if it gets snagged, and makes for a more elegant look compared to other detachable cable designs. Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature sound quality — An expansive soundstage with a rich and detailed sound B&W has promised that a Lightning cable for iPhone users will be available in early 2017, which you can claim for free. The only thing otherwise missing is an airplane adaptor, but these are inexpensive if you need one. Never is this clearer than with a piece of orchestral music, like Mozart’s Don Giovanni Suite KV 527 – Madamina (Leporello). Violins are crisp and textured, with depth in every bow, while flutes flutter and soar without constraint. The magnetic ear cushions are a little stiff out of the box, which caused some trouble for our glasses-wearing reviewer, butthey softened up after a couple of weeks of use. The design takes the premium look and feel of the P7 Wireless and dials it up a notch. All of the materials were selected specifically for the P9 Signature, including the luxurious Italian Saffiano leather that has a unique cross-hatched stamping across the outside of the earcups and headband.
There’s never any harshness or hardness that you might hear on lesser headphones, and everything sounds as it should, as if it were being played right in front of you. Not always easy with sounds like this. I threw on some live Charles Bradley and there was an extra layer of raspiness to his soulful voice that I’d never noticed. You’ll take delight in revisiting your old favourites and hearing them in new ways.The cables terminate in a 2.5mm plug, but have a proprietary shape in connecting to the earcup. This means you’ll need to get B&W replacement cables should they get damaged. As mentioned, though, the P9 Signature require very little to drive them, so they’ll play nicely with smartphones without amplification – even if that won’t show them at their best. These headphones do lend themselves to on-the-go use, thanks to the generous cushioning providing a decent amount of passive isolation. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the P9s' exceptionally high price, and if you’re considering purchasing these headphones then you should know that almost every penny is going towards sound quality, rather than non-essential features. A final point on the form factor of these headphones is that they’re probably at the edge of what we’d consider portable. There’s a lot of technology built into these cans, and the result is that they’re very bulky, and moderately heavy.
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