[AnnR]

Hi All...

New Member here.

After purchasing a set of PX8s due to advice from Peter Tyson (previously had mark levisons) I can honestly say I'm disappointed. This is the second pair I've had on warranty and am awaiting pickup from Peter Tyson tomorrow.

For such a premium and expensive product the headband failure, is simply a design flaw, or production/QC flaw.

I'm really happy with the sound, over my XM3's they're worlds apart in terms of sound quality. ANC is another story, but I wear these daily for hours (I work from home) and maybe that's why they've failed. Had this pair 3 months in total and needless to say I won't be having another pair, I'll be requesting a refund. If I'm given a new pair, I'll list on eBay. Such a frustration.

However, all is not lost, I've just purchased Dali io 12's and while they might not be as good for EDM (primarily listening to this Genre) they should hold up with the 50mm Driver.

Anyway, thought I would share my frustrations and thought's on the PX8. Headband issue aside, best headphones I've heard so far, even over the 5509. Didn't like the sound profile of those, and they lacked punch.

Welcome to the multiple failure club.

 

[jockos]

Wow, so weird that you guys are having multiple failures when the most trustworthy source on the Internets™ - Amazon reviews - says the problem is non existent!

 

[jockos]

But my point was we don’t even know who and where those repairs were conducted. Was it B&W in Worthing or a third party?

I left mine at the B&W authorized retailer in my country, Hi-fi klubben, where it went after that only god knows.

 

[AnnR]

Wow, so weird that you guys are having multiple failures when the most trustworthy source on the Internets™ - Amazon reviews - says the problem is non existent!

You trust Amazon?

 

[Gavin R]

Wow, so weird that you guys are having multiple failures when the most trustworthy source on the Internets™ - Amazon reviews - says the problem is non existent!

Would you like some pictures of the failed headband? I mean I'm not making this up here, I spent £599 on these headphones and didn't expect failures of this type with them so soon after purchase.

Believe me, the headband issue is real. I've experienced it with both my pairs.

 

[mainguy]

Found this quite interesting, some pretty vast differences in sound based on clamp force of the Focal Bathys. I've got rather a small head, so experience little clamping with it. It made me wonder, as the opinions on PX8 and Bathys are so disparate and varied, how much is head size a factor? I've seen people who think Bathys sounds no better than an Airpods Max and others who prefer it to Celestee. Same extremes with PX8.

Also makes you wonder about DSP and clamp, and if that introduces some unpredictable factors, a comment on Reddit I saw mentioned this and it made me wonder.

 

[jthomp72]

Found this quite interesting, some pretty vast differences in sound based on clamp force of the Focal Bathys. I've got rather a small head, so experience little clamping with it. It made me wonder, as the opinions on PX8 and Bathys are so disparate and varied, how much is head size a factor? I've seen people who think Bathys sounds no better than an Airpods Max and others who prefer it to Celestee. Same extremes with PX8.

Also makes you wonder about DSP and clamp, and if that introduces some unpredictable factors, a comment on Reddit I saw mentioned this and it made me wonder.

Anecdotally, I had slightly better sound quality and better clamp when I got glasses with a smaller set of arms. There was just less mass interfering with that clamp.