Oh headphones, how we love thee! To listen to music in one's own little world on one's own little terms is pure auditory bliss... if done correctly. We here at Unplggd Audio Labs are on a constant search for the perfect tools for listening and today we have another candidate for evaluation.

Let's talk a bit about Panasonic. They have been in the biz for a long time without any icons of note. Sure, they have their Lumix cameras, as any lummox will tell you, but what have they invented or pioneered? (feel free to chime in in the comments if you feel there is something we missed...)

Don't get us wrong, Panasonic makes great stuff- TV's come to mind, sort of- and they are a first tier company in many categories. They just don't have a real claim to fame as of yet. Well, things may be about to change.

Looking at the melodically named RP-HTX7 headphones (prior to their now-ubiquitous fame) you could be forgiven for thinking they were antiques from the 70's. They have all the right styling cues and they are carried out as if the designers were actually creating them at that time. There are no facades or retro-futuristic, superfluous decoration. They are genuine in their execution. The cord wrapped cabling, the generously sized earcups, the sewn, leather "style" headband, the simple appointments which all serve a function, the design is nothing it shouldn't be and everything it should.

We have owned these for many years (as evidenced by the discontinued Beige color) at this point and can tell you that they really are well built. These photos show how fresh and new they look after all this time and physically, they have never lost their magic... aside from the minor cracking on the foam surrounds. The slides for the head adjustments are definitely looser than when new, but they function beautifully.

We had originally bought these to create a buffer zone between office politics and our soft, chewy brains. Music can be a great way to create some focus in your life, but just wearing these sends out a "busy" signal to those who might try to sidetrack your intent. We probably listen to music about 50% of the time we are wearing them... great for vacuuming too...

These were once $50 or $60 headphones but now you can buy them new for $25! Thank you economies of scale! You sell enough of something and the process by which they are manufactured and distributed becomes much cheaper.

Le Specs:

• Type: Encapsulated, Dynamic
• Driver Unit: 40mm
• Magnet: Neodymium
• Impedance: 40 ohms
• Sensitivity: 99 dB/mW
• Power Handling Capacity: 1000mW
• Frequency Response: 7 - 22,000Hz
• 1.2m cord with gold-plated stereo straight mini-plug

The sound is quite good, and as you can see from the specs, has quite the broad range. The earth will not move when you put them on, but for $25 and a strong build that lasts forever, you'd have to be a spoiled tyrant to complain. Soundstage is limited but present. Bass reach is good and it's reasonably tight. The upper mids can be a bit hard and ear fatigue will eventually set in but the overall delivery across the frequencies is quite even. One of the benefits of closed, over-ear design is that you can run them at lower volumes. Detail is not something these shine with but you will never feel like you have been cheated after buying them.

Getting back to the original point, we feel it is time for Panasonic to claim its place, however small, as a company with a rememberful product (of course there is such a word). If they can build off the success of these headphones, they can start to create a real buzz around them. We hope they keep it up.