JVC HA-SR625

The HA-SR625-E are lightweight headphones with in-line one-button remote and microphone manufactured by the JVC Corporation. They are available in blue (HA-SR625-A), black (HA-SR625-B), red (HA-SR625-R), and white (HA-SR625-W). Their stated frequency response is 8 Hz to 25 kHz, and designed for deep bass sound reproduction. These are foldable designs for travel use and also have an integrated microphone compatible for use with modern Smartphones.

Review

In this JVC foldable headphone design, the width of the headband is approximately 18 mm with padding, whilst the metal slide-out part is 11 mm. Consequently, they are very light and it is easy to forget one is wearing them. With a thin lightweight band, less of your scalp is covered by padding and therefore there is better air-flow over the head. In addition, not so much force presses the cups against the ears compared to thick bands that can feel as if ones head is in a vice. The elongated cup design is also one I prefer as it covers over the entire ears; hence you do not get that pinching feeling around the ear. The wires are nice and thin and do not add unnecessary weight, and that is an advantage as well. One main downside is that both cups have trailing wires hence this doubles the possibility of getting them snagged somewhere and breaking. It would have been nicer if both wires went into one cup, and then one wire routed through the headband.

Looking at the design, these headphones use all the acoustic tricks in the book such as deep bass ports, and angled front panels that are very reminiscent of the SHP2500 design. In addition, the 40 mm drivers use neodymium magnets with a hole through the centre. All of this means that the driver can achieve a frequency response of 8 Hz to 25 kHz.

Sound wise, the bass is definitely there and in many ways I thought they sounded like the expensive Technics RP-DH1200 with its 50 mm neodymium drivers. However even more impressive was that the treble (high-frequency response) is much more noticeable in these cheaper JVC headphones. On the downside, the ear pads are just as fiddly to replace as all the other headphones I have seen, and for once, I would love to see a design where the pads could be replaced easily.

If you are a DJ, you might be interested to know that the cups can be flipped over as shown above.

Price/eBay

These are often for sale on eBay and the price of a new pair can range from approximately fifty pounds to seventy pounds. Essentially you are paying for a lot of plastic and acoustic engineering design. If I were to be buying a new pair, then I would stay on the low-end and look for the cheapest genuine pair. I managed to get this used pair for a couple of pounds as it was broken in several places and in a right dreadful state. However, I managed to clean and repair them and also change the ear pads. You can see the inside electronic and mechanical engineering in the following pages of this multi-page article.

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