JVC harx700 - a poor mans ath-a900!!

I bought mine from Buy.com when they listed few in stock, but was fortunate enough for them to ship same day.

If you do the mods and get a cmoy amp, these beauties sparkle :)
 
Buy.com. works okay for me. THey sent me a messed up rx-700 so I called them up and returned it. They paid for shipping. They refunded me. Then I placed an rx-900 order the same day. It took forever to get it in stock but they notify you whenit goes out so I haven't had any problems with it. I just have to say you have to be patient. =___=
 
I just got the HARX900's today. They sound pretty good for only ~$60. Would they really sound that much better hooked up to an amp?
Hmm...I could easily answer that by hooking them up to my Onkyo amp....
 
Mr. Baz said:
I just got the HARX900's today. They sound pretty good for only ~$60. Would they really sound that much better hooked up to an amp?
Hmm...I could easily answer that by hooking them up to my Onkyo amp....
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Receiver amps are not always better than a sound card. Does not hurt to try of course.

Do the felt removal mod btw. Peel the leather cup cushions off carefully and remove the first layer of felt over the drivers. It improves the sound more than an amp would and it is free!
 
spaceman said:
Receiver amps are not always better than a sound card. Does not hurt to try of course.

Do the felt removal mod btw. Peel the leather cup cushions off carefully and remove the first layer of felt over the drivers. It improves the sound more than an amp would and it is free!
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When hooked up to my Onkyo, there was a notable difference. I did find one odd thing, though. The Onkyo receivers are known to be 'bright' sounding. This is a feature I like. When listening to straight-up MP3's with no equalizing, it didn't sound very bright through the headphones. Through my speakers they sound brighter though. A little fiddling with an equalizer and these headphones sound nice.

How do I re-attach the ear cushions after removing them? Can I just use a razor and carefully cut out the felt?

Doing a woofer-warble test on these headphones should help break them in quickly. It sounds weird if you actually listen while doing this.

Running a 20kHz -> 20Hz tone through these will show you how these cans differ from higher end ones. Granted, they do sound very good for how cheap they are.
 
Mr. Baz said:
How do I re-attach the ear cushions after removing them? Can I just use a razor and carefully cut out the felt?
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Use your fingernails to gently peel off the top layer of felt. It should come off pretty easily once started. Getting the pads back on is a little trickier. I started by putting the thicker end back on first. Make sure the material is properly seated and not folded. Then gently work your way around, alternating between both sides. I used a pinching motion with my fingers to grab the material and pull it around the plastic. Make sure the material is flat and not folded when you get it back on. Once you get the whole pad on, twist it back and forth to get the pad in place and the kinks out.
 
Well I just ordered the 900. I really hope they sound better then my Sennheiser HD-485's. Will write a short comparison after I've had the JVC HARX900 for awhile.

Edit: Canceled the order on the 900's, gotta get more feedback before I decide.
 
I have the HA-RX 900.

They're ok.

There was a decent improvement running them from an E-MU 1820m headphone amplifier output vs the Audigy 2zs, but I attribute that to the sound card itself.

The spatial imaging is a strong suit. The sound presentation is realistic, physically. I'm able to achieve an impressive stage width/height/depth for a headphone setup. I'd describe the output as a cardioid in the 2D horizontal plane at ear-level. The sounds in FRONT are not convincing (common headphone characteristic). Stage height is impressive, as is the stage BEHIND the listener. This stage can be tweaked with headphone position, but of course that will alter the sound as well.

Low Bass is not over-powering, but still present. (25Hz and below tapers off, but still audible).

Detail in the midrange is better than expected for this price range. I'm able to distinguish each instrument, however this is not resolved at anything I'd consider a Hi-Fi level.

I need more listening time to make a real evaluation. I'd also be interested in measuring the frequency response, but I'm not in any mood to set up my audio measurement environment for some cheapy headphones. They'll have to wait until there is something more important to measure. I also doubt I could take a very accurate nearfield measurement with my equipment.

I have not experimented with any mods yet, but I bought these as GAMING headphones, so I'm pleased :)

Speakers > headphones, however it takes an insane DIY effort to realize this.
 
Well I just received my JVC Harx900 headphones yesterday, so far I've used it about 5 hours or so and I can definitely tell it's a step up over the Sennheiser 485's. It just sounds a bit more crisp along the whole spectrum, plus the Bass seems to be a a little better and more clear. One thing to notice is it is a bit heavier then the sennheisers however it still seems pretty comfortable, and I'm sure I'll get more used to it as time increases. I may look at upgrading my X-Fi card from 3 years ago. It still sounds great but I've been hearing that some of the newer cards sound better.
 
sculelos said:
Well I just received my JVC Harx900 headphones yesterday, so far I've used it about 5 hours or so and I can definitely tell it's a step up over the Sennheiser 485's. It just sounds a bit more crisp along the whole spectrum, plus the Bass seems to be a a little better and more clear. One thing to notice is it is a bit heavier then the sennheisers however it still seems pretty comfortable, and I'm sure I'll get more used to it as time increases. I may look at upgrading my X-Fi card from 3 years ago. It still sounds great but I've been hearing that some of the newer cards sound better.
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Depending on which X-Fi you have, you could potentially mod the output opamps to improve the sound:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/hotrodding-x-fi-laymans-guide-no-56k-226975/
 
Amazon has them in stock now btw.I just ordered me a pair of the rx900 so i can do a direct comparison on the rx700.I wanted a little larger of soundstage and hopefully the rx900 will do the trick.
 
spaceman said:
Receiver amps are not always better than a sound card. Does not hurt to try of course.

Do the felt removal mod btw. Peel the leather cup cushions off carefully and remove the first layer of felt over the drivers. It improves the sound more than an amp would and it is free!
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I have the 900 version and I pulled the ear cushions off and their was no layer of felt... hmmm.
 
spaceman said:
Receiver amps are not always better than a sound card. Does not hurt to try of course.

Do the felt removal mod btw. Peel the leather cup cushions off carefully and remove the first layer of felt over the drivers. It improves the sound more than an amp would and it is free!
Click to expand...

My Auzentech X-Meridian trumps my Pioneer Elite receiver for headphones.

So in this case my $75 sound card > "$1500" (MSRP) receiver... HMMM
 
I just got in my HARX900's and they easily surpass my old ATH-A900's that I just sold when it comes to quality. Everything has more detail, the sound stage is excellent, they use higher quality padding and materials, and they are less laid back sounding than the ATH-A900's.
 
QuickS said:
I just got in my HARX900's and they easily surpass my old ATH-A900's that I just sold when it comes to quality. Everything has more detail, the sound stage is excellent, they use higher quality padding and materials, and they are less laid back sounding than the ATH-A900's.
Click to expand...

Are you... sure...?
 
Alai said:
Are you... sure...?
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Yes, I would know. I had the ATH-A900's for about a year a half and ive only had these for less than 2 days and they already beat the ATH-A900's. I can't believe it for the price that I paid. Everything is just so crisp and clear with these cans it makes me feel like I'm hearing everything live.
 
Odd. I didn't think the HARX900's where even as good as my ATH-A700's (Though still nice for the $$).
 
This might be a silly question, but does anybody know exactly what material the earpads and headband are? I plan on getting these for a friend, but she's vegan, so real leather would be a no go.
 
Seems like this thread lost a few off the most recent post. Either way I've been using the Harx 900 headphones and they are amazing. I took the plastic lenses and removed the felt and they sound much better now. They seemed to sound a little rough at first but since I've been using them more and more the sound has seemed to clear up a ton. I can't really think of anything better at the price point. I'm using them with a HT Omega Halo which has a built in amp and it sounds awesome. Of course the Omega card cost 200$ and the headphones 60$ but I think it was 260$ well spent since it makes everything sound much richer then any other heaphones I've tried, even though the ones I've had before where the Sennheiser HD 485's which are definitely a quality set however with the Harx is a definite step up for a cheaper price even.
 
I got mine today and did the acoustic lens/felt removal mod. Almost borked it, but it's fine and sounds clearer now.
 
Adreneline said:
Can anyone tell me where to get these in Canada?? I've tried looking with no success...
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i got mine off ebay, either that or audiocubes (bit they are pretty expensive), there was another store id found but i cant remember the name, do a google search or something
 
miskari said:
i got mine off ebay, either that or audiocubes (bit they are pretty expensive), there was another store id found but i cant remember the name, do a google search or something
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Ebay guys say no ship out of US :(

And yes that site is ridiculous prices.
 
I just got a pair of the harx900's, and i'm getting a crackly sound when certain low frequencies hit. Is this something that goes away? It sounds like something is loose and is rattling inside.
 
ssbaudi said:
I just got a pair of the harx900's, and i'm getting a crackly sound when certain low frequencies hit. Is this something that goes away? It sounds like something is loose and is rattling inside.
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I have the HA-RX700's and don't have any issues like the one you're describing. How loud do you have them? Do you get the crackly sound at low volumes? Do you get the noise if you shake the headphones when they're not playing anything?
 
kniah said:
I have the HA-RX700's and don't have any issues like the one you're describing. How loud do you have them? Do you get the crackly sound at low volumes? Do you get the noise if you shake the headphones when they're not playing anything?
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It doesnt seem to matter what the volume level is, it is pretty much the same volume each time. It seems the worst in games, when people talk on their microphones, you hear a lot of crackle in their voice. I'm not sure i'm explaning this right, but its pretty hard to explain
 
ssbaudi said:
It doesnt seem to matter what the volume level is, it is pretty much the same volume each time. It seems the worst in games, when people talk on their microphones, you hear a lot of crackle in their voice. I'm not sure i'm explaning this right, but its pretty hard to explain
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Are you sure this is a headphone issue? Do you get the noise using other headphones using the same setup?
 
yeah i just tested it with another set, no issues on that one. hmm. i'll see if it goes away after a night of break in
 
ssbaudi said:
yeah i just tested it with another set, no issues on that one. hmm. i'll see if it goes away after a night of break in
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It sounds like your headphones are defective. You might as well see if it goes away overnight though, but you may have to get them replaced.
 
I just tried them out again after a few days break in w/ pink noise, sweeps, and metal music and I'm happy to say that the rattle sound i was talking about is gone!!!

what i'm going to say next might shock some people... but I'm actually starting to prefer the sound of these HA-RX900's to my grado 225's... i'm simply amazed. The surround detail is better than any junk-y gaming headphone's i've ever heard as well. Wearing these has made F.E.A.R. 2 at least 10 times scarier.
 
Hey guys.

I found a site finally, with a decent price.

How is $76 CDN for the JVC HA-RX700 ? Includes shipping priority mail U.S.P.S. (26$)

I cannot find the Audio Technica ath-700 anywhere in Canada, so keep that in mind... there's barely any alternatives.

I just want to know if that is a big rip off or anything else better in that price range.

Thanks.
 
^^ there was some electro1123 or something like that, don't remember the exact name. they were selling in canada, but that seems like a decent price, it'd be harder to find a better price for canada unless you buy from a FS forum or something.
 
miskari said:
^^ there was some electro1123 or something like that, don't remember the exact name. they were selling in canada, but that seems like a decent price, it'd be harder to find a better price for canada unless you buy from a FS forum or something.
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Lol, talking about this site? 110220volts?

That's the place where I'm buying from. I chose USPS over the UPS shipping, for faster service and hopefully lesser chance of customs?

That's the deal breaker here.. if I get customs I'm screwed. The guy on head-fi said there might be but never got any, I can't take a chance.
 
does buy.com com usually offer free shipping on the 700?

I see $33.37 + $7.69 (shipped and sold by ANTOnline). I thought I saw it for the same price and free shipping last week. If it does change, how often do you see it at free shipping?
 
needmorecarnitine said:
does buy.com com usually offer free shipping on the 700?

I see $33.37 + $7.69 (shipped and sold by ANTOnline). I thought I saw it for the same price and free shipping last week. If it does change, how often do you see it at free shipping?
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Buy.com almost always has free shipping on the RX700 when they have them in stock. They seem to go out of stock from time to time, that's when their marketplace sellers get put on the front page. I checked just now, and it says they have a few left in stock.
 
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