JVC HA-S650

JVC HA-S650 Headphones Review

Carbon fiber is well known for showing up in racing cars and sports boats, but headphones? According to JVC, the strong, lightweight material is what makes their HA-S650 headphones particularly special, delivering - so they promise - audio quality that punches above their weight and, more importantly perhaps, price bracket. Are they ear salvation or will we prefer the sound of silence; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. JVC use carbon fiber for the HA-S650's housing and diaphragm, which they reckon adds up to lighter headphones, reduced distortion and improved durability. There's no visible weave, however, and that leaves the glossy black material looking a little too much like cheap plastic for our liking. Build quality feels reasonable, and the stainless steel headband flexes broadly without you getting the sense that it's about to snap, but in the hand the HA-S650's lack the reassurance that the packaging would have us believe in. As for the HA-S650's audio performance, they're surprisingly neutral with little in the way of emphasis on either the high- or low-end frequencies. Whether that's a good thing will depend on how much you like the standard sound from your audio source, and how flexible that source's own EQ settings are.