[trellus]

  I figured I'd let the people in this thread know that I posted a long-term review of the HA-S500 that I have owned for nearly three years now: 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/jvc-victor-head-band-portable-headphones-ha-s500-b-black-japanese-import/reviews/15579
 
If you happen to read it, please let me know if I made any technical mistakes when describing the sound characteristics.

 
Read it; thanks!  I'm not qualified enough to help you improve it, but I listened along with you and compared my impressions with yours on the HA-S500.  Hopefully, others will provide more enlightening response.

 

[Griffith]

Thank you for your time, I'm glad you appreciated the review. Unfortunately though the Spotify link you reported works for me so I'm not sure if there's a solution for it other than trying to search for the music on the Spotify app.

 

[TokyoSun]

Are JVC HA-S500 still good/worth it? If they are, could someone please link me a trusted seller that ships internationally.

 

[SmOgER]

Are JVC HA-S500 still good/worth it? If they are, could someone please link me a trusted seller that ships internationally.

Yeah they are definitely still worth it. They depend on the source to some degree but on iPhone with stock music player with EQ at "flat" preset ("off" setting is overpowering them) and "sound check" enabled these are monsters.

Any Ebay top rated seller from japan with good feedback and good selling record should be trustworthy as far as I'am concerned.

 

[ayachicago]

today i just got my new pair of jvc s500 and s400.
i have been using these jvc for almost 4 years and recently broke my both pairs. i tried to perform some mod to the new jvc s500.
when i sealed the two holes with 3m medical tape inside the driver the sound became more like stock jvc s400 but more refined and balance while as you kow the jvc s400 has forward mids. with the two hols sealed the jvc s500 gave balance clear overall a very good sound. bass was there with balance mids and treble and somehow small amount of soundstage.
then after removing the tape from two holes of the jvc s500 which i sealed earlier, i glued some tack piece into the inner side of the driver shell.
as a result the jvc s500 surpassed all of my fun cans with their sound they are able to surpasss ws99 and sr950 which i already have. while this jvc s500 cost only $30  and i am quite sure what does the amperior sell in front of the jvc s500.
 
improvements after the tack mod. 
better seperation and clarity. 
recessed mids were gone.
harshness in upper tone was gone.
became more responsive and bass became quicker and tighter with good amount of punch.
feeling of hollowness is gone.
decent amount of soundstage.
you dont have to spend some extra cash for hd25 or akg518 pads while you can just get this $1 tack sheet from dollar tree and perform tack mod.
 
in the end kuddooss to DsNuts for introducing such a great can.
 
DSnuts my kids will pray for you.

 

[ayachicago]

for the best results buy one ipod video refurbished from gamestop. rockbox it. you dont need an amp for jvc s500. because the dac inside the video ipod is superior to the most of the smartphones and apple stuff.
just get the ipod video 5.5 and your all set.

 

[dakanao]

The thing with those jvc cnt driver headphones is that they truly have excellent drivers, competing with drivers from headphones costing literally 10 times more.

But you just need to EQ them, because the quality is there.

 

[SmOgER]

The thing with those jvc cnt driver headphones is that they truly have excellent drivers, competing with drivers from headphones costing literally 10 times more.

But you just need to EQ them, because the quality is there.

I disagree.
They are balanced very nicely as it is. You just need a relatively powerful source with great instrument separation and good sound-stage to avoid taking too much of a penalty of recessed 2khz. Which is there to begin with to avoid harsh vocals, avoid instrument blending and make mids smoother - "lush sounding".
There are some really really expensive cans that have recessed 2khz just as well.

iPhone 5S with EQ at "flat" preset does the job exceptionally well and pairs with S500s really really good.

harshness in upper tone was gone.

Must be a source, which in turn makes me question the rest of your post.
S500s are known for having very smooth highs (and upper mids - obviously) with absolutely no harshness whatsoever.

 

[ayachicago]

 really good now.

 

[penmarker]

S500 are far from balanced. They're dark cans. Even to the relatively dark HD650, they're darker.

BUT, they're excellent cans.

 

[ayachicago]

it also depends on which source you use to connect. alot of players will sound harsh i use them with ipod video rockboxed and they are somehow sharp in upper frequencies and they are not balance at all.

 

[ayachicago]

put some tack outter shell and sound get balance

 

[penmarker]

The S500 is not harsh at all. The highs are subdued compared to other cans. They're once of the smoothest cans I know. Harsh would be something like an AKG K550 or Sennheiser HD800 without proper amplification.

 

[SmOgER]

S500 are far from balanced. They're dark cans. Even to the relatively dark HD650, they're darker.

BUT, they're excellent cans.

Of course they are far from neutral sounding cans, but what I meant was they're absolutely not supposed to be neutral and they sound nice as they are and EQing is likely gonna just screw things over.
There is a good reason for their original FR curve.

 

[rickdohc]

My second pais has 3 years,  its a great can at a very good price.
Only drawback for me is the clamping force.