GREQ
Headphoneus Supremus
Year of release - (?) 1989-1993
Type - Moving Coil
Driver Size - 50mm
Frequency Response - 15-28,000 Hz
Nominal Impedance - 32Ω
Sensitivity - 95dB/mW
Maximum Power Handling - 100mW (?)
Weight without cable - 340g
Cable length - 5m
Twelve years before the release of the HA-DX1000 (2005) JVC offered a flagship range under the "SUPERDIGIFINE" banner, which was largely known for loudspeakers and Hifi separates. Below that was the 'DIGIFINE' range and below that again was 'diGiTaL READY'. One could argue that this was around the peak of the 'For Digital' era of home electronics occurring 10 years after the invention of the CD and digital media was becoming perfectly commonplace at home.
With portable media and the miniDisc taking most of the marketing attention at the time, almost hidden at the top of their 'accessories' inventory was the SUPERDIGIFINE HA-D1000 Digital Reference Prestige headphone.
As eras go, it was actually a rather eventful time in headphone history. The year of 1993 sets the JVC HA-D1000 as early-nineties contemporaries with Sony's MDR-CD1000 and MDR-V900, Denon's AH-D950, Technics' RP-F1 and RP-F30, Sennheiser's HD580, Beyerdynamic's DT-911, Grado's HP-1000, AKG's K500 and the K1000 which was released around 1990 to name a few; so there was no shortage of competition or distractions.
In terms of the JVC brand and what the community has grown to expect and love (and hate, ooooh the hate) about them, the HA-D1000 subverts all those expectations.
Simply, it's a full-size fully open-back headphone. In that regard it stands apart in a completely unique position aside from any other JVC.
To briefly go over the specifications: for it's size, it fits in the medium-lightweight category and can be easily worn all day if you can ignore the itchy ear pads. It is very easy to drive and has no problem making a fine sound from a small portable device.
I put a question mark beside the Maximum Power Handling because I'm 99.9% certain that this is a typo. Almost all the high-end and studio headphones from Japan in this era had a maximum power handling of 1000mW and many up to 1.5W.
So, what does it sound like?
Mostly like a Philips SHP8900 but with bigger soundstage.
I don't know if there ever was any paperwork included with this headphone as there was none when I received it and currently no solid information about them exists anywhere on the internet. (prove me wrong! please).
For that reason I have left the release date somewhat ambiguous and other bits of information here will most likely have inconsistencies or simply be incorrect as I have only had scraps to go on to piece what little information together I could - so I apologize in advance. Please let me know of any errors and I will correct them immediately.
I am in the extremely fortunate position to humbly present a vintage-unboxing of this headphone in it's original, immaculate condition. Please enjoy:
Type - Moving Coil
Driver Size - 50mm
Frequency Response - 15-28,000 Hz
Nominal Impedance - 32Ω
Sensitivity - 95dB/mW
Maximum Power Handling - 100mW (?)
Weight without cable - 340g
Cable length - 5m
Twelve years before the release of the HA-DX1000 (2005) JVC offered a flagship range under the "SUPERDIGIFINE" banner, which was largely known for loudspeakers and Hifi separates. Below that was the 'DIGIFINE' range and below that again was 'diGiTaL READY'. One could argue that this was around the peak of the 'For Digital' era of home electronics occurring 10 years after the invention of the CD and digital media was becoming perfectly commonplace at home.
With portable media and the miniDisc taking most of the marketing attention at the time, almost hidden at the top of their 'accessories' inventory was the SUPERDIGIFINE HA-D1000 Digital Reference Prestige headphone.
As eras go, it was actually a rather eventful time in headphone history. The year of 1993 sets the JVC HA-D1000 as early-nineties contemporaries with Sony's MDR-CD1000 and MDR-V900, Denon's AH-D950, Technics' RP-F1 and RP-F30, Sennheiser's HD580, Beyerdynamic's DT-911, Grado's HP-1000, AKG's K500 and the K1000 which was released around 1990 to name a few; so there was no shortage of competition or distractions.
In terms of the JVC brand and what the community has grown to expect and love (and hate, ooooh the hate) about them, the HA-D1000 subverts all those expectations.
Simply, it's a full-size fully open-back headphone. In that regard it stands apart in a completely unique position aside from any other JVC.
To briefly go over the specifications: for it's size, it fits in the medium-lightweight category and can be easily worn all day if you can ignore the itchy ear pads. It is very easy to drive and has no problem making a fine sound from a small portable device.
I put a question mark beside the Maximum Power Handling because I'm 99.9% certain that this is a typo. Almost all the high-end and studio headphones from Japan in this era had a maximum power handling of 1000mW and many up to 1.5W.
So, what does it sound like?
Mostly like a Philips SHP8900 but with bigger soundstage.
I don't know if there ever was any paperwork included with this headphone as there was none when I received it and currently no solid information about them exists anywhere on the internet. (prove me wrong! please).
For that reason I have left the release date somewhat ambiguous and other bits of information here will most likely have inconsistencies or simply be incorrect as I have only had scraps to go on to piece what little information together I could - so I apologize in advance. Please let me know of any errors and I will correct them immediately.
I am in the extremely fortunate position to humbly present a vintage-unboxing of this headphone in it's original, immaculate condition. Please enjoy:
