[M Rael]

Instead of a full reprint, here are a few selected comments from a Stereophile review of the Sony V6, appearing in a 1991 issue. The reviewer is Bill Sommerwerck.

........

"These sturdy headphones came highly recommended by John Sunier.. and I had no trouble hearing why the V6 is so popular." "..a neutral low end that nevertheless does not lack impact. If anything, the sound is a bit too bright, and occasionally hard, with some accentuation of tape hiss and brass brashness." "Compensating for these errors is the sheer liveliness of the sound. The V6 renders ambience better than most other inexpensive headphones. Ditto for the subtle character of voices and instrumental sounds." "The sound is hardly state of the art but it is fun. Recommended, at or near the top of Class D." "If you have no more than $100 to spend, put these on your list."

..........

That gives the character of the review. For the record, Bill reviewed about 8 different headphones in this issue of Stereophile- not just the V6. Of all of them he liked one of them in particular, and it was the JVC HA-D990. He decided it was 'Highly Recommended' as opposed to the others which ranged from not recommended, recommended with certain provisions, etc.

p.s. this is the same reviewer who, when reviewing the K1000, could not figure out on his own that the earspeakers swivel out..

 

[Crazy4Bass]

My younger bro once owned a pair of V6s. From reading this review of the V6s, I would DEFINITELY have to agree that they do, indeed, have brightness that is hard and emphasize that "hiss" that is ever so evident in harsh treble 'phones. I once sampled my bro's V6s and was immediately repelled by the aggressiveness of the treble.

I once gave my honest, blunt opinion about these 'phones on the Headwize forum and got a major tongue-lashing.

It's just that my ears cannot withstand harsh, aggressive treble, and many times I've wondered why those who worship these cans don't find them harsh-sounding at all.

 

[cajunchrist]

Don't worry, Bass, I feel the same way about EX70's. I don't think I'll ever understand why those cans come so highly recommended.

 

[Crazy4Bass]

Thanks so very much for your reassurance, cajunchrist.

FINALLY, at least someone, understands!!

 

[chadbang]

Ditto, Crazy4bass. I gave my V6s away after buying my Senns. Way too harsh sounding. And, yup, Cajunchrist, I also gave away my EX70s for the same reason. That damn shrill treble.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, me neither (don't like the V6's). The difference between this site and headwize is -- here, you can just assume the tongue-lashing, without having to actually receive it.

(Tries to tongue-lash his elbow...)

 

[gloco]

I will not speak to anyone of you V6 bashers for one week!

Seriously, they can be a bit bright, especially on bright recordings, otherwise they are fine cans when combined with the right pcdp or MD portable, as i have found.

George

 

[RMSzero]

Yeah but, for $60 with closed cans, what are you gonna do?

 

[cajunchrist]

Man, I just ordered the V6's. I hope I didn't waste my money.

 

[BenG]

Who "worships" the V6s?

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by DustyChalk (Tries to tongue-lash his elbow...)

That's not possible!!!

 

[dhwilkin]

The V6 didn't sound bright to me, just clear. Of course, I was using it w/ a Panasonic 480 pcdp, which is on the warm-ish side, so that was probably a good match.

 

[HeadWired]

I agree...my newly-discovered-in-a-junk-drawer V6's are very harsh in uppers. Also, I find the bass a bit boomy.

That being said, I have spent a good portion of the past few days playing with these. I like 'em over-all. They just aren't my "reference" phones. But I'm VERY glad to know something's not wrong with my ears in the highs.

I will say for Dance music, it gives me that "in the club" sound. Sometimes you just want that.

PS--forgot to mention that they sound a bit more tame w/ the Cosmic. Not a good match w/ the TA.

 

[r3cc0s]

if the mid-highs are toned down a bit
i'd say they would be an extremely neutral can

i mean the low is deep and quite neutral

just if the highs were a bit less harsh

then again
these cans are specific to finding small details that you can remaster with
hence the studio monitor aspect of it's purpose

 

[jona]

There is another solution to "taming" the harshness of the V6- equalization. Now I know that is a bad word around here, but if you have an EQ then dropping the 2K area by a 3-5 dB goes a long way in improving the sound of the V6. Again- these are $60 cans so comparing them to something like the Beyer 250-80 at over double the price is a bit unfair.
I have not tried the suggestion of adding a bit of foam over the driver and under the stock earpad to soften the brightness. It seems logical and is not a permanent mod (in case one did not like the sound).
BTW- for MAC users (G3/G4 with OS 9.0.4 or better)- the 10-band EQ that comes with iTunes is great for playing around. A 3-4 dB drop in th 2-3KHz range does the V6 wonders. The direct sound output of a Mac tower (I have a G4/AGP graphics) is very good from a relatively efficient set of cans like the V6.

Jon