[Rob80b]

Not sure if there are any György Ligeti fans on deck but the S2 are showing excellent startling dynamics with this afternoons listen. Some of Ligeti’s pieces can also get rather discordant in the higher registers but the S2 held it together.

 

[jonathan c]

• The HD-660S2 has been with Woo Audio WA3 (OTL - tubes: TS 5998, pair WE 396A). I will say that from Liquid Platinum —> Vioelectric V281 —> Icon Audio HP8 Signature —> Woo WA3, the “S2” has not been other than excellent.
• With WA3, there is a little extra synergy - amplifier high output impedance & headphone high input impedance: blossoming of sound, layering within soundstage, retention of the HD-600 midrange! The deeper bass with clarity & definition, the ‘quicker’ transient response without etch are most welcome: real pluses to the sound of my beloved HD-600 (w/ Custom Cans UK mods etc)! Could there be a Custom Cans UK backweight mod for “S2”? … …

 

[drummerman1]

I had a listen to the 660S2 today at the Bristol Show.

Before I go on a rant I must confess I forgot my USB C to jack dongle at home thus I was reliant on music and source provided by the exhibitors.

That was not an issue elsewhere as some others (Meze, Yamaha ... more on that another time) provided Roon and it's broad music range in tandem with streaming services.

Sennheiser though had a very limited number of 'safe' songs programmed, many of which were not to my taste and no option to expand on that. - I take some of the blame for forgetting said dongle and thus had no access to my dem tracks. Fair enough.

However, Sennheiser in their infinite wisdom demonstrated sound bars in the next room. That would have been ok but they kept the connecting door open and it was difficult to hear your own thoughts! - Not clever.

The little I could hear was as following; the 660S2 sounded louder and more incisive than the 600 at the same volume. It had a slightly more forward bass and parts of lower treble than the 600 but that one seemed slightly more balanced. The bass did not seem to extend any lower on the new model though.

How do you like your steak? Rare or medium rare?

It's about all I could tell considering the surrounding noise.

In Sennheisers defense, Focal Headphones didn't have a room but placed themselves on the terrace area right next to the bar seating area. Luckily I had a reasonaby quiet listen first thing Friday morning.

I really do appreciate the effort, time and money all brands/dealers and distributors put in to the show but Sennheiser could have easily gone two steps further.

 

[rafaelo]

I wouldn't be at all surprised that when the fuss dies down over the new 660S2 and the 660S disappears from shelves that there will be a realisation that it had properties unique to the 6 series and it will start to become more sought after. It's almost inevitable given that it's going to be discontinued. That's not to say anything against the 660S2 or to say that the 660S is better, just that when the 660S is gone it's properties will be more appreciated.

Maybe they will be offered by drop as a an 66X variant or directly. Not very useful for us in Europe but anyway...

Should someone invest in a refurbished 660s unit or save the money for an Neumann ndh-30? That is the question.

660s2 can came later down the line.

 

[Mike F]

Many people seem to be comparing the mids on the 660S2 with the mids on the 600. For me though its the upper mids on the 600 that I can’t handle. Too much presence in that region leading to fatigue. Its the main reason I always prefered the 650. Can anyone with all three tell me whether the mids on the 660S2 are more like the 600 or 650 (or indeed the 660S)?

 

[Mike F]

Maybe they will be offered by drop as a an 66X variant or directly. Not very useful for us in Europe but anyway...

Should someone invest in a refurbished 660s unit or save the money for an Neumann ndh-30? That is the question.

660s2 can came later down the line.

Oh, without doubt the NDH 30!

 

[muchacho]

• The HD-660S2 has been with Woo Audio WA3 (OTL - tubes: TS 5998, pair WE 396A). I will say that from Liquid Platinum —> Vioelectric V281 —> Icon Audio HP8 Signature —> Woo WA3, the “S2” has not been other than excellent.
• With WA3, there is a little extra synergy - amplifier high output impedance & headphone high input impedance: blossoming of sound, layering within soundstage, retention of the HD-600 midrange! The deeper bass with clarity & definition, the ‘quicker’ transient response without etch are most welcome: real pluses to the sound of my beloved HD-600 (w/ Custom Cans UK mods etc)! Could there be a Custom Cans UK backweight mod for “S2”? … …

Thank you for the positive evaluation of the combination of the OTL amplifier in conjunction with the 660S2 headphones! I'm a few steps closer to deciding to get these headphones again... Right now I'm listening to the xDuoo TA-26 and after a few songs and sometimes even during the song I switch between HD600 and HD650. They each excel at something different, but the 660S2 should bring it all together and complement...

 

[Rob80b]

Should someone invest in a refurbished 660s

https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/en-UK/p/hd-660-s-refurbished/cl80a2wm866rw0bw5fnay84gh/
Refubs are always like new and with a 2 year warranty...the S2 and NDH30 could wait. : )

 

[rafaelo]

https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/en-UK/p/hd-660-s-refurbished/cl80a2wm866rw0bw5fnay84gh/
Refubs are always like new and with a 2 year warranty...the S2 and NDH30 could wait. : )

When you say like new there is also hope to be really new and push it like refurbished for the discount ???

 

[audiocroissant]

On the UK Sennheiser website, HD660s2 is £499 and HD650 is £429.99 atm.. wat? That price for 650 is crazy. Was it always that much or is it inflated to make S2 look like a great deal..

 

[Rob80b]

When you say like new there is also hope to be really new and push it like refurbished for the discount ???

So far, knock on wood, so called refurbs from Sennheiser have been indistinguishable from new. : )

 

[bagwell359]

Hardly!, again. The above is the Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX: the pinnacle in loudspeaker achievement .

Heard the earlier Wilson. I think the MBL extreme is much more to my taste, but alas is an insane $325k. At less cost (but requiring specific room/equipment) Magnepan 30, ML CLSIIz w/ Gradient woofers, and Verity Parsifal put out sound that I'd rather listen too - plus that Wilson got hit with the functional, but not pretty stick.

Thanks for the reply, I've already tried tube swapping with the TA-26 and currently I'm most happy with the Russian NOS 6N8S (Foton) and 6N5S (Svetlana) in conjunction with the HD600. I was wondering if anyone has tested if this amplifier plays "warmer" with warm playing headphones (according to the manufacturer's description) 660S2 ? I am very tempted by them and am considering expanding the HD6x0 "family". I like that warm and syrupy sound...

I thought the T-26 (stock) sounded like a good hybrid split with a fairly uncolored tube amp, meaning in total a bit less syrupy than one might expect. I don't think any 6** or 8** headphone is warm. But I think they are accurate with a missing bit of harmonic richness, and that the mating with a good (too me that means non-Sabre) DAC approaches live music much better in that price range than many other set-ups. Granted the bottom octave isn't very impactful, and the dynamics of a full orchestra falls short a bit, but chamber music (from classical to jazz to rock) that's well recorded comes out well enough that it causes me to relax into the music. Fat bass, no bass, bright treble, bad timbre, are among the things that make me not relax - so a lot of check boxes are checked IMO.

 

[bagwell359]

Many people seem to be comparing the mids on the 660S2 with the mids on the 600. For me though its the upper mids on the 600 that I can’t handle. Too much presence in that region leading to fatigue. Its the main reason I always prefered the 650. Can anyone with all three tell me whether the mids on the 660S2 are more like the 600 or 650 (or indeed the 660S)?

Ever use them on a OTL amp?

 

[bagwell359]

On a tangent:

Amazon has 600: $261 (whoa, cheapest I've ever seen) and 660S: $289, and a whopping $599 for the 660S2.... brings to mind a Lene Lovitch cut "New Toy" released in 1981.... yup, new toys, always better than the old toys....

 

[rafaelo]

So far, knock on wood, so called refurbs from Sennheiser have been indistinguishable from new. : )

Thank you very much sir I really appreciate it.

Final question: are one day already in my cart but I suspect these do NOT get a further 10% discount as they are already discounted, right?