Howdy! I have been lurking in other threads but was hoping to pick everyone’s brain on something here. I just had a chance to demo an Eikon and Liric which I found I liked. But came back home and fired up my 660s and I think I prefer them (eq’d to Oratory). Each of the headphones has their own strengths and weaknesses, but I listen to a variety of genres so don’t need something that’s gonna be amazing with just one specific genre. The reason I’m asking here it is I’m looking for a closed back that has a similar signature to the 660. Price is not really an issue for me, but if it doesn’t have to be as expensive as a Liric that’s great (I liked the D9200 but it’s still a lot of $$). I saw it back about a year ago in an older thread someone recommended the Elear, which I think was replaced by the Celestee. I’ve demoed that briefly in the past and wasn’t particularly impressed, I found it quite boring, but if someone here has experience with that phone and really recommends it as a similar phone I’ll have to go try again. (Note that I’m running these out of Zen Dac/Can stack—love the xbass button because it’s easy to add just a hint of warmth and body when necessary. )
Any recommendations for a closed back that performs similar to the 660? Thank you!
Funny enough I had the opposite problem. That is I was looking for an open back to compliment my German closed back and chose 660 as adorama had their deal.
Not all knowing on closed backs, but i've had my fair share of german closed backs both modern relatively speaking and vintage.
Anyway I found it funny in recent times Beyer has soften their signature a bit almost into Sennheiser type territory, and this 660s is almost like a Beyer spice was added.
Some closed backs which I would think would work if you like the German style sound similar to 660 is DT150 w/ velour pads. Or t5p.II w/ 1770 coolmax velour pads.
At worst, both will match sound quality of 660s and will extend better both sides of spectrum with very good mids. Though both are not as breatheable as an open back, they can present "air" in the context of sound pretty well. And if you want more hardcore German sound, hd250, linear I I think is one of the best, and even more hardcore dt48/480. I am joking on the dt48/480 , they really are for a specific type.
But yeah basically, dt150 w/ velour and t5p.ii w/ 1770 coolmax. This way you can buy a used t5p.ii and get pads off uk amazon. I personally think the tesla driver angled is superior to the 660 hd700 looking one. t5p.ii I made comment it sounded like a Sennheiser w/ coolmax pads. Like a super 580/600
Ofc if you're a baller, there are much better sounds than 660 in a closed form I bet, but the above two are more in line with 660 to me.
and as always YMMV and double check with some other higher ranking members. I am peasant level here.
