The soon-to-be-controversial HD 660S2 thread

With packages being delivered tonight, it is time to put on our asbestos gear and get ready for the flame wars.

I propose a round of out-of-the-box hot takes before we get all clinical. Who’s got ‘em already?

Impressions and/or measurements:

• https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...troversial-hd-660s2-thread.13205/#post-403475
• https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...troversial-hd-660s2-thread.13205/#post-403687
• https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...sial-hd-660s2-thread.13205/page-2#post-403745
  
• https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...sial-hd-660s2-thread.13205/page-2#post-403781
• https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...sial-hd-660s2-thread.13205/page-2#post-403843

 

660S2 will be 660S1 but worse frequency response. 660S2 wouldve been better as just 660S1 but with 300ohm impedance. 660Series still will reportedly still have less smooth highs than 650 and 600. 660S1 will eventually be more valuable on second hand market than 660S2. 660Series MSRP is high considering its still a 6X0 but with a different driver.

 

According to the Sennheiser graphs, it should be the same FR with better subbass extension. Also 300Ohms driver + something they did which is supposed to lower distortion. By all accounts sounds like this will be a great headphone.

 

hot take... they should have hired @ext1 or licensed the JAR660S mods and released it as the S2. (loaner JAR660s arrived yesterday... much better than the stock 660s that arrived alongside)

 

I ordered a pair that I won't be keeping (thanks Jeff Bezos!) with the intent to merely do a hot take. I'm not expecting much, but I am curious. I'll post up with some brief comparisons to silver screen HD650K, silver screen HD600 w/Custom Cans mod, bone stock black screen HD600, JARHD660s, and bone stock black screen HD580.

 

Just got to play with mine. First impressions:

- Box is the recent one (not the big storage box). Prominently displays the meaningless “Hi-Res Audio” badge. Designed in Germany | Made in Ireland.
- Nice Pouch!
- Comes pre-connected with the 1/4 cable - careful when lifting the pouch, some cable/cardboard action here. I see a Pentaconn cable in the box. I hope XLR survives the Sony assault. 1/4 to 1/8 adapter in box. Cables are of reasonable length for most people.
- (Maybe?) slightly revised material for the headband cushion when compared to recent HD 600. Maybe tweaked ear pads as well. Comfortable, clamp force as usual.

Listened to Peter Gabriel’s “So”. Pi2AES -> Yggdrasil A2 -> Folkvangr.

I am tempted to say “They lifted the veil from the HD 650” and leave it there for now. Notes vs HD6xx:

-> Right off the bat, “Sledgehammer”’s bass is fun
-> The bass in “In Your Eyes” hits harder and cleaner. Emphasis more on the cleaner side.
-> “Mercy Street” reveals there is some change in soundstage: slightly wider and a bit more out-of-head.
-> I’m getting more enthusiastic highs. I sincerely hope it does not end up being fatiguing… but will only know after longer sessions. The highs may be what rings the division bell.
-> A little louder overall and it also feels a bit faster. This may be why the highs feel enthusiastic and the bass feels more realistic.

Will leave the set burning in out of the Rag2 and revisit this weekend for a more careful listening. But first take is good. Will it dethrone 650? Is this the bass the 600 was missing? Who knows.

 

So nothing controversial.

The controversy is that your review shouldve been the original post in a review thread. All of the other posts added little to zero value and didnt include any references.

 

You werent fulfilling the premise of your thread title so I was helping. You welcome

 

Comparisons (BF2 OG --> EC Af):

HD660S2 is more (macro) dynamic and v-shaped than silver screen HD600. HD660S2 misses the midrange planktons and comfy spaciousness that both HD600 and JAR660 have in spades, relatively. HD650K and HD660S2 are kissing cousins, more similar than different especially in the midrange/upper midrange (...veiled horse emoji), however, HD660S2 has better dynamics (both macro and micro) and the greater bass extension is quite noticeable. Please note, "noticeable" in italics.

Is HD660S2 worth $600? Probably only if you don't already own any other 6xx-series/58x-series headphones. The 6-series JAR mods I currently have/have had are all more complete and refined sounding, and kind of bitch-slaps the HD660S2 back into $600-mid-fi purgatory. HD660S2 should have been $450 retail, $375 street price.

Edit: After spending a few Hammock albums (dreamy synth, strings, post-rock ethereal stuff), back-to-back-to-back, HD660S2 is striking me as just a teeeeny bit fatiguing. Not damning, for sure, but it's there. Also, I could probably pad roll and mask it, but that's not the point (to me) with these headphones.

 

Wait, I haven't been following the saga at all... How many versions of the HD660 are there? Can someone give me the Cliff notes version of why this is supposed to be controversial?

 

Well, just two now. The OG HD660s and the new HD660S2.

 

@ext1 to the rescue after the silly price goes down quite a bit

 

If the stock 660S2 is at 650K level, I'd consider that a win. At MSRP though, value proposition is meh when new 6xx goes for half or less.

But it also means the future JAR660S2 could be that much better.

 

I'm sooooo (like, s0000000) tempted to pull the 660S2 capsules out and swap them into my JAR660 baffles... I even popped one 660S2 capsule just to see if everything's the same fitment-wise (and it is). The JAR mod does appear to require chopping up the capsule around the wiring leads, but I'm hesitant to take everything apart to find out for sure.

 

Possible to swap the S2 capsules into a HD600/650?

 

I know Jupiter does not recommend taking the mod apart, as even if it seems straightforward to put it back together, it likely will not sound the same after.

 

Yea Jupiter uses a pretty intense installation process, so don't take your JARs apart... Plus 660S2 probably requires slightly different tuning, and thus different JAR part(s).

 

He's a wild man, that's for sure.