Sennheiser HD660s vs HD660s2

[SeattleChris]

For anyone interested I upgraded from the Sennheiser HD660s to the HD660s2 and was blown away. Got them for $400US on sale after Christmas, and they're paired with a Schiit Asgard3 headphone amp (with the cheaper DAC, not the "multibit") and Amazon HD is the source.

I'm a bassaholic and upgraded primarily for that, which is indeed improved but still nowhere near what I like (I boost bass with EQ APO). However, the improvement that blew me away was the imaging. The best way to describe the difference is watching the performance from a distance (660s) vs. being fully immersed in it (660s2). The midrange & treble is far more "present", though not harsh (I'm sensitive to midrange). More "texture" is another description that comes to mind. I was astounded to isolate a quiet backing vocal at a pinpoint location and perceive they were mumbling rather than annunciating!

These headphones have been nothing short of a revelation for me. Used to think headphone listening was far inferior to the amp/speaker experience, but that's now changing!

 

[Gray]

For anyone interested I upgraded from the Sennheiser HD660s to the HD660s2 and was blown away.

You confirm the importance of judging things for yourself Chris.
A review I read somewhere concluded that it wouldn't be worth changing from the original model.
Good that you found the opposite and got a good deal 👍

 

[SeattleChris]

You confirm the importance of judging things for yourself Chris.
A review I read somewhere concluded that it wouldn't be worth changing from the original model.
Good that you found the opposite and got a good deal 👍

Yep, after reading the reviews I didn't expect that much difference in the imaging!

 

[davidseaman]

For anyone interested I upgraded from the Sennheiser HD660s to the HD660s2 and was blown away. Got them for $400US on sale after Christmas, and they're paired with a Schiit Asgard3 headphone amp (with the cheaper DAC, not the "multibit") and Amazon HD is the source.

I'm a bassaholic and upgraded primarily for that, which is indeed improved but still nowhere near what I like (I boost bass with EQ APO). However, the improvement that blew me away was the imaging. The best way to describe the difference is watching the performance from a distance (660s) vs. being fully immersed in it (660s2). The midrange & treble is far more "present", though not harsh (I'm sensitive to midrange). More "texture" is another description that comes to mind. I was astounded to isolate a quiet backing vocal at a pinpoint location and perceive they were mumbling rather than annunciating!
basket random
These headphones have been nothing short of a revelation for me. Used to think headphone listening was far inferior to the amp/speaker experience, but that's now changing!

I had the 660S2 for a couple weeks, by far the most audiophile headphone I've had (Senn hd280, Sony wf/x 10003/4, b&w px7, beoplay ex, you get the idea). Blew me completely away. Never heard any of the 600 series, so bought the 660s just to a/b. Listened to two songs and put them back in the box. Not because they were anything but great, they just didn't have what I wanted to hear but they did get me thinking that given they were nearly as good for far less, I decided to a/b the Edition XS. It took more than 2 songs but not much more before the 660S2 also went back. I couldn't be happier, I feel like I saved $100 and got slightly better cans that tickle me in all the right spots.