ServiceServices t1_j9ulake wrote on February 24, 2023 at 5:50 PM

Nothing wrong with liking a headphone. But, still hard to ignore how overpriced these are. Overpriced meaning they retail higher than people normally would be willing to pay for them, compared to other substitutes like the HD600/HD6XX. I'm no stranger to this, I love the Focal Elegia's and they retailed for $800 at one point. I'd say these are a buy 3 years from now when on sale for $300, but as is you will get more value by buying the 660S and equalizing.

AdAlternative9011 OP t1_j9ulzoz wrote on February 24, 2023 at 5:54 PM

I agree that they’re overpriced but spending money on my hobby is not the part of my life where I make the best financially rational decisions. And that’s how it should be IMO, otherwise everyone would just rock a Sundara or 6XX.

Smugsie t1_j9viw3h wrote on February 24, 2023 at 9:25 PM

Joshua made a later comparison video against the Meze 109's that the Sennheisers had better timbre and vocal body. While the Meze 109's had better detail highlights and fun sound signature... etc etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBlSV9ITMtk

For anyone reading this I highly recommend watching the full review.

Anyways, can't wait for a price drop for everyone looking into the S2's. Nothing like a headphone that becomes more accessible for everyone else and hearing good reviews on a headphone you've been enjoying for a long time :)

Also regarding EQ'ing the 660S's, I might give it another go, but basically the gist of it was to give the 660S the Oratory1990 treatment and then modifying the treble to sound more accurate. The Oratory1990 makes the 660S sound grainy and worse than the original sound. Halfway into listening the S2 as a reference I just sat there and got carried away with the music lol

Amaakaams t1_j9xbbsu wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:53 AM

To me this an obvious value move by Senn. Lets look at the HD660S, It's the same build but with a more expensive driver, using the one from the HD700. Besides being a more expensive driver but after the HD700 got discontinued, and it was still poor seller when it was available, its only the HD660s using it (with the HD800 and its kin using a different driver based on the ideas of the HD700). The $500 it originally sold for made sense. It was more expensive to produce even if a majority of the build was similar. But its still been the poorer seller and now is available at HD600 cost for the most part.

The HD660s2. It's in a family of $200-$300 headphones. It's using a recently reworked version of the typical HD600 family driver. So while there is some R&D to recoup. Its basically a HD600 tuned to be sound like a HD660s, with a bit more bass (compared to the S1).

If it was a full on replacement for the 660s and priced at the current going rate of the 660s or lets say a slight premium like $350. It might be a decent selection. A 660s with more HD600 characteristics (like the veil) and resolution. But at $600, you got 98% of sound with a $200-220 HD6XX, or you get a similar tune but with better resolution out of a $280-$300 HD660s. There is a debate of whether its general quality alone would in theory for a person looking for exactly it would be worth paying $600 for. But as a member of the HD6** family. It is an absolutely poor fit. The 660s has value for being a similar tune with a more proficient driver at half the cost and the rest for being so similar in drivers that the only major difference is tune and them being between half and a third of the cost.

aless530 t1_j9yros3 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 3:42 PM

Hey, where did you get your sourse on the driver type of the hd 660s2?

Amaakaams t1_ja0mryb wrote on February 25, 2023 at 11:20 PM

Mostly their references. They didn't talk about a new driver design, they talk about changes to the voice coil and a few tone changes. So older driver. Then it's the change to a resistance matching the rest of 600 series. It might not be a retune of the exact driver in the rest of the lineup, but it's still f that lineage and therefore most of the dev cost has been long paid for.

HiFiveBro t1_ja011bf wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:45 PM

After about half an hour of testing, I think I prefer the 660s over the 660s2.
I got my 660s for $300. These I obviously paid full price.
They are a fun headphone and I like the changes, but overall I prefer the 660s and they'll still be my daily go-to. The 660s's sound like you're on the front of the stage, and the 660s2's sound like you're in the middle of the stage. It sounds less wide, and overall sounds v-shaped right out of the box.