Audiophiles rejoice - the Sennheiser HD 660S2 has received a solid price cut from Amazon
Some truly excellent headphones.
If you've been keeping an eye on some of my review coverage over here, then you'll know I've been on a bit of an audio journey. One of my more recent excursions has been with Sennheiser's HD 660S2 headphones, the latest in their long line of HD 600-series headphones that have been the stuff of legend for audiophiles for the last 25 years. Currently, you can get these for £464 from Amazon, knocking around £35 off their list price.
That's still a pricey pair of cans, but you certainly get what you pay for. These are some of the best-sounding headphones I've had, with a robust and deep low end, and one of the most precise and clear presentations across the frequency range. I noted this in my review, with everything from Dire Straits to Bob Marley and James Taylor sounding suitably excellent. As reference headphones, the HD 660S2 is designed to provide a flat sound profile in the name of serving up a true-to-life presentation of music, and on that part, it definitely succeeds.
They also look and feel fantastic, with a well-made plastic construction and velvety-smooth padding around the earcups and headband. The HD 660S2 carries a classy look to it, especialyl with the bronze-coloured logo plates, too. They're simple, but effective. At 260g, they also make for some pretty lightweight cans, although I had an issue with the tighter clamping force. This should reduce over time, but it's just worth noting if you aren't used to a tight fit out of the box. These are also open backs, so they do let a lot of noise out, as well as ambient noise in, which is in the name of offering a wide soundstage, but it does limit you to using these for home listening - just something to bear in mind.
The big thing to note here is that the HD 660S2 have quite a high impedance, meaning they need a lot of power to run - 300 ohms to be exact. When you get up to this level, you need a DAC in order to get the HD 660S2 running. My DAC of choice is the Chord Mojo 2, whose pair of headphone jacks offer a combined 600 ohms of power, meaning it can comfortably deal with two pairs of the HD 660S2. You don't need to drop that amount of money, though, as more affordable choices such as the Astell and Kern AK HC3, the iFi Go Blu and the Fiio BTR5 can also power these Sennheisers.
It may only be a small discount, but the fact is that the HD 660S2 are an amazing set of headphones for the money, and if you're interested in getting a sublime listening experience, it doesn't get much better than this.