These refurbished Sennheiser HD660S2 can be yours for £354 from Sennheiser directly right now
A lot of headphones for the price.
One of my favourite pairs of headphones in recent months, the truly fantastic Sennheiser HD660S2 have received a big price cut from Sennheiser directly. At the moment, you can get a refurbished pair for £354, which is a large saving on their usual £450-£500 list price without compromising on their quality.
Before I go any further, I should say that these are a refurbished model. Sennheiser's own terms dictates that their refurb items are returned products that have been tested rigorously so they are up to standard, and they come with all accessories and cables where applicable. Customer reviews of these refurbished models in the past come highly recommended and virtually as-new. I've purchased from them before, albeit many years ago, and the headphones were as-new.
As much as the HD660S2 is quite a dear set of cans, you do get what you pay for with them. These are, quite simply, 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, let alone get the best experience out of them. 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 for a couples listening experience. 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.
The fact is that the HD 660S2 are an amazing set of headphones for the money, especially with this hefty reduction off them, and if you're interested in getting a sublime listening experience, it doesn't get much better than this.