[turbomustang84]

Neither of those cans are bad, Jubiless not great but still good value at 160$, only not so much for customers outside of US with added shipping and tax. And now they've got competition of frequently discounted 579, 599 at basically half the price of 58x.

While 598's do have wider soundstage it's only tunnel-like, on the other hand 599 have more of a 3D-like soundstage with actual depth and still enough width. In my opinion this creates much better spacial awerness. HD599 are also better in other aspects especially detail retrival and bass, which is nearly identical to 58x.
HD598 have enormous amounts of distortion especially in bass region, while 599 completely fixed it.

Prefferences are out of question there are people who prefer Koss KSC75 with Yaxi pads over HD650, but it doesn't change the fact 650 is higher-end product with much more advanced sound technology. What people actually prefer is tunning that's why often many choose inexpensive over high-end. For example HD800 is propably out of most people prefference, though most would like to have them without even knowing how they actually sound like. I bet HD6-series and even HD5-series have easilly more preffered tunning over HD800 despite huge difference in price. So on and so forth...

You may like 58x more than 650 with your motherboard dac or 100$-ish amp, but plug 650 to some serious amping and you'll notice they outclass Jubiless by a huge margin in basically every aspect. Here's another guy who portray 58x in HD5-series league, this one claims they have 595 driver with slightly different coil. He's comparing them in 13:05 time

I've used my HD-58X for over a year and have every single 6 series and I've had the 580 since the mid 90s....

It has identical build other than cosmetics as the rest of the 6 series which has a lot to do with the sound and Sennheiser says the driver it uses has never been used in any other headphone...

but if you go and view all the YouTube videos you will find most love the 58X and a few make claims that to me really don't matter .

I bought mine before a single review was out and was actually very happy with it and then bought another .

If I buy something and like it then I'm likely to say good things about it in a forum .

My point being you chose not to buy the 58X which is your choice and not everyone is going to like everything but you seem to spend a lot of time posting negative comments about something you have never owned which confuses me .

Since I bought my first copy of stereo review magazine in the early 70s there has been some outlandish claims made by different companies such as an $18,000 amplifier stand that claimed it sounded better after 500 hour's of burn in that I felt compelled to call bull on .

But there is no conspiracy here just a headphone that is moderately priced and very popular that you don't like.

 

[GoodBoy]

Again I've got nothing against prefference, but 58x being not with HD6 league is at this point a well known fact. You read it as a negative for 58x, which was never the case with my elaboration. On their own 58x is as good as any HD5-series, just a different flavour. Want a wide spacious soundstage go for 599, want more intimacy go with 58x. I don't wine about 599 not being on 650 level so I don't understand why others wine about 58x not being as well. HD6-series have more advanced technology, bigger resolution, way better scalability, that's the way it is and you should deal with it. I listed several respected reviewers to back up my claim and yet you still conquer saying It's because I supoosedly don't like 58x... The fact is I like them, but I'm not gonna pretend it's another HD6 variant when reality is they are not.

Sennheiser is correct both 660 and 58x got new drivers, but what they're not telling it's essentially the same as 700 and 5-series respectively with minor difference in coil etc. This was also expalined by many owners and reviewers.

 

[DarkFlames]

I'd check metal571 review and comparison, he basically said there's a huge difference in resolution, detail retrieval and scalability. They're both similarly tunned, but 660s is on another level of technical performance. He also said 58x is more similar to HD5 series than HD6 series family of headphones. You will find similar impression in DMS review. I myself have difficult time choosing between 58x and 599, the latter being more open wider with better treble, while jubilees having more bass extension.

However 660S is not worth 500$ compared to 160$ 58x and 58x is not worth compared to 599 these days being frequently discounted at 99$. Not sure about other countries but here in Europe 660S can be obtained for 370 euros and that's their regular price right now going down slowly but surely.

thats the law of diminishing returns for ya, as you gain minimal performance, the cost ratio increases dramatically in high end audio, thats one of the things i hate in this hobby

 

[Cdog]

After a few days listening to both the 660 S and the 58X (stock and foam removed), I've made some observations.

These two cans share many traits, looks, fit, 150 ohm rated drivers, etc, but to my ears they simply don't sound that much alike.

I'm not taking anything away from the 58X, mine have found their home! The boosted bass is present on them regardless of foam in the grill. I've listen several times with and without the foam, and if there's a change I couldn't detect in a blind test.

I believe I can easily distinguish between these two models in a blind test.

Overall in comparison I find the 58x is less detail oriented. Again, not criticizing them. Sometimes the devil is in the details! With some music the 58X are more enjoyable at lower sound levels due to the enhanced bottom end acting as a "Loudness" control on a pre-amp.

For critical listening, the 660 S sets itself apart with a crisper, more open presentation. Not cold, just more detailed throughout..

Both of these cans have a home with me.

 

[turbomustang84]

After a few days listening to both the 660 S and the 58X (stock and foam removed), I've made some observations.

These two cans share many traits, looks, fit, 150 ohm rated drivers, etc, but to my ears they simply don't sound like that much alike.

I'm not taking anything away from the 58X, mine have found their home! The boosted bass is present on them regardless of foam in the grill. I've listen several times with and without the foam, and if there's a change I couldn't detect in a blind test.

I believe I can easily distinguish between these two models in a blind test.

Overall in comparison I find the 58x is less detail oriented. Again, not criticizing them. Sometimes the devil is in the details! With some music the 58X are more enjoyable at lower sound levels due to the enhanced bottom end acting as a "Loudness" control on a pre-amp.

For critical listening, the 660 S sets itself apart with a crisper, more open presentation. Not cold, just more detailed throughout..

Both of these cans have a home with me.

I've had both for a while and after I took the dampening material out of the 58X they are very close .
But I use my 600s and my 650s way more often

 

[equalspeace]

I resisted Metal571’s opinion on the 58x for a about week. Then after switching back and forth between it and the 6xx I realized he was right. Before I purchased the 58x, I had the the 660s for a few days before returning it because I didn’t like the way the treble was portrayed, but I can say from memory (take with a grain of salt) that the 660s is the more resolving HP. The 58x just isn’t in the same class in terms of ability to produce micro details as the 660s, 6xx/650, 600 imo. I wouldn’t say it’s in 598 territory though either. It’s somewhere in between.

 

[Mhog55]

After a few days listening to both the 660 S and the 58X (stock and foam removed), I've made some observations.

These two cans share many traits, looks, fit, 150 ohm rated drivers, etc, but to my ears they simply don't sound like that much alike.

I'm not taking anything away from the 58X, mine have found their home! The boosted bass is present on them regardless of foam in the grill. I've listen several times with and without the foam, and if there's a change I couldn't detect in a blind test.

I believe I can easily distinguish between these two models in a blind test.

Overall in comparison I find the 58x is less detail oriented. Again, not criticizing them. Sometimes the devil is in the details! With some music the 58X are more enjoyable at lower sound levels due to the enhanced bottom end acting as a "Loudness" control on a pre-amp.

For critical listening, the 660 S sets itself apart with a crisper, more open presentation. Not cold, just more detailed throughout..

Both of these cans have a home with me.

How much more open are we talking?

 

[Cdog]

How much more open are we talking?

Difficult for me to describe the difference, however it's a noticeable amount.

The 660 is delivers instruments and vocals around your ears with an airier presentation. In comparison the 58X sound more like closed back cans.

 

[Mhog55]

Difficult for me to describe the difference, however it's a noticeable amount.

The 660 is delivers instruments and vocals around your ears with an airier presentation. In comparison the 58X sound more like closed back cans.

So does that mean that the 660s isn't as forward sounding as the 58X... Less aggressive in nature?

 

[Cdog]

So does that mean that the 660s isn't as forward sounding as the 58X... Less aggressive in nature?

No, I don't think I can describe the 660 as being any less forward.

I would describe the 660 as being less aggressive and more natural in lower regions. To me the 660 sound is more typical of an open back, where the 58X sound for the most part really isn't.
.

 

[Sefelt103]

Interesting thread. Never heard either. Doesn't Grado make aggressive, rock orientated narrow soundstage headphones ? I'm curious as to how many Sennheiser HD 660S's have sold. From what I've read it doesn't seem like the runaway success of the HD580/600/650 line. Z reviews had a video I seem to remember where he thought the HD 58x was virtually identical to the HD 660S which I think was perhaps slightly erroneous.

 

[Mhog55]

No, I don't think I can describe the 660 as being any less forward.

I would describe the 660 as being less aggressive and more natural in lower regions. To me the 660 sound is more typical of an open back, where the 58X sound for the most part really isn't.
.

Copy that, Thx