I know this is a subjective question, but I have the 6XX and it’s great, but would love to hear the 600. I know they are legendary for having a neutral, clear presentation, great mid-range and fantastic on a tube amp.
But is it that much of a difference from the 650? For those who own/ed both, is it worth to step up to the 600 as well? Or does the 650 get you 90% of the way there to the 600? Genuinely interested in your responses here.
Something to keep in mind is that the 600 isn’t a step-up from the 650/6XX, that would be the 660 if anything. There is a small tonal difference between the two, with the 600 leaning a bit more neutral. Every aspect of the 600, from the way they scale with better amps, to how tubes make them sound apply to the 650/6XX as well. They were just made to be a touch warmer than the 600. But as you said, whether it would be worth it or not would be completely subjective. Personally, having the 6XX myself, I would say no. Not unless I found a used 600 in good condition for a really good price, and even then I’m not sure I’d get them.
short answer: yes
long answer: maybe not. a lot would depends on the genres of music you listen to and what you’ve got for a DAC and amp and whether they suit it’s strengths, if you’re willing to buy an OTL tube amp (unless you’ve already got one) to make the HD600’s sing.
edit - in short, the HD600’s are wonderful for instrumental / classical and respond very well to warm DACs and amps. if you’re still really curious, I’d say look up a used pair and save some coin…that way if you don’t like them, you can likely sell them for the same price you paid.
If you’re a fan of Sennheiser house sound and you have spare cash to spend and you care about tonal differences and you’d like to collect some legendary headphones, yes
Nope, they’re like 95% the same, look up measurements, I had the kitchen counter version a while ago and I’d swear they felt a bit better built than 6xx/58x but even that’s gone with the new revisions…
Also the 6xx/650 it the one that’s supposed to be the higher end one(it’s not), not the other way around.