Usually people do, I didnât I bought mine pre owned. You can find used units pretty often.
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There are a few pre built ones online too. Check out the crack thread and there would be some links to people who build them and sell them. They do a nice job too.
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Great review!
Was curious to get your thoughts on how 6XXs perform with sayâŠa JDS Labs Element 2? Figured itâs a slight step up from the atom, which I think you mentioned was okay with these headphones 
Iâm sure it will be fine. Probably wonât be as good as a tube, but the Element II shouldnât hold it back much.
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Not sure if anyone posted this video yet, but this is fascinating:
The 6XX and the 650 donât sound the same (according to the video)
From my experience they donât sound the same, but this being said, Iâve only heard older 650s vs 6xx, perhaps the newer 650 would be more in line with the newer 6xx, not sure (given different location of manufacture and different tooling iirc). They are still pretty close either way where imo itâs still pretty clearly a 650 either way. When doing comparisons like this, you really want to account for things like wear on pads (pretty important), the amount of time on the drivers (smaller importance), and also the age and time of manufacture to account for both batch variation and if you go old enough almost silent revisions/slight changes in design (also important), because those can definitely skew results. I mean you might even get multiple pairs of a single headphone and have them sound different between each other a bit, depends on the level of current quality control (although this is less an issue for sennheiser and more for other brands lol). Anyways, the 6xx is still a great deal, but if given the chance between an older 650 vs a 6xx Iâd go 650. But if you arenât a diehard fan that wants to get everything out of them as possible, the 6xx is frankly a better value and I donât think the differences are going to matter that much in the end for most, they are again more similar than not, still pretty damn close most of the time
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Everything Mon mentioned. Plus this bugâs me so badlyâŠ
Are they even on the exact spot on the mic-head? Kinda takes the floor off the hole thing if they arenât and twisted.
Well it was entertaining for the first 40secâŠ
I only came across your review today having given up on the HD650/XX and moving on to the more high end stuff thinking that the extra money will bring sonic bliss. After two years of Focals/HD800S/Hifiman 1000s I picked up a used pair of Made in Ireland HD6XX because it was a bargain at US$160 in virtually unused condition. After burning it in for a few days I suddenly come to realize that the ease, comfort and involvement in the music far outweighed the extra headroom, frequency response and details I have long chase after in putting more money into the hobby.
As a side note, the 6XX scaled up beautifully in the Eleckit/Western Electric 300B set up although you will think itâs an immense overkill. That setup also brought out the full potential in the HD800S.
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Itâs funny you say that because I too own Focals/HD800s/Arya and recently tried the 2021 LCDX. Before then, Iâve tried probably 20 different low to mid tier headphones. Anyway, Iâve owned the 6xx for awhile and decided to try it out again. To my surprise, they blew me away. I donât know if itâs the amp (I own an RME ADI-2) or if I got tired of the extreme details and treble presence of the 800s/arya, but these headphones just sound perfect to me right now. And the soundstage sounds way bigger than I had even imagined? Listen to the song âWidest Possible Apertureâ by Slowly Rolling Camera and wait until a few minutes in and youâll hear knocking on a door in the song and youâll see what I mean.
I feel the 6xx has just enough clarity, sparkle, soundstage, and the bass with a few DBâs of EQ sounds 
@M0N is it possible that my RME ADI-2 can produce more width in sound and deeper bass with the 6xx?
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What was it being run on previously? Also just to ask are you saying larger than the 800s or Arya? Or just can they become more spatially capable with better source gear? (they absolutely can)
It was run on a THX 789. No definitely not as wide as those, but close. Maybe 10-15% less wide. Still wide enough where you turn your head when you think you hear a knock or something 
I definitely donât remember them being this wide.
gotcha gotcha, yeah then the 6xx will change itâs stage depending on what itâs run on for sure
Coppered up. Keeping my 600 bone-stock forever, but will futz with 6xx. Very simple. The no-foam was âfunâ but I think was just too much boom, and the blues seemed a bit light, so Iâll run bored which seemed a happy spot. Not at a spot to over analyze this, but Iâd say there is a pleasing tightness to everything after. Who else has tried?
Finally had a chance to play with my hd6xx after getting COVID. I gave it 48 hours of burn in and made a new balanced cables for it running out out my ares2/flux fa-12.
To my astonishment I found the female vocals a too forward and a bit shouty.
Does anyone know if the KISS mod makes the female vocals less forward?
Not a big deal if it doesnât I guess as I bought these as more of reference point headphone.
Does this kind of stand make the pads wear out more quickly?
Nah, that stand doesnât really touch the pads. I keep most everything else on blocks except Senns. Box for 600, This stand or laying on a table for 6xx. Headboard for 58x. Lol
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Not sure if anyone has seen it, but ZMF has created 3 pads for the HD650/XX.
One is suede, one is lambskin, the other is fenestrated lambskin. I picked up the fenestrated lambskin after seeing some you tube videos:
ZMF has them angled in ever so slightly and they are very comfortable. Found it improved the bass and treble without sacrificing the mids.
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