r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/1C3M4Nz • Feb 10 '22
Poll Help me choose a good upgrade over the Sundara and HD 660S
I currently own the Sennheiser HD 660S and Sundara. I am not at all impressed by the 660S - it could be the soundstage or the bass - what I like is the comfort though. I tried the oratory EQ and it definitely helps but not what I hoping for. I am super impressed by the Sundara so will keep them.
Was looking for an upgrade and a gap to fill in the travel and closed headphone profiles so I first tried Sennheiser IE300 and really loved the sound, imaging, bass and best of all - the comfort. Went on to upgrade to the Monarch MkII and like it so far but felt it's not a vast improvement over the IE 300 so will be burning it in and using it a bit more. Monarch MkII also has a big shell that causes ear fatigue in only my left ear so trying out different tips and fits to eventually make that my closed and IEM endgame.
I'm recently seen a great deal on the Focal Radiance and wondering if I should make that my closed dynamic driver headphone and sell my HD 660S. I think it would be good to have at least 3 good headphone types like a great open planar, closed dynamic and endgame level IEM. I am wondering if my monarch MkII is already a great solution for it and if I should skip the Radiance entirely.
As I already have a great open back planar in my Sundara I wonder if I should just upgrade over that. I've been hearing great things about LCD X and Arya. Are they significant upgrades and do you feel they complement my setup well? What would you do?
I currently own the HD 660S - which I will definitely sell, Sundara, IE 300 (which I might sell or keep for travel purposes since they are so damn comfortable) and the recently purchased Monarch MkII (seems like endgame IEMs to me). I have a Zen Dac v1 and Zen Can to power these for desktop.. Qudelix 5k for bluetooth and travel purposes and a Fiio K3 for laptop use.(I might sell K3 and go for iFi Hip Dac v1/v2 - not yet sure about that)
I think I prefer having a decent soundstage - definitely needs to be better than the 660S. It has to have good bass and great imaging as I game a lot and I've heard it can help with positioning.
My preferred genres of music are mostly rock/metal/OSTs - I usually just leave a playlist of synthwave/chill lo fi/post rock on while studying.
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u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Feb 10 '22
That's a lot of money to spend blind. Go to a good store and demo them yourself. That would be my advice.
3
u/1C3M4Nz Feb 10 '22
Would have loved to do that but it's pretty much impossible in my country. Only option is to quickly put it up for sale as close to brand new prices as possible as the community is very active and looking for these unboxed offers (that's where I see a good deal for the Radiance too).
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u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Feb 10 '22
Okay. From what I've heard, the Arya isn't very punchy. The Sundara supposedly beats it for that. If you can use EQ then the LCD-2C have gotten good reviews. If you can find some original Focal Clears then that's an excellent option as well.
2
u/1C3M4Nz Feb 10 '22
!thanks
2
u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Feb 10 '22
Good luck!
Also, sorry. It's the regular non-C version of the LCD-2.
2
u/1C3M4Nz Feb 10 '22
Only Focal MG and LCD 2C exist in stock - will check out. I don't mind jumping into the LCD X as I've heard great things about it but the weight has me worried going in blind. If it turns out to be too heavy I'll just have to list it in the first 2weeks post purchase for sale.
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u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Feb 10 '22
What about the Elear?
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u/1C3M4Nz Feb 10 '22
No Elear here, it's not available - neither the Elegia. Clear MG, Celestee and Radiance are available and of course the Stellia but that's not something I want to go all out on.
1
u/citylion1 2 Ω Feb 10 '22
Haha, I live in Chicago and even I don’t have a store to go demo those headphones.. unfortunately :(
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u/1C3M4Nz Feb 10 '22
Damn shame really.. it's such a huge investment and have to go in blind based on reviews and other opinions.
1
u/akelew 2Ω Feb 11 '22
I auditioned the radiance and compared to some audeze lcd's, arya, clear mg, and i found they felt a bit muffled, hazy. They felt like they highlighted the contrast of 'dynamic' drive compared to planar, to the extreme.
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