20 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
The best full-size headphones that I've ever bought!
Date of Review: Nov 12, 2002
The Bottom Line: If you want top-shelf audiophile quality in a reasonably priced pair of headphones, then the Sennheiser HD 600 is for you.
Several months ago I visited a home-furnishings superstore called The Great Indoors, and I looked at the amazing selection of Sennheiser headphones there. Unfortunately, the Sennheiser models that they had on display and had available for self-service purchase were mediocre at best except for the HD 590 (which I already own and enjoy). So I asked the salesperson about the HD 600 headphones, and sure enough they had the HD 600 in stock! I asked how much would the HD 600 cost, and the salesperson replied "$249.99". WOW! That's exactly the same price as the HD 590 that they had in stock! So I purchased the HD 600, and went on my merry way.
I took the HD 600 home, and immediately went through the process of breaking the headphones in by repeat-playing a CD on my Sony portable CD player that was connected to a Headroom Total Airhead headphone amplifier (both the player and the amp were connected to household AC current via AC-to-DC converters). It took over 50 hours of playback to break them in fully.
After breaking them in, I listened to the HD 600 headphones. Wow! I've never heard anything so clear or coherent in my entire life! The bass is nice and tight, the mids clear and the highs smooth and detailed. There are better-sounding headphones, to be sure -- but those that sound better all cost much more than what I had paid for my HD 600's.
The circumaural, soft velour-covered pads completely surround my ears. And though the headband applies a little bit of pressure on my head, the HD 600's are more than comfortable enough for extended listening sessions.
Speaking of the headband, it is made of carbon-fiber and metal, and is padded underneath, so it should last quite a long time. The rest of the headphone is of the same carbon-fiber construction with metal grilles. The Y-cord is attached to both of the earpieces, and is detachable -- so you could replace the stock cable or upgrade the cable to something more substantial (and much more expensive). Clou, Cardas and Stefan Arts all make high-end replacement/upgrade cables for the HD 600 (and HD 580).
If there is a weakness to the HD 600 headphones, it's a minor one at most: Though I could get the HD 600 headphones to play adequately loud from my Sony and Panasonic portable CD players without an amp, the sound quality is definitely nowhere near the full potential of the headphones themselves. A separate amp, such as my Headroom Total Airhead, will significantly improve the sound quality of these headphones.
