The main reason I love headphones, as well as why most of you probably do, is that the price to sound quality ratio is much better than building a stereo system. I basically stumbled into my stereo, buying a cheaper turntable on a whim and picking up a $20 Technics amp along with it. I then found a pair of Polk Monitor 40's on Craigslist for a great deal and I'm really happy with them. The weakest piece of my stereo was the amp and I've just picked up a Rotel RA-931 which is pretty sweet. Now, am i correct in thinking that I'd need to blow a few grand and go through a bunch of equipment matching to get a sound that rivals good quality 'phones? I love my 650s but also like the more neutral sound of my 880s. My current stereo is a different sound than either of those, but nice it's in own way. Ideally I'd like a 650 sounds with the added spaciousness of loudspeakers, but again I'm thinking this would cost more than my car. In a way I'm hoping you tell me I'm correct so I quit looking for the next best piece of gear and just be happy with what I have...lol thanks, look forward to hearing what you folks have to say.

depends what car you've in mind. seriously, to get the same sound fidelity of the 650's you'd probably have to spend a few thousands. my modest system surpasses every headphone I heard/owned, not just sound stage, but pretty much every aspect of the sound (details, clarity, bass, resolution,definition, truthful reproduction, etc.). yeah, it cost more than my car. 

Looks like youre set on passive speaker, active speakers give a more headphone like sound.

You'll probably need to get a sub to reproduce the lower frequences. The 5.25" woofers in the Polks aren't going to cut it. You could also move to floorstanders. (But if you're happy with what you've got anyway...)
 
You can also play around with speaker positioning / listening position to smooth out the in-room frequency response without resorting to treatments. Get a test CD and an SPL meter. You might find that it'll be much harder to get that HD650 sound with loudspeakers...
 

Have a look at professional monitor speakers.
They have a great frequency response linearity (like your 650)

You really don't have to spend a lot.
 
A good speaker which starts around $350-$600 + will pretty much wipe the floor with all headphones.
 
I don't think any speaker will actually sound exactly like a headphone.
A speaker is just more organic sounding then there is the imaging,dynamics,bass,vocals which are represented in different ways.
 
Just figure out if you want bookself or tower. Don't under estimate bookselfs just because their small.
 
So just go with a good brand such as Mordaunt Short,Wharfedale,PSB,Monitor Audio,KEF,Paradigm,B&W,NHT,Focal,Totem,Dynaudio,Epos etc....
 
Probably best to try to go to a store that sells speakers and try out some.

Quote:

worldtipper said:

Now, am i correct in thinking that I'd need to blow a few grand and go through a bunch of equipment matching to get a sound that rivals good quality 'phones?

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It depends on your room. If you have a large enough room that doesn't EQ the sound too much, no; otherwise, you'd spend a lot of money just on the room. Nearfield speakers tend to be less dependent on the room so if the size of the soundstage on that is large enough for you over headphones then go with these.I have Swan D1080MkII 08s in the same room where my Wharfedale Pi10s and NAD304 just sucked at imaging and it's not too far behind my main system with an HD600 and Cantate.2 when I tried a D-Zero as a source for both, meaning the only real disadvantage of my nearfield set-up was that I hooked it up to my laptop's headphone jack.

I am interested in a speaker system that sounds like my hd650's too any suggestions ? 

Quote:

wazzupi said:

I am interested in a speaker system that sounds like my hd650's too any suggestions ? 

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I sort of did the reverse - I picked up an HD600 because it sounded a lot like my Wharfedale Pacific Pi10. Or at least that's how I remembered it sounding from when I got to try it even before I got the Pi10's in the first place (and ending up getting all sorts of room modes). I suppose the current Pacific Evo line will be a good place to start. When it came time to get nearfields for my computer, I got the Swan D1080MkII - somwhat close but considerably more treble at around 3/4m away; that might still change after the renovations to my home office position the speakers better on the new desk.