[dead of night]

Hi. I was listening through my speakers last night and they just did not sound as good as my Senheiser 650s did. Do you agree that a good pair of headphones will almost always sound better than speakers?

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Great threads found upon search; But that was last week, and different folks may want to give their opinion as to all of their specific variables forming their opinion.

With same source used, in my opinion at a lower price in terms of amplifier and transducers I do achieve a higher degree of nuanced detailed presentation with my Headphones irrespective of position, compared to speakers. Of course, without the bass potential only available with speakers with associated costs.

 

[cantsleep]

usually,

day: speakers
night: headphone

 

[humanflyz]

I listen to headphones out of necessity, not choice.

 

[GregBe]

It is a lot easier to get headphones to sound better. With speakers, the room plays a huge role, and it is tough to get everything set up right. In most homes, people make sacrifices with their speaker setups, like bookshelf speakers in a bookshelf or a the neverending compromise between getting the best bass for speakers vs positioning them for proper imaging.

Set up properly, I think speakers will sound better. The nice thing about headphones though, is they have no idea what the size of the room is, or if there are no room treatments or where you are sitting within that room.

Like cantsleep though, I use speakers during the day and headphones at night.

 

[Debaser86]

I listen to music most often while on the go or at work, so I'm using headphones.

When I'm at home in my room and I just want some background sound while I'm hanging out or whatever, I'll play something on my computer through its very mediocre Logitech 5.1 speakers.

But when I'm in the mood for some serious music listening, I'll plug in the Headfive and one of my home cans.

 

[cantsleep]

it's also fun to listen to grados while playing on speakers

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregBe /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is a lot easier to get headphones to sound better. With speakers, the room plays a huge role, and it is tough to get everything set up right. In most homes, people make sacrifices with their speaker setups, like bookshelf speakers in a bookshelf or a the neverending compromise between getting the best bass for speakers vs positioning them for proper imaging. Set up properly, I think speakers will sound better. The nice thing about headphones though, is they have no idea what the size of the room is, or if there are no room treatments or where you are sitting within that room. Like cantsleep though, I use speakers during the day and headphones at night.

well put

 

[johnniewalker]

My headphones sound much better than my speakers, so I prefer headphones.

 

[Purgatos]

I like headphones because as a student I move a LOT.

Having to set up an entire speaker set-up from scratch every few months does not sound like fun. Plus the fact that usually I just have one room for me and it's not going to be ideal for speakers.

Yeah, headphones are best.

 

[kramer5150]

Headphones for me... Till' they get a 5-6" midrange speaker driver to correctly replicate the tone of a 4x12 cabinet.

Speakers just sound wrong to my ears.... and I have heard some Super $$$ models, whose names weren't worth remembering.

 

[hYdrociTy]

For me, music is a diary. I associate events with what I was listening to at that moment. Walking around the city and looking at things with music on sure beats coach potatoing in front of a pair of speakers, no matter how good they sound.

The time I do enjoy speakers is when I want browse the diary. Then Ill sit down with a pair of loudspeakers and try to relive the moment. Since I am not there, the vibrations and sheer dynamics of a speaker presentation kind of makes up for it...

 

[Sleestack]

For me, headphones are primarily a reference tool to make sure certain details in my speaker setup are supposed to be there. It is useless as a tool for judging soundstage or imaging on a speaker rig.

I've said this many time before... it isn' that hard to get a speaker setup right. All the technology is available if you want to take the time. Uncorrected and corrected in-room response for my Epiphany 2.2. setup:

 

[Pumpkinhead]

The only place I've heard perfection from speakers is when there has been virtually no echo/reflection from surfaces. When I setup my system outside, away from the buildings, it sounded absolutely amazing. No amount of equalization or absorbing materials can make an indoor listening room sound as clean and magnificant.

 

[Sleestack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pumpkinhead /img/forum/go_quote.gif The only place I've heard perfection from speakers is when there has been virtually no echo/reflection from surfaces. When I setup my system outside, away from the buildings, it sounded absolutely amazing.

You do know that some amount of reflective surface is consdered a good thing? It's just that most environments have too much reflection or other problems. An anechoic chamber, which has no reflective surfaces is a horrible environment for listening to music.