[ryder78]

I believe most who patronize this site are teenagers who may not own a hifi system based on a decent pair of loudspeakers.
 
For those who have a decent system at home, a system based on near full-range speakers such as Wilson Sasha, Focal Scala Utopia, B&Ws, Magicos, Thiels, Sonus Fabers, Spendors or Harbeths etc, do you gain an equal amount of enjoyment from your headphones at the comfort of your homes, say top range headphones from the likes of Beyerdynamic, Grado, Sennheiser or AKG? If not, does the headphones get used a lot, or they get used once in a while? I'm referring to non-portable headphones. Obviously people who are always on the run especially students will find portable headphones a necessity.
 
I do know that the presentation of headphones is very different from a full-blown hifi system. The purpose of this thread is to find out if the better headphones are capable of offering a different listening experience compared to a loudspeaker-based system, whether they will get used at all since listening sessions with the main system will be a lot more surreal most of the time, in my opinion. 
 
Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I don't even have high-end hifi speakers. And I honestly get more enjoyment from them than any pair of headphones. A good 2.1 system is amazing sounding. You can't match the imaging and immersion. You don't even need to spend $50,000 to beat a $1000 pair of headphones. I have a speaker setup in three separate rooms. My bedroom is a 2.1 setup. My office is a 2.1 setup. My lounge is a 7.1 setup. Headphones are something I use in the wee hours of the morning or when I'm wanting to be private from others around. Frankly, headphones can't match speakers in general for listening pleasure in my opinion. Headphones are good in that you can get amazing fidelity for a low cost, but the richness of speakers cannot be bested by a headphone.
 
Very best,

 

[ryder78]

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.
 
I have been mulling over acquiring a pair of headphones for a while(I've never had a pair of full headphones in my life other than the tiny stock earphones that came with my discman more than a decade ago when I was a student). I've been on the upgrade path and merry-go-round for the past one decade with the main system and finally reached my destination last year, a system which I believe will satisfy me for many years to come.
 
Instead of spending more money on hardware upgrades, I have read about headphones offering an alternative listening experience to hifi systems. Some of the guys in the "loudspeaker only" camp are not convinced, though there are other folks who still recommend a headphone-based system to complement the main hifi system. I do agree that headphones will not match loudspeakers in terms of sheer listening pleasure. The big sound, slam and dynamics generated by these transducers will not be replicated or reproduced by the best headphones available. Having said that, I am still intrigued by the better headphones and am not sure if I would want to pursue one as it may end up to be a short-term affair. Not looking at the Stax level though I have the Beyerdynamic T5p in mind.
 
Thanks again for the thoughts.
 

 

[PleasantNoise]

(Teenager posting, just saying.)

And yes, you're quite right, I can't think of any Teenagers with money for TOTR Hifi Equipment. That being said, even with a Half-Decent set of KEF's through an amp twice my age, it's safe to say that Speakers are so much better than headphones could ever be.
There are times though, when Headphones have their obvious advantages, I usually listen to 3 or 4 albums before I sleep each night, and without headphones, I just couldn't do that. There is something more private about listening with Heaphones, which is nice. And I would say that maybe half the time I choose to listen to Headphones over speakers, purely because I can feel like I'm in my own little world with headphones, one that isn't interupted by random noises from the house, and people barging into my room, whereas speakers don't have that privacy.

 

[P+D-MI]

 After purchasing a pair of sennheiser hd600, I spent so much time with them that I sold my $20k "big rig" and never looked back.That was 10 years ago. I've since moved on to hd800. To me, no speakers can't match the intimacy to the music that headphones give me. Just my .02.

 

[kevin gilmore]

I own wilson maxx2 in a large krell system. Also B&W 801III, 2 pairs of esl63 and a bunch more minor stuff.
Also own sr009,007mk1,lcd2,hd800 with a diyT2 and a dynahiSSbalanced. Plus a bunch of older stax stuff.
Also koss and sennheiser electrostatic headphones. Plus a decent system at work.
 
I listen to all of it, all the time. Depends on my mood. I would not give up one for the other.

 

[ryder78]

Thanks for the responses. The last two posts surely helped. Will be getting my first pair of headphones soon.
 
 
 
 

 

[MattTCG]

I was, and still am to a degree, a full range speaker guy. I own two sets of high end speaker setups. Haven't sat down and listened to them in a year. I have a very nice 5.1 Klipsch setup for my computer. Haven't listened to them in...well, about a year. Wanna guess how long I've been into headphones? 

 

[sleach]

 I have PMC mono blocks and FB1s and I love them. Generally, I find that the more esoteric and experimental tunes are good with the headphones whereas the banging tunes are greatest on the speakers. There is also a volume consideration: I have little kids so I can't really let them off the leash too often (the speakers that is, not the kids!). 

 

[ryder78]

I didn't know PMC make amps (monoblocks). I've owned the LB1 Sigs(still own the TLE1 subwoofer). Great company. I was told that the new Fact series are a great improvement over the older PMC models. Having said that the FB1s are still great speakers.
 
Agreed that loud dynamic music is best served on loudspeaker systems. Further to that, listening to loud music on headphones at prolonged listening sessions may cause hearing damage more easily than on loudspeakers IMO.
 
I've listened to the Wilson Sasha once and Maxx 3 couple of times(a close buddy used to own the Sasha before he upgraded to the Maxx 3). Personally I prefer the Sasha's house sound more than the Maxx 3 although the latter is capable of higher SPLs and dynamics. The bass through the Maxx 3 is just out of the world. 
 
I have the Harbeth SHL5 in the main system and some small Proacs and cheap bookshelves in the HT system.
 
As for headphones, the Beyerdynamic will be at the top of the list for a novice like me. Don't think I'll go to the Stax level - they are sure a lot of money to pay for a pair of headphones.
 

 

[GL1TCH3D]

My father has a low-mid-fi speaker system (maybe around 1.5-2k?) And I have a pair of Beyer T5ps. His speakers are so engaging and fun to listen to, while still being a lot more accurate than my headphones and giving a bigger punch on the bass which headphones could never do. Though, I still find myself listening to headphones even at home when I have the time to listen to speakers. This may change when he upgrades to a higher end system (which he is planning) but I still love my headphones because I'm in my own little world that only I can hear.
IMO, if you're looking for home use only headphones, the T5p are not an ideal choice (unless you absolutely need the isolation). The T1 or almost any other flagship (such as the hd800) would be better for home use only. The reason I got the T5p was for portable use since I am a student and spend up to 3 hours a day just traveling as well as at least 1-2 hours in the library where I can't have an open headphone and bug others around me.

 

[sleach]

The PMC DS001 amps. They are the same that they use in the active monitors, but they also sell them as separate amps. I had this idea that one day I'd like to get a massive Bryston to go with the PMCs, but so far I am really happy with the PMC amps. I am pretty envious of your TLE1. The best sound I heard was a combo of Conrad Johnson amps with big Quad ESLs. That was in a hifi dealer's room so there was proper treatment and audio voodoo stuff going on there too.
 
I use a Benchmark DAC1 USB as a preamp for the speakers and it does double-duty as headphone amp. Because it is all balanced XLR I can have the headphone amp next to me with a longer cable run without losing too much quality to the amps at the other end of the room and then a short run of speaker cable from the amps to the speakers. For headphones, I had the Denon AHD7000 for a while and they were good, but in the end I liked the Hifiman HE500 better. Auditioning is the way to go, but I have found it takes some time to really get the feel for a pair of headphones. More than with speakers, I think.