[Sebasistan]

@Sebasistan , I am sorry to say that Bluetooth speaker example is not reflective of a stereo speaker set up.

Headphones have a left and right channel, as does a stereo speaker set up. It truly does not take much space or cost to set up a decent 2.0 speaker system. You don’t need a listening room, you don’t need acoustical treatments, all you need is 2 speakers, an amplifier, and a source. Hit play, the experience is different for sure than headphone as that is the physical aspect of sound waves passing through space. Do I prefer headphones over a 2.0 speaker system? No, they each have their place in my set up and depending on what I am on the mood for can be inter-changed.

I mean, the BT speakers I had all had a whole bunch of drivers. The Peachtree Deepblue kinda emulates a classic "boom box" in terms of speaker arrangement and overall looks (as does the Aiwa Exos which... Not sure if that one is classed as "audiophile" - it sure got a lot of great reviews). But yeah those may still have a left and right, but they're so bundled together that even if they employ some "projection" nonsense it's still all of the sound coming from a few cubic feet of space.

Not to get overly nitpicky.

 

[thomaslux]

I think with a nice set of open-backed headphones I can just crash on the couch, catch a little sun from the living room window - maybe get the dog up for a pat - and just kind of disappear into the music.

For me I just find headphones a lot more immersive than speakers. Also my hearing is pretty sensitive so I normally listen at low volumes anyway, which makes headphones preferable to get detail out of music.

 

[kkrazik2008]

I mean, the BT speakers I had all had a whole bunch of drivers. The Peachtree Deepblue kinda emulates a classic "boom box" in terms of speaker arrangement and overall looks (as does the Aiwa Exos which... Not sure if that one is classed as "audiophile" - it sure got a lot of great reviews). But yeah those may still have a left and right, but they're so bundled together that even if they employ some "projection" nonsense it's still all of the sound coming from a few cubic feet of space.

Not to get overly nitpicky.

I have had a few of those one box, many speakers optimized to create a stereo soundstage. They were best in rooms that were small and required the use of the walls to mimic a two speaker system. Kind of like the old school Bose 901, I think that’s the number they were. I had a pair of those too, interesting but artificial compared to a solid pair of take your pick of classic Brit-Fi; Quad, Mourdant Short, B&W, or something like a PMC or ProArc.