[keithhr1]

I'm curious, has anyone here been able to construct an audio system that can duplicate the sound one gets from audiophile headphones but through stereo speakers. Since I'm new here I was wondering if this has been discussed. I've heard a lot of discussions where people refer to room interactions etc that make this very unlikely. I've done this type of listening for years and wonder what results othe people have had. When I've been in high end stereo stores, if one asks to compare what is actually coming out of their high end speaker systems with quality headphones, I've never gotten a postive response. Seems like they are reluctant to compare a $30,000 or more speaker system in this way.

 

[hugz]

what features of the headphones are you wanting to get from the speakers? Things like hyperdetail, or the lack of room noise?

I dont think any pair of speakers can remove room interactions. Rather, if you want to remove room interactions then you have to change the room, not the speakers. Sufficient sound deadening everywhere would help remove room noise and make things more direct like headphones

I dont like your chances of finding speakers which are capable of playing on channel into one ear and the other channel into the other ear without any interaction though.

Some things are inherent to speakers and some things are inherent to headphones. some of the gaps can be closed somewhat by certain techniques (eg crossfeed on headphones to make it sound more speakerlike.. sound deadening on speakers to make it sound more headphonelike), but other features are out of reach I think (eg one channel per ear on speakers, body shaking bass on headphones)

 

[GreatDane]

Here's a recent thread on the subject if you want to read some comments in a hurry.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...light=speakers

 

[keithhr1]

thanks for the link, interesting reading, I believe I was leaning towards comparing absolute sound quality differences. No sound stage or room interactions considerations, just pure detail reproduction of nuance and actual recorded information. I will try to reveal some of my reasons for asking these questions another time, but hopefully I can get some opinions about this.

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithhr1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for the link, interesting reading, I believe I was leaning towards comparing absolute sound quality differences. No sound stage or room interactions considerations, just pure detail reproduction of nuance and actual recorded information. I will try to reveal some of my reasons for asking these questions another time, but hopefully I can get some opinions about this.

Electrostatics may be up your alley

I've only heard some reasonably briefly and I have to admit that I didn't really like them... but I certainly couldn't say that they dont provide pure detail reproduction. From what I've heard so far, they strike me as being the speakers that most acurately present the music in all it's detail.

After all is said and done, however, I opted for horn speakers instead. I use headphones for pure detail reproduction, and I use speakers for euphoric sound. That's just my preferences though and there's no reason why anyone else couldn't like something else

 

[883dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithhr1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for the link, interesting reading, I believe I was leaning towards comparing absolute sound quality differences. No sound stage or room interactions considerations, just pure detail reproduction of nuance and actual recorded information. I will try to reveal some of my reasons for asking these questions another time, but hopefully I can get some opinions about this.

At present I use Grado RS-1, this is the most expensive headphone I have heard (have also heard Shure e5 and also Sennheiser HD420). I feed these through a Mapletree HD150, RS Hornet, or at home a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 pre-amp...CD, Vinyl or iPod

The major problem with speakers is their inter-reaction with the room. Modes, standing waves, flutter echo....Speaker placement is of paramount importance as is room treatments (some people swear by Equalization).

A home I have a dedicated listening room, that has been fully treated by ASC, and four sets of speakers one 0.5x one 3x one 12x one 40x more expensive than the Grado's. The Grado's are better in every aspect that the cheapest speakers, are better in mid and upper and inner detail, but lack in bass quality compared to the 3x speaker. With the other speakers there is no comparrison, they do everything better.

I wonder if a great headphone can give the same detail and resolution as a good to great speaker system?