[Aryolkary]

I have very little experience with headphones and speakers, luckily I will have more with time. Just curious (and very interested about a certain pair of speakers) how would you compare headphones to speakers when it comes to:
Detail
Neutrality (flat, uncoloured)
Realism (not punchy bass for non-punchy bass recordings such as classical, and maybe punchy bass for punchy bass recordings such as hip hop, etc.

)
Enjoyment
Etc. Etc.

Are 100usd headphones good as 600usd speakers? Is there something like headphones being as good as speakers 6 times its price, or 10 times? Or does it depend on how good the headphone is (maybe 50usd cans are good as 200usd speakers -4 times- but maybe 500usd cans are good as 5000usd speakers -10 times-)
If you could make a list also, it would be superdoopergreat

I am REALLY interested in knowing how good these speakers are when comparing them to headphones:
[size=medium]Swans M200 [/size]

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836136102

I care mostly for classical and jazz, bossa nova, etc. Not so much for rock and other genres.
Thanks

 

[Arainach]

The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but Headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

 

[Aryolkary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but Headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

Yes, I know some headphones will be better in sound quality than some speakers at the same price. I was asking for comparisons, same quality but whatever price difference is.

 

[Aman]

Detail: Speakers CAN give the same, if not better, detail than headphones. I know that my current speakers are more detailed than the Grado SR-225s I used to have, but probably about the same as my AKG K271s (if not a little less)

Neutrality: This is difficult to say, but I may have to give it to headphones. After all, a lot of neutrality can be lost if your room is not set up properly. On the other hand, because of how close to the drivers your ears are, the slightest changes can mean very big differences in sound types. Tough to say.

Realism: Definitely going to give this one to speakers. Bass is much more realistic in almost all situations, to answer your specific question. Even more importantly, however, speakers portray a much more realistic presentation of the music. This is an obvious one - their sound stage is actually real, versus a headphone's "head stage". Speakers can produce magnificently broad and deep scapes, which headphones will NEVER be able to accomplish. The sound is coming from all around you, and from the stage, and not from inside your head.

Enjoyment: I'll have to give this one to speakers as well. Not only can you jump up and dance around like a fool with speakers as a result of not being teathered to something, but speakers to me are just so much more involving and intimate. Headphones may be closer to your head, but they are the least realistic means of listening to music imagineable.

Headphones may sometimes offer more clarity and detail per dollar, but the only possible way to 'experience' and 'feel' your music is to listen to it through speakers.

EDIT: In regards to your speakers you have mentioned, I have heard pretty decent things about them. The only thing to remember is that jazz and classical music requires and depends on dynamic sound much more than rock and other less grand genres. In other words, the speakers should have as high of a sound range as possible; go as deep as it can in the bass, and high as it can in the highs. Especially in jazz - hearing that stand-up bass is VERY important. So, if you find that the speakers can't do bass near or around the 80hz area, you may want to consider saving up for more full-range speakers that will be able to truly satisfy your needs for instrumental music.

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

Bolded by me for emphasis.

I disagree with this statement. I find that speakers trounce heaphones in most cases. Now, as of this moment, due to my being in college and being on a college budget, I look towards headphones to satisfy my musical thirst. But once I get out of college and hit the real world, I'm going to start fading out the headphones and moving towards a speaker setup.

In all honesty, speakers sound better. It's common sense that more expensive speakers sound better than cheap speakers, but from personal experience, I feel that a comparitively priced speakers sound better. I feel that they have better clarity, detail, soundstage, and realism. I find them to be a more enjoyable experience when I listen to music as well, because I'm a soundstage junkie, and I love being able to sit in front of speakers with my eyes closed and point out where I think the musicians are on stage.

Headphones may give you more bang for the buck, because they are definitely cheaper than great sounding speakers, and they do the job quite well, considering you have a great source and decent headphone amp if your headphones require it. But when it comes to really producing the music like it's supposed to be listened to, speakers win hands down, except maybe in neutrality.

The Swans M200's are great speakers for the price. They sound amazing, IMHO, and I used them a while back for my computer speaker setup.

 

[ZOKROX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but Headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

The problem is that some headphones get LOVE and HATE.

Take the Sony Qualia 010 for example: it costs thousands of dollars. With the
"right" amplifier some people LOVE it. Other people hear all kinds of irritating
"anomalies" no matter what amplifier is used; so they HATE it. There are
probably speakers out there in the same price range that will also get LOVE/HATE. What do you conclude if the same person who HATES the Qualia headphone also LOVES the monetarily equivalent speaker?

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but Headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

No way!! I have some JMLab Tantal 509 monitors I bought at closeout for $499 .... and when driven by nearly the same electronics as my headphones .... the speakers will kill any headphone I have ever heard.

I enjoy headphones far more than most people but I would never say headphones are superior to speakers. You dont have to spend a fortune to get great sounding speakers. If I could listen to my modest speaker rig I would rarely use my headphones.

 

[Kirosia]

Dunno, but to me speakers and headphones = apples and oranges. Hard to plaec a ratio on things that aren't necessarily the same. I've no idea what an expensive I prefer any speaker as long as it doesn't sound like arse. Headphones, I'm more of a stickler.

 

[ssingh0]

Quote:

Speakers can produce magnificently broad and deep scapes, which headphones will NEVER be able to accomplish.

not true, military technology that takes individualized measurements of each soldiers head, ear, canal, etc. and a computer processes the sound so that the sound waves hitting the ears mimic that of natural/speaker hearing. headroom had something about this too on their website, don't know if it's still there.

 

[halcyon]

Headphones with head-related-transfer functions applied can approximate good speaker setup-in spatial localisation.

However, it's not equal (yet).

Also, with loudspeakers you have impact from bass (touch based corporeal sensation at best), which is lacking in even the best headphones.

Then again, loudspeakers are always listened to in a room and you get lots of reflections which colour the sound and can mask details.

There are pros and cons to each approach (cans vs speakers).

As for which loudspeaker price range approximates with headphone price range... that is done to individual models in question and personal preferences (imho).

 

[Seijang]

if you want bass, you need to pair the swans with a subwoofer.

They are *GREAT*. They have bass, no mistake, but you aren't going to get the rumble that makes bass great XD.

 

[Aryolkary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seijang if you want bass, you need to pair the swans with a subwoofer. They are *GREAT*. They have bass, no mistake, but you aren't going to get the rumble that makes bass great XD.

I HATE punchy, boomy, thumping bass for Classical and Jazz, bossa nova, and some other genres. It's just so completely unreal and it breaks my balls, annoying. However it is a "must" for electronic music, reggae, movies with explosions, etc. Then I really enjoy it.

Thanks people for your comments, really appreciated.
I still would like to see some list or concrete comparison. Specially between the Swans M200 and some headphones, at least to give me an idea of they being as good as X headphones in detail, enjoyment, etc.
The Swans don't go below 50hz very well for what I have read, but I could perfectly live with that, perfectly. For example, are they light years behind the HD280 PRO, HD580, ER6, ER4s, etc.? Are they good as the HD497? Just throwing some ideas.
Thanks

 

[gevorg]

.

 

[sgrossklass]

Frequency response is one area where headphones hold a noticeable advantage. Even the cheapo Philips SHP805 with its 40 mm drivers (not even with Nd magnets) can hit 40 Hz fairly well (37 Hz is still OK, too, but then they really drop off quickly), higher-end models with 50 mm drivers have even better bass extension (more limited by hearing than anything else, here the physical impact aspect comes into play). Besides, headphone drivers are wideband affairs that do not require crossovers.
I still have two older Jamo floorstanders which cost us 300 DM (~170$) a piece, and those do not extend far below 45 Hz (how could they, with a 16 cm bass driver?), have a nasty resonance at ~150 Hz and highs distortion that isn't really funny anymore. (Not even the cheapest of my cans exhibit problems like that.) Besides, I always found them to be somewhat muffled sounding, and my room acoustics suck, too. The Jamo 707s that my parents use (~$1000 new, IIRC, bought used) are far better, but I find them to have a more extreme EQ than HD590s (mids yet more laid-back, yet brighter) that I don't like overly much anymore, besides the bass modes or rather the resulting resonance peaks (no, this is not an acoustically dead living room, and speaker placement in the corners is not ideal) tend to give me a headache. See why I'm using cans?

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach The ratio varies depending on the Phones and Speakers involved, but Headphones ALWAYS give better sound quality for the money at any price range. Everything from $5 Earbuds to the $15,000 Orpheus will sound better than comparably priced speakers.

IMO this is another myth, that we the heapdhones lovers have stated for years, and IMO thisi s not true at all, good heapdhones cost really big bucks, and you can get a really good sound out of speakers with a little money....Good drivers and DIY to the rescue, retail prices of speakers are insane and OTOH we do not have DIY in heapdhones, that is what makes heapdhones such an expensive sport, IMO a lot more expensive than speakers, don't believe me? See Nik's system!!!

I have spent the double or more, of what I have in speakers, in heapdhones, and honestly they are not that far away....andm y speakers are nothing fancy. Just choce wisely and the major differences IMO are in the real state needs ..... speakers need space and volume to sound good....heapdhones don't