[wakeride74]

I prefer my speakers for movies and headphones for music. Headphones offer an intimate experience that is unique but a bombastic lossless track (DTS-HD MA, TrueHD (i.e. Hellboy II, Dark Knight, Sweeney Todd, etc.) really brings my HT alive and creates a 360° web that I doubt headphones will ever be able to replicate.

 

[haloxt]

My biggest gripe about headphones is that when you turn your head the headphones go with you, but there's that new, really expensive SVS Smyth Realiser that tracks your head movement. It's annoying, almost like if you turned your head and everything your eyes are seeing follows you instead of staying in the same place while only your eyes move. I think people can decipher sound better if they are allowed to move their heads around and have the sounds altered in that way, it's altered, but millions of years of evolution has made it so the brain and ears work in harmony so the sound source has the illusion of sounding the same because the brain's imagination makes up for the constant head movements that goes on every waking moment. Because of this I find speakers to be usually more relaxing and natural than headphones.

 

[Jap]

[size=small]In some respects the OP's question is unfair. Virtually all hifi equipment is geared toward speaker-based reproduction. Therefore, the playing field is already biased towards speakers.

However, if one is willing to compare speakers with their optimized reproduction "peripherals" against that of headphones with optimized reproduction for headphones (namely, binaural reproduction) the playing field shifts dramatically, doesn't it?

[/size]

 

[Bobsama]

My Senn HD-555's can't hold a candle to my loudspeakers. I have Polk SDA-CRS+ speakers and a Sherwood AI-1110 amp. The loudspeakers are 110% better. Even compared to my uncle's AKG K702's with a Gilmore Lite, the speakers sound and feel better. But yeah, for summer listening especially, decent headphones are basically required, else the neighbors get a bit cranky. That, and the speakers sound better with quite a few older recordings. I can't stand a lot of The Beatles on headphones due to the way it's mastered. That plus tight panning in other masters makes headphones a headache. The audio engineers should have done better, but they didn't.

 

[Canuck57]

My headphone gear sounds great, however, I still prefer the sound of my speakers. My main speakers are Klipsch La Scala, Cornwall or Heresy. My headphones just can't provide the bass extension and dynamics of my speakers.

 

[Quadrangulum]

I'm pretty sure I'm selling my speakers after completing my headphone system. I don't think my headphones outperform my speakers but it's close enough and coupled with the microscopic way of presenting detail (a feature that I enjoy dearly that I would never be able to afford to emulate in speakers at home) plus the convenience of having everything at a desk and computer puts me firmly in the headphone camp.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jap /img/forum/go_quote.gif [size=small]In some respects the OP's question is unfair. Virtually all hifi equipment is geared toward speaker-based reproduction. Therefore, the playing field is already biased towards speakers. However, if one is willing to compare speakers with their optimized reproduction "peripherals" against that of headphones with optimized reproduction for headphones (namely, binaural reproduction) the playing field shifts dramatically, doesn't it? [/size]

Binaural recordings would leave DD 5.1 in the dust.. Truly 3d audio, something that surround speakers couldn't hold a candle too. Movies are 100% optomized for speaker playback, yet can sound mind numbling good.

 

[Max F]

I really like both, but you can't replace the bass hitting your chest, sinuses. and scrotum like speakers/subwoofer can. Also, the depth and width of imaging is just more real (size and position) with a good speaker/room setup.

Oh, listen to Beck "Sea Change" SACD in a nice surround speaker setup and tell me a headphone can beat that!

 

[CHRIS7509]

This is a really good question, i don't have nor have tried the most expensive from both headphones or speakers but always though headphones couldn't match real full size floor speakers.

Just about this topic a couple of days ago i finished getting my base stereo system :
Onkyo TX-8555 Reciever, Marantz DV4001 Cd/Dvd player and Technics SB-LB910 three way speakers ... I have my AKG's 271 that sounds very good but this combination just blows it away, like i said i've never heard the most expensive headphones but i don't think you can recreate the sound that floor speakers can give, There are some good points on headphones and others on speakers but just about SQ i don't think HP can equal SP.

PS the Marantz DV4001 is a good damn cd player.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Binaural recordings would leave DD 5.1 in the dust.. Truly 3d audio, something that surround speakers couldn't hold a candle too. Movies are 100% optomized for speaker playback, yet can sound mind numbling good.

DD 5.1 is fairly unimpressive compared to a quality lossles track... especially a 7.1 track. I'm not familiar with binaural recordings.

 

[Wmcmanus]

My speakers all stand up taller than my high end cans.

 

[milesandcoltrane]

Simply put I prefer the intimacy that headphones provide. Unfortunately I do not own a high-end speaker setup of any kind. On the other hand I have listened to a several speaker systems that my uncle, cousins and friends own. Most of their stuff are in the range of $30,000 to $150,000. I've got an uncle who's spent more than $300,000 on his setup. They produce absolutely amazing stuff. I love the Cary Audio electronics that most of them have. HOWEVER, I'm a student, paying my way through school with what little freelance work I have. I spend a fair amount of time outside home, sometimes even staying over in school. So practicality points me towards a head-fi setup. Of course its a bonus that I love the intimate feel that a head-fi setup provides. I don't see myself getting a full on hardcore speaker setup till I start working or till one of my uncles feels generous enough to donate one of their uber high end setups = )

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif My speakers all stand up taller than my high end cans.

That's impressive given the amount of headphone gear you have piled in that room.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

I enjoy my speakers more than my headphones, and I think they sound better as well, but I have also spent a lot more on them. I also like the power and dynamics of my speakers more as they present a macro feeling rather than a micro with headphones.

Having said this, I doubt there will be a speaker setup anywhere that will give you that "hairs on your neck standing" feeling due to the absolute pinpoint directionality of a binaural recording played through good headphones. Multichannel speaker playback cannot touch this.

 

[uriz3n]

It probably depends what you are trying to get out of your setup, and what kind of music you want to listen to. I can see that in terms of clarity and accuracy for classical music or jazz etc you would probably need to spend alot more on the speaker setup, but for some genres, like metal, I'm not sure any headphone will match even a semidecent $200 stereo for me. Hope I'm wrong though