I have a good pair of Sennheiser HD-598 headphones. I used to listen to it morning , noon and night .. instead of a normal stereo system . Now I barely use it, mainly at night so as not to disturb the neighbors.
There is no way headphones can match a good stereo system, even one that is about $800 or less .
I have 2 Polk Monitor 75T speakers, a Polk PSW 505 subwoofer and Sherwood receiver 100 Watt RMS per channel.
Sorry, but there is no headphone that can compete with a real stereo speaker set-up.
Actually , the Polk 75T is a floor-standing speaker . It has two 6-1/2 inch woofers, two 6-1/2 inch subwoofers and a tweeter . still it is unlistenable without a standalone subwoofer, even for classical music. You need a 12 inch sub to really get the lows, especially with rock or even jazz. Needless to say, you don't listen to rap, but neither do I.
Look, here is my take on it. This is for a setup around 1000$, the headphones being HE-500 specifically.
Speakers -> more involving, do have a real sound stage, much more dependend on room and such.
Headphones -> Better at resolving, more correct sound, more correct timbre.
So this is my experience when I compare my HE-500 setup to a speaker setup. Pick your poison.
Hey! My dad just asked me this question a few days ago "Why you prefer headphone over speaker?" While sending me to school... Here's what I answered [SUMMARIZED] :
"Speakers can be too dependent on the enviroment like the materials for the wall, floor etc. In addition, if you try comparing the same price of point of headphone and speaker, the headphone offer better sound quality and are more portable however, as the price grows, speakers tend to offer better sound. Speakers also take up too much space in my room. "
Here's what my dad answered: [SUMMARIZED]
"I just tried out my friend's home speaker (I guess he must have spent half of his day there, and didn't invite me :/ ), he just imported in, the total cost for them worth as much as a luxury car (This uncle is a extreme speaker fanboy whom I know, he can talk about speakers one WEEK straight xD ). Each of them you can feel like the glass break in front of you... It's really real and I think not most headphones can do that, not even the "giant headphone" (I think he meant HD 800 or K550 that he likes a lot).
The idiom, comparing apples and oranges, refers to the apparent differences between items which are popularly thought to be incomparable or incommensurable, such as apples and oranges. The idiom may also be used to indicate that a false analogy has been made between two items, such as where an apple is faulted for not being a good orange.
Is this a troll thread?
Classical music "unlistenable" without a subwoofer?
Maybe if you include Tchaikovski's 1812 and want to FEEL the cannons at the end... other than that most normal speakers, especially floor-standers, will easily perform all the necessary frequencies to enjoy classical.
Perhaps you're a basshead, which is also fine but you won't find many here on headfi that agree with your opinion. Each to their own I suppose.
You don't need a dedicated sub to reach those frequencies produced by a timpani or cello if your speakers already have dual 6 1/2 inch woofers in them.
I will tell you exactly why I listen to headphones, and I am glad you asked this question. The reason is quite simply, I am a perfectionist, I have a very good speaker based system and it is sitting in the closet and has been ever since I had to move out of a house and into an apartment. It is partially the neighbor factor but much more than that it is the fact that the acoustics in the average apartment are absolutely horrible, most houses are actually not much better. Headphones are built for 1 acoustic environment and 1 only and can be engineered in that way, so I hear a much better sound with my headphones than I ever could in any room in this apartment. If you want chest thumping bass and it is my impression that a LOT of people do, sure speakers will give you that. I want to hear the rest of the music too.
I can see the need for a subwoofer. Most loudspeakers, even floor-standing ones, only go down to about 60hz. There are many instruments, not just cannons, that go below 60hz.Some people like to hear everything. There's nothing wrong with that. Doesn't make them some dreaded, somehow inferior "basshead." Having full frequency range is just as important as any other aspect of sound reproduction. If he was talking about multiple 1000w subs turned way up, that would be different. But having one to complement the speakers is in no way weird or excessive, or would in any way produce bloated or inflated bass. Flat response doesn't mean bassless, like some of you may believe it does.
If you're talking about actual audible notes, that is incorrect.
The only other instrument that could be included is a full size pipe organ (church organ) - their lowest notes sound better when 'felt' too, but the notes are still humanly audible.
Originally Posted by freeeekyyy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
. Doesn't make them some dreaded, somehow inferior "basshead."
There is nothing 'inferior' about being a basshead - it's just an auditory preference due to personal taste. Nobody ever said that bassheads were inferior.
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