[MacedonianHero]

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Well .... that kind of depends on the system, and especially the speakers. I can promise you the speakers I am building will probably dig out even more detail than a pair of HD800s or T1s will .... Those Accuton drivers are stupidly insane, and are usually found in $50,000 and up loudspeakers.
 
Room acoustics though .... well, that's what nearfield listening is for

But the cost to performance ratio for detail retrieval is certainly very, very different between headphones and speakers (and room acoustics).

 

[maggior]

On the rare occasion that my wife and kids are away visiting family, I'll always listen to my speaker setup.  Like MacenonianHero, I think it's partly because it's a novelty since I don't get to do it that often.  However, thinking back to my single days, I spent a lot of time listening to headphones with my CD walkman in my apartment rather than my stereo.  I read a lot while listening to music, so it probably stemmed from being able to change CDs without getting up.  While I was in school, it was speakers all of the time while doing homework.  There the headphones and portable player would get in the way.
 
I've always enjoyed the intimate sound of headphones and would sometimes listen with them to study the finer details of the music. 
 
There are pluses and minuses to each listening setup, each providing something unique to the listening experience.  I don't see myself ever giving one up to exclusively listen to the other.
 
A huge plus for me now with high quality headphones is having great sound quality available to me no matter where I am - work, home, hotel room, bus, plane, etc.
 
@ MacedonianHero - Moving Pictures is an AWESOME album!  If you haven't seen the recently released documentary on Rush on DVD, check it out - it's fantastic!
 
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if any of you lived alone, would you still use headphones on at least a semi-regular basis? My reasoning behind this and my previous question is because I wanted to see if any of you see advantages of headphones over speakers. Examples: To hear more of a soundstage, seperation and intimacy. Or are your kids/housemates the only reason you use headphones?

 

 

[downsize]

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But the cost to performance ratio for detail retrieval is certainly very, very different between headphones and speakers (and room acoustics).

Very correct sir !  I will spending considerably more. The four 7" midrange drivers alone will cost me $1800.

 

[Danz03]

To me, getting a perfect listening environment for speakers (except near-field monitors) is like next to impossible unless one has a purposely built/designed sound studio. Trying to convert a room in the house into a sound room is always going to be a compromise unless one can do without the windows and doors or able to move their positions. I mean how far would one have to go?

But the cost to performance ratio for detail retrieval is certainly very, very different between headphones and speakers (and room acoustics).

 

[twylight]

Ive gone back to speaker for main listening as well - headphones are a joke in comparison (Salk Signature Sound speakers)
 
I keep a decent rig for my office...and some IEMs for the road.

 

[Frank I]

I think I could not be without both anymore. The problem ans I love my 2 channel rig but getting yelled out because it bothers people in my house is no fun. With the headphone system I do not bother anyone and its more personal however when no one is home I enjoy the speakers and I have not been able to duplicate what a good 2 channel system does but I am close enough now to hopefully stop this obsession and be done with all. Sometimes we get so caught up in the hardware we forget this hobby  should be all about the music.

 

[Cya|\|]

If the audeze lcd 2 will surprise me, i'll drop my speaker system (actually i'll stop upgrading it). Speakers are way too expensive. I have the system at my pc position. So i can only have small bookshelves, and to have bass i need a subwoofer. But 1 subwoofer has huge room problems, so you need at least 2 (3 for even better results), so the price levitates a lot. You also need a specific sound card to use 2 subwoofers. An onkyo sr5507 is 1700 euros, and u need to mod it to have highend quality. You also need to buy good amps, and they cost way more than headphones amp.
Way to expensive.
About staging and imaging, isone pro hasn't impressed me on my jvx rx700.

 

[downsize]

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Try using a RAAL or Raven aluminum ribbon or the Mundorf air motion transformer paired with the Accutons. I know you're a big fan of the AirCirc, but for digging out detail, domes are just no match for ribbons and AMTs.

Ribbons are VERY detailed, but have never really sounded "real" to me. 

 

[downsize]

 
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To me, getting a perfect listening environment for speakers (except near-field monitors) is like next to impossible unless one has a purposely built/designed sound studio. Trying to convert a room in the house into a sound room is always going to be a compromise unless one can do without the windows and doors or able to move their positions. I mean how far would one have to go?


 

 

Uhmm ..... This is precisely where and how I made my fortune .... ( not really )  On a serious note, that is my forte in audio .... Setting up systems and rooms for the best possible sound. When I had my business, I made more from installation and integration than my retail side did.

 

[Max F]

Three things I like better about speakers:
 
1. Full body bass experience.
2. Realistic soundstage.
3. You can crank it up so damn loud and not feel like you are going to blow out your eardrums.
 
I wish I could enjoy my speakers more, but with a wife and two kids - its a rare treat to be alone.  I can listen when they are home but my wife tells me to turn it down, even during movies!!

 

[Danz03]

To me, if the listening environment and the placement of the speakers are not right, everything else would be a compromise. I for one would spend a lot more (money and time) on installation than equipment if I were to have a big sound system at home, so I could have been a good customer of yours, in theory. 

 
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Uhmm ..... This is precisely where and how I made my fortune .... ( not really )  On a serious note, that is my forte in audio .... Setting up systems and rooms for the best possible sound. When I had my business, I made more from installation and integration than my retail side did.

 

[Frank I]

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Ribbons are VERY detailed, but have never really sounded "real" to me. 

Have you listened to Maggies. If you have a dealer nearby go take a listen. My room is 13.5WX20>5 deep I use the MMG with a sub and it fills the room and they disappear and life like. I had many high end speakers as high as 15K and this setup does not make me want more it is that good and a shock at the same time.

 

[DaveBSC]

Ribbon and AMT tweeters are quite different from Maggies, Quads or Soundlabs because they are still operating in a box as a direct radiating point-source. Most of the problem of getting them to sound "real" has to do with matching them to dynamic midranges because they are so fast. Only plasma tweeters are faster. Even the highest regarded Be and diamond domes and ring radiators are slower by an order of magnitude. There are a lot of speakers that fail that transition from mid to ribbon tweeter, but the ones that get it right sound really good.
 
Interestingly, none of the major companies that I'm aware of that use the Accuton drivers pair it with a ribbon, they all prefer either ceramic or diamond domes, or an interesting custom ceramic ring radiator design. Ceramic and ribbon has been done though, such as in Selah's "Accuarray" line source. Now that's a speaker I'd like to hear.
 

 

[downsize]

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Have you listened to Maggies. If you have a dealer nearby go take a listen. My room is 13.5WX20>5 deep I use the MMG with a sub and it fills the room and they disappear and life like. I had many high end speakers as high as 15K and this setup does not make me want more it is that good and a shock at the same time.

I was a Magnepan dealer for 6 yrs .... Sold a lot of them, but they never were my cup of tea.

 

[downsize]

 
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Ribbon and AMT tweeters are quite different from Maggies, Quads or Soundlabs because they are still operating in a box as a direct radiating point-source. Most of the problem of getting them to sound "real" has to do with matching them to dynamic midranges because they are so fast. Only plasma tweeters are faster. Even the highest regarded Be and diamond domes and ring radiators are slower by an order of magnitude. There are a lot of speakers that fail that transition from mid to ribbon tweeter, but the ones that get it right sound really good.
 
Interestingly, none of the major companies that I'm aware of that use the Accuton drivers pair it with a ribbon, they all prefer either ceramic or diamond domes, or an interesting custom ceramic ring radiator design. Ceramic and ribbon has been done though, such as in Selah's "Accuarray" line source. Now that's a speaker I'd like to hear.
 

 
Now that you mention it, it is kind of strange that no-one has mated the Accuton drivers with a ribbon, because I have never heard a faster midrange than Accuton.