Where do you stand on the headphones vs. speakers debate?
Jan 15, 2013 at 3:51 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18

squallkiercosa

Headphoneus Supremus
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Dear Head-fiers: I was wondering....
 
How often do you listen through headphones and speakers during the day?
and:
Do you listen to music more often using speakers or headphones?  50/50?
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 4:21 PM Post #2 of 18
No choice for me unfortunately.. I get back from work in the evening so headphones are my only choice..

Although if I had the time to listen to speakers I think I would still prefer phones, not just because the same "level" of performance is expected to be more affordable with phones but more because I like the intimacy of the music.
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 4:25 PM Post #3 of 18
I definitely prefer speakers over headphones, I would say 98/2. I only use headphones at night before I go to sleep. Otherwise, throughout the day I use speakers, it's just a more enjoyable experience in my opinion to use speakers.
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 4:33 PM Post #4 of 18
Very little can match a proper speaker setup. The intimacy and higher price/performance ratio of headphones has me hooked though. Possibly if I win the lottery I'll get a true summit-fi speaker setup a-la Fabio.
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 7:24 PM Post #7 of 18
Speakers for sure, it definitely gives much better joy to listen to, especially that you don't have anything annoying on your head. 
Nonetheless, the only downside is cost...!
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 7:37 PM Post #8 of 18
Quote:
 
It's an old debate, but a nice speaker system is superior to headphones, without question.
 


I still prefer a good headphone, it's more intimate with less distraction. Speakers may provide better performance, but the price for that performance is much higher then with headphones.
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 8:03 PM Post #9 of 18
Speakers when they're on par with my current headphone and using them would cause any disturbance to my roommate/neighbors. It's currently not possible for me to have that kind of set up right now, so the majority of my music is still through my headphone. Movies, on the other hand, get the speakers portion more often. The LFE is hard to find in headphone, especially in action movies re: Blockbuster/Transformers.
 
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 10:52 PM Post #10 of 18
Depends on my situation, but mostly headphones say 70 and 30 percent speakers. 
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 10:58 PM Post #12 of 18
Purely for listening to music, it's just headphones always. I don't have the money and am not in a situation to get a good speaker system going :).
 
I actually have some very nice philips speakers, but they need refoaming. Might get around to that sometime.
 
Jan 15, 2013 at 11:52 PM Post #13 of 18
I listen 100% to headphones only because I no longer have the space for a speaker setup. I used to have a speaker system in a dedicated room and vastly preferred it. As soon as I have space again I'm kicking all my headphones to the curb. I've spent far more money on my headphone setup than I ever did on speakers while being generally less satisfied.
 
Jan 16, 2013 at 4:06 AM Post #14 of 18
For me, it's headphones all the way. I don't even have any speaker systems connected to my computers.
 
The reasons?
 
-I don't want to disturb everyone else in the house with my music preferences or loud game noises. Even open-back headphones generally won't leak sound outside of the room they're in.
 
-Binaural HRTF-based mixing is so superior to a typical 5.1/7.1 speaker setup for positioning it's almost unbelievable. Better yet, I don't have to sit in a particular sweet spot to get the effect-just put on a pair of headphones, and off I go. Learning about CMSS-3D Headphone (and Aureal A3D for certain older games) killed my interest in speakers more than anything else.
 
-Headphones are expensive, especially when you develop a preference for Stax of all things, but speakers are even more expensive when you factor in the room. No room in my house is shaped perfectly for theater purposes, let alone acoustically treated. I'm sure people spend tens of thousands just to build the perfect room for their speakers to reside in.
 
Jan 16, 2013 at 4:33 AM Post #15 of 18
I listen 100% to headphones only because I no longer have the space for a speaker setup. I used to have a speaker system in a dedicated room and vastly preferred it. As soon as I have space again I'm kicking all my headphones to the curb. I've spent far more money on my headphone setup than I ever did on speakers while being generally less satisfied.


this, this, THIS

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