Headphones vs full range speakers

I did experience many moments of "rocking out" with the headphones. They were fun to listen to when cranking them up. The speakers are more emotionally involving with their sense of real performers in the room.

Headphone are useful and can be extraordinary interesting...No doubt here...

My point is only that well implemented speakers will beat them most of the times, if not always. (i dont have OMEGA stax nor the RAAL headphones to compared and to claim my point on an absolute comparison basis for sure).

If then many speakers could beat most headphones, there is a big BUT, by experience now i know that most speakers are not well implemented, electrically, mechanically and acoustically...

Then....They are limited by their bad implementation in the room and in the system...

It is the reason i think , and it is only my opinion here, why some people put them on par with speakers but different...

Why then my 7 pairs are in a drawer?

Because i own a dedicated audio room and my speakers run optimally...It is not all people who could have the luxury of a dedicated audio room...

If not for this fact, i would have prefer to use ONLY headphones...It was my goal 8 years ago to own only headphones... It take less space, dont need a dedicated room with headphones, and i like the sonic relative isolation from the world and the feeling of being elsewhere they give, i miss that sensation a lot...I dont miss the uncomfort though after some hours...😁😊

But for sure listening music is more extraordinary in S.Q. points in near listening or in regular listening in my small room...

After years of many listening experiments i end up with speakers only....

And learning enough acoustic to set my room was very hard and asked for many months of daily experiments with my near hundred homemade acoustic devices....Cost is peanuts but the hours it takes was innumerable almost...Fine tuning a room like i did ask for an incremental listening process it is nowhere like buying acoustic panels and claiming job done... 😊

i take the same pain to improve each one of my headphones before and it is there i begin to think about " embeddings controls in the three working dimensions of any audio system"...

i hope my post clarified my opinion...

i will go headphones perhaps tomorrow if i could afford any headphone superior to my speakers...it is not the case at all with my 7 pairs...

the RAAL perhaps?

I dont know and will never know...My money is restricted anyway....

I have owned both. I used to own what some would call the best headphone available.the abyss AB-1266 PHI TC with a formula s, powerman and dCS Bartok. I upgraded my speakers from Magico S1mkII to a pair of Rockport Atria II with pair of JL F110v2 subs. After that I sold my Abyss and headphone amp. They got no use after I upgraded the speakers. There is just something about a great speaker system that headphones can't match. I still have focal clears and noble kahns with an sp1000 for late night listening. 

It does cost a lot more to get the same level of performance from speakers though. 

For a while I was really into headphones and built up a nice collection including LCD4, Sennheiser HD800, Sony MDR-Z1R, AKG K812, and a number of others.  

I used the headphones a lot in my small two channel system in my computer room because the wall is kind of close to a neighbor's house and I didn't want to bother them.  I found a pair of Harbeth P3ESR speakers and set them up nearfield.  It's similar to headphones, but you get more soundstage and they don't carry too far.  Since then, the headphones rarely get used.

Once my two channel stereo system reached a certain point, the headphones just weren't attractive anymore, and I rarely use them.  When I do, it's usually at bedtime, and it's the $200 Sennheiser HD6XX due to their comfort.

You don't have to wear speakers, and as many others have mentioned, they are much more "lifelike".  Headphones present music in a way that is much different than how we hear live music.

Headphones on the other hand are more affordable and if you like to change up the sound, it's a lot easier to grab a different set of headphones than to store a bunch of speakers and move those in and out of your system (trust me, I know).  Every set of headphones I own has a distinctly different sound and I may enjoy one pair with a certain type of music, or want to wear another pair because of their comfort, or use closed back ones if I want to keep most of the sound from getting out... it's a lot easier to have options with headphones.

If you want to try some out, I suggest picking up a pair of the Sennheiser HD6XX.  You can tweak them relatively inexpensively.  I'd look into earcups and a balanced cable.  Good amplification is important, the headphone out on most devices is crap and won't show the true potential of what your headphones can do.  If you'd like to get a taste of the Focal sound without dropping a ton of money, try the Elex.  

It's nice to have some good headphones when you need them.  Some people prefer that in your head sound and the detail that you can get with headphones.  I really enjoy a big soundstage and the imaging that you get with speakers, so it's hard for me to give that up.

I suggest going to the headfi forum. I've been a member there for years and you will learn everything you need to know and will be exposed to many brands of products you never heard of before.