Speakers vs. headphones

My portable headphone system drove me to change my whole perception of audio. My portable system with Grado phones had bounce and warmth that my hi-fi system didn't have. I could play lessor quality CDs on the headphones, and they sounded great. So I went from extreme accuracy to a system that just sounds best for me. I probably have a tad too much bass underline and too sweet midrange but damn does it sound good on 99% of the stuff I play. It changed the way I approach hi-fi and I'm way happier. 

I, too, find that things that don’t sound so great on my speakers sound just fine on the headphones.

I have a great 2-channel system, and I have a great headphone system, and I listen to them about 50/50 - variety is the spice! 

Some great points about how even lower cost headphones can sound really good.  I bought a pair of wireless bluetooth headphones to wear while mowing the lawn.  They are not "accurate" at all, lots of treble emphasis and the noise cancelling (which really works!) does some weird things, but all the same, I found myself really enjoying the music and hearing things I hadn't noticed before while listening at very moderate volume.

I love my Bose Quiet Comfort for airplanes and noisy environments. Definitely not accurate or in any way audiophile, but sound great… as in punchy and enjoyable in noisy environments. Using “audiophile headphones in noisy environments does not work, all the subtitles are lost to the noise floor and you are left with unbalanced sound. While the Bose are a bit cartoonish, they sound great and  balanced in noisy environments.

‘’I spent years on planes trying to recreate the audiophile experience, and quit when I heard Bose an realized for this environment they got it right. Any other environment not so much.