@mahgister - Neither my speakers nor my headphones are 'better' than the other - they are two completely different ways to experience music. If somebody thinks their 'headphones are better than their speakers', it means that they prefer headphones to speakers, not at all necessarily due to room treatment or protecting others from the sound.
Speakers vs. headphones
I’ve spent many, many years building a stereo system that I finally can say I’m satisfied with, but recently had to make a change due to a complaint of “too much noise” in the house. So, headphones were the answer.
After just a few days of listening with a middling headphone (HIFIMAN Ananda) and inexpensive DAT (Firefly Cobalt,) I find myself enjoying (and getting into) the music more. Of course my system objectively is much better and cost light years more. However, I find there is a certain intimacy, seemingly being closer to the music, and of course no distracting audible room effects to deal with.
I’m not giving up speaker listening but what a pleasant surprise.
Who knew?
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First frogman thanks for your kind words... Second you are right at the end, it is up to anyone taste and needs... But third i must correct something you said about eliminating the room... Because ALL headphones had a SHELL geometry and an internal acoustic content, which correspond to the room geometry and acoustic content...And if someone can eliminate the room properties using headphone, he cannot eliminate the shell properties itself... Then all my 7 headphones , 2 stax included, had their own acoustic signature like any room... Because of that i MODDED all my headphone to eliminate vibrations, to control the electrical noise floor from them and even to change their acoustic settings for the better, FOR ALL OF THEM...I succeed...But when i decided to modify my room acoustically i succeed also and reach a better S.Q.... Also ,contrary to the general opinion, even a small SQUARE room like mine is EASY to use and transform acoustically to a so great effect that most headphone cannot compete with , even in intimacy and details count...But we must have a dedicated room ,not a living room, and we must treat the room with reflective absorbing and diffusive panels in equilibrium..Not only that we must use an active mechanical control of the room to modify the pressure zones distribution... It is my experience... Many facts in audio are beliefs that are unfounded, for example it is not true that near listening can eliminate the "room effect" in a small room, all changes in the acoustical settings impact on the near listening field ALSO in my room and not only on the regular listening position away from the speakers... It is like that in any room of relatively small size... It is not true that a small square room is "bad" because of the resonant bass modes like some claims and even acoustic products sellers ...If we know how to change the pressure zones distribution in the room, a small square room (13x13 feet by 8 feet 1/2 high) can be astounding in bass, soundstage, imaging, intimacy, listener envelopment etc...,Mine is ... Of all the facts erroneous in audio the more widespread is the illusion that the sound come from the gear electronical design first....It is false.... The acoustic settings of a room is the most important factor , not the dac, the amplifier or even the speakers if these speakers are rightfully choosen for a specific room to begin with... All audio engineering push the market to upgrade expanse and had no interest to educate people about acoustic.... The vocabulary of engineering about sound is absolutely not the vocabulary of acoustic about sound, but at least the acoustic vocabulary is CENTERED about the timbre playing tonal experience and the relations between different sound sources in the room... But like you already know people in audio thread spoke about bass and highs, about cold or warm, neutrallity etc...None of these words describe sound nor music... They describe the way the electrical design MAY contribute positively or negatively to sound experience nothing more... But who listen ONLY to his amplifier?
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You are right like i already said, it is up to personal choices and tastes and needs... But it way easier to modify a room to reach an optimal S.Q. than modify the shell headphones... No headphone shell is perfect like no room is perfect BEFORE mechanical,electrical and acoustical controls... This is basic science not my taste...It is my experience... And the living dynamic and bass, and INTEGRATED image of the sound is better in my room because of my acoustic settings, even intimacy... I listen music with the sound out of my head and with the intimacy of an headphone...
The main reason why many people PREFER headphone is simple, they dont have the luxury of a dedicated room which they can transform acoustically... I understand that... But i must describe my experience for those who have the time and a dedicated room...No need for headphone after that because they will be unsatifying, fir many reasons, like confort, not only the S.Q. ....
@mahgister - Neither my speakers nor my headphones are ’better’ than the other - they are two completely different ways to experience music. If somebody thinks their ’headphones are better than their speakers’, it means that they prefer headphones to speakers, not at all necessarily due to room treatment or protecting others from the sound.
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I am in full agreement that acoustic control of a room is extremely important and you make some excellent additional points. However, I don’t agree that with headphones there is a parallel (“correspond”) as concerns the elimination of room effects. “Shell geometry” is akin to speaker enclosure geometry. In both cases the driver is being surrounded, or at least supported by an enclosure. Speakers (enclosures) are situated in a room and their output is then subject to that room’s acoustic effects. Headphones sit on one’s head and their sound does not interface with the room acoustic. That is the advantage.
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The reflections/absorbtion/diffusion of the sound INSIDE the headpohone shell is what we listen to...We dont listen to the sound coming directly from the driver of the headphone... This is my point...
For the speaker enclosure it is necessary to control his vibrations and resonance...But like from an headphone drivers and shell who vibrate, the room vibrate also and the gear, and the speakers must be mechanically isolated... Shell geometry is akin to speaker enclosure+room Why? Because in a 13 feet square room it is easy to calculate the speed of sound and realized that the waves cross my room roughly 10 times each second...( the neuro physiology of sound treatment is calculated in fraction of a second, less than few hundreds milliseconds for the brain). What i listen then to DONT COME from the speakers enclosure and the drivers of the speakers directly but from the room geometry and acoustic content and even is characterized by his topology, in my case 2 windows and one door ... In the case of an headphone we must divide the speed of sound by the few inches of the shell and you will realized that you dont listen to the headphone drivers DIRECTLY but to the shell of the headphone and to his acoustical content and even to his topology if the headphone is open... Then yes headphone elimnate the room problem... But my room eliminate the DIFFERENT shells problem of ALL my headphone... 😁😊No headphone sound at all like one another why? Shell geometry, topology, and specific acoustic peoperties of the different materials composing the headphone...Same problem than with a room... i respect you greatly frogman and i apologize for insisting about my point... But anyone can prefer headphones for sure... But the reason cannot be because they are IDEALLY and by DESIGN better than room+speakers because they eliminate the room, yes they eliminate the room, but they replace it by another room problem : their own shell... The only reason why people prefer headphone is the fact that it is more complex et difficult to set a room acoustic than a shell acoustic... But at the end in a dedicated room well chosen speakers in a rightfully embedded acoustic, the confort is better and the S.Q. MAY be better... it is my experience... I wish you the best and respect you more than words can say...
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