Headphones vs speakers

@hilde45 - I can't imagine that, but then, I have a really good headphone system. 

I’ve gone back and forth on this for ages. Actually got my start in audio with hi-fi headphones (Sennheiser HD580), and I think that imparted in me a strong requirement for "coherent" sounding speakers - because headphones offer (with few exceptions) a single-driver full range sound. This is why I’ve been exclusively a Tannoy DC user for the past 20 years (phase coherent point-source DC drivers). I’ve never liked many of those uber-expensive behemoth multi-driver speakers. In fact with some of the other high-end brands I do like, I tend to prefer their smaller models a little down from the flagships. 

Anyways, headphones CAN be highly enjoyable to me, but it’s a rather hit or miss affair. I have to be in the right "mood" for them. Some days I just can’t be bothered. Tannoys are simply more engaging day to day, and the visceral impact of speakers is a big part of that.

When I do listen to headphone now, my favored set is the electrostatic ES Lab (Hong Kong) ES-1a or ES2a, with a really good e-stat tube headphone amplifier: currently using a Blue Hawaii SE, though there are better amps out there like DIY T2 and Megatron. These ES Labs headphones have a more natural voicing than modern Stax, and a bigger soundstage ("head" stage) due to their larger drivers & cups. I still do like Stax, but the ES Labs are now better IMO. Tubes are also very necessary to impart a natural voice. Dynamic (moving coil) headphones are either far too colored or too boring, and frankly their listening fatigue is AWFUL. E-stat headphones are comparatively smooth as silk and won’t hurt unless you’re listening WAY too loud - which is actually hard to do because of their insane voltage drive requirements!

Anyways, when I’m in the mood, this ES setup is pure ear-candy - BUT if I’m able to run my Tannoys I’d still probably rather just do that :) These headphones are really nice though; way WAY better sounding than most. 

For a few months my VAC 450S amp was out of commission, and it really took the Tannoys down a couple pegs :( I tried switching to headphones and that was great for a few days, but then I lost the mood and basically didn't do much listening since then. This week the VAC is finally back, thank god! What a difference...

I disliked headphones after trying 10 different one...

I used them for special occasion...

No headphones compare to a system/room well optimized...

But there is an exception....

my AKG K340 rival any system which is in a living room...

To beat it takes a well controlled acoustic room...

I know because i created one few years ago...

Now i did not have this room...Only a good acoustic corner created for near listening and really good...

For pure musical listening meditation my K340 are my choice even now rival my secondary well optimized near field corner  (timbre more natural, deep bass, holography out of the head) 

Yes i am lucky.... but i optimized them myself (a long journey) 

For example, soundstage is a hard one for headphones. My SR1a has the largest soundstage of any phone but it is not 2-channel.

This is very true...

A soundfield or soundstage related to any headphone must be linked to the recording acoustical spatial cues, and must never give a ready made once for all soundstage of his own...

Also the soundstage must for well recorded pieces especially give a speaker like sound with a very evident "out of the head" impression...

The difference between the K340 and all my other 10 headphones is precisely this...

Also the timbre experience is very hard to get right, none of my 10 headphones could do it...

Deep bass must be there too ...

 It is a huge order probably almost  no headphones at any price can give save one or two i did not know about...

But my experience is only with the K340 i never tried ,Raal,Orpheus,Mysphere ,Top Hifiman...

But i dont need to try them anyway ... Why ?  to improve a bit on a 100 bucks  top headphone ?

When i listen to the K340 i forget it is an headphone anyway...

This is rather an odd thread, like launching "cars vs motorcycles" ... on an automobile forum. Given that there are over 35,000 posts for speakers and under 500 for headphones, it's not exactly surprising that most of the (few) responses here have favored speakers. If someone posted "headphones vs speakers" on head-fi, the responses might just possibly be a bit different. 

As a few have pointed out, they're completely different listening experiences. Cars and motorcycles. 

A more interesting conversation might be to ask why headphones and iems have taken off in the last decade. There's a surge in the headphone market not seen in that of traditional stereos. A lot of this growth is young people, and I'm not talking about earbuds and iPhones. I spend time on head-fi and I'd guess that if we compared the number of posts by people under 40 in a given week, Audiogon might not exactly be crowing. We can be critical of their preferences (speaking as someone who has haunted stereo stores for half a century), but headphones is where the action is these days. 

I'm with the posters above who say both/and.  Headphones are a lot of fun.