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Can headphones ever be as good as high end stereo?

I am absolutely satisfied with the sounds of my current setup but I feel like I'm unable to listen at the volumes I prefer on a regular basis due to the ole spouse. I've been considering switching over to headphones. By selling my current speakers and amps I could easily finance stax 009 phones and a suitable amp, which seem to be regarded as the pinnacle of headphones.

My question is, what would I be losing or gaining in the switch? Right now my setup emits a beautiful wall of sound and I would hate to give that up. Understand that I have never owned a pair of headphones worth more than 80 bucks so I have no idea what good ones sounds like. Almost all source material would come from a pyon ultima table. Thanks
bfin3

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,592 posts
 
Good headphones with the right DAC/amp are pretty magical.

Set your standards by listening to a Pono. It’s got one of the best output stages around. Second to this is the UFO DSD DAC’s if you can find them, Blue Coast may still sell them.

At the last California Audio Show I went to, the best and worst sound at the show (speaker or headphone) was from headphone stands. Pono and Blue Coast among the best of them. The absolute best headphone setup was a $5k setup by Audio Visions of SF but I can’t remember the brand. It was a rather wide tube headphone amp on top of an equally large DAC.


Best,


Erik
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