Question for the Hi-Fi experts ??

In truth, you get far better fidelity through headphones than you can with speakers. Headphones work in a much smaller environment and designers can make the small excursions of the diaphragm more responsive to the given signal. I use Vandersteen speakers and have compared them to my Sennheiser 650's. The phones are cleaner, clearer, and more accurate than my speakers that cost a great deal more than the phones. In truth however, I listen to the speakers more because the sound I hear is more representative of the kind of listening experience I get at a live performance.

Thanks for the answers. It is tru but why when I listen to directly from the cd player I have a lot of details, clarity, transparence, clear highs, that I don't get when using an amplifier and speakers. I don't like tone controls but I need them because if I listened flat or bypassing the tone controls, it looks like an AM radio. That is the thing I don't understand. Why that big loss in sound quality ??? If the cd player is delivering the same sound to the output jacks that the headphone jack, why that quality isn't reproduced by the speakers. I am talking about any quality brand because I have tested it in Hi-end dealers and with high end gear. The problem is the same. Always, the headphones give better details,transparence, etc.

Think that the root of the question is that there is resolution and frequency response that is coming through on the headphones and is lost on the speakers. This is entirely possible, and entirely something that could be corrected with a more resolving and/or fuller range speaker system. There are lots and lots of options for building a system that will provide all kinds of fidelity and resolution. That is, after all, the whole point.

Of course, it is also indisputably correct that speakers will never sound the same as cans. And if it's cans you like, trying to turn a speaker system into a replica of a headphone experience is likely to be a dissapointing trip. But it is certainly possible to squeeze a whole lot more resolution and fidelity out of any given speaker setup.

All that said in the abstract, without having any idea about what equipment we're talking about -- abstract is as close as anyone can get to an answer. High-end, resolving speakers with complimentary electronics can certainly produce as much resolution as headphones. You'll "loose" nothing. It will certainly be a different way of experiencing the music, but the same music is certainly achievable.

Finally, it's been said that there's a rough 10 to 1 price correspondence between comparable stereo v. headphone systems. It may well be complete nonsense, but there's at least a grain of truth in it. Which is to say, if you've got a $1k headphone setup that you think is just the cat's meow, it could run you north of $10k for electronics and speakers capable of achieving a roughly equal level of detail, fidelity, etc. So, all else being equal (not that it ever is), headphones are a much cheaper and more practical means of achieving high quality music reproduction. If you want to try to approach the same fidelity levels with a speaker system you certainly can, but it gets a whole lot more spendy pretty quick. They'll never be the same, but comparable is doable.

And finally, as mentioned above, if accurate reproduction is your goal, adding tone controls or equalizers or anything else into the circuit whose sole purpose is to CHANGE the original recording -- that is the exact opposite of accurate reproduction. It's not your answer.

I just ordered a Bravo V2 and nobody seems to care...*sigh*...I think the key sound of headphones is directly affected by the head they're clamped to. Also, be warned, no self respecting audiofreak has tone controls...use them and be prepared to welcome the scorn of A'gon eletists squealing like porcine Beiber fans. I just replaced a preamp with defeatable tone circuits (sort of acceptable, but hey, you could SEE THEM) with one that doesn't even have a balance control! I now can hold my head high and "Drink wine with Kings and Queens"...Lowell George.

Cayin makes a fine sounding headphone amp.

The Cary SLI-80 or 300SEI come to mind for Headphone listening.

Chuck

Stanwal,
That`s a very good answer. It`s like some wanting their car to handle and perform like a motorcycle.

First of all, just because you like the way your headphones sound doesn't mean they are more or less accurate than your speakers, but of course, it is all about the sound that you like. Most people are going to tell you that the answer lies in the interaction between your speakers and the room that they are playing in. The manufacturer of your headphones was able to balance the response because they knew the exact environment they would be played in.
I also think that it is interesting that you feel you can solve your problem with an amplifier. You should list your present system and room dimensions.

First, headphones ARE NOT speakers. They have no room problems at all [reflections,uneven responses] and they have to move only the small amount of air in your ears instead the whole room so it is much easier to get low bass. NO speaker is ever going to sound like a pair of headphones; they provide two completely different listening experiences. If you like the headphones that much better I would stick with them; you could spend a very large amount of money trying to duplicate the sound with speakers and I don't think you would succeed. If you want speakers judge then against other speakers, not against headphones. They provide a very different perspective on the sound unless you have invested in one of the devices which simulated the kind of sound we hear with speakers instead of having the sound appear to originate in the center of your head.