Get ready to question your beliefs about headphones and speakers as I dive deep into the topic.
In a recent thread on r/headphones, a Redditor asked the community’s advice on whether going for better headphones can give him the same listening pleasure as his vintage Bower & Wilkins speaker system.
After trying out many consumer headphones and the once-audiophile darling Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, the OP was left quite dismayed. They proved okay for keyboard practice monitoring, but, for music listening, he disliked them.
This opened a big question: Can headphones approach the same musical reproduction level as a decent set of speakers? Let’s dive into all the answers.
Fundamental Differences Between Headphones and Speakers
The question touched upon a hot subject as many other Redditors joined in to leave their own two cents of opinion. The most popular answer was that headphones and speakers serve different use cases.
Others pitched in to add that speakers and headphones have different areas where they excel therefore, it’s up to the listener to decide what they like more.
These are all good points, but they don’t exactly directly answer the question.
The thing is, while both headphones and speakers work by moving air, their fundamental modes of operation are very different.
Both headphones and IEMs create artificial coupling to the listener’s ears and transmit sound via them. In contrast, speakers usually have to work in living spaces and try to use them to transmit a mix of direct and reflected sound to convey the musical experience.
In other words – IEMs and headphones are sold together with a listening space. With all speaker systems, it’s usually the room that is the main barrier to truly high-end listening. And maybe also your neighbors.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that speakers can’t be enjoyed in usual living quarters. It’s just that room acoustics will always stand in the way of truthful bass reproduction and precise imaging.
The main downfall of headphones and IEMs is that they lack the visceral experience of speakers. That’s because they pressurize only your ear and not the whole body.
Ever had a powerful system flap the ends of your trouser legs and hit you in the stomach with midbass? No headphones will ever manage that. Of course, they won’t ever make your neighbors call the cops on you as well.
Technical Reasons Can’t Replicate a Good Speaker System
Electrodynamic loudspeakers are a relatively old technology. In fact, in 2025 the first moving coil loudspeaker design by Rice and Kellog turns 100! Hence it’s pretty well understood how to make a speaker system sound good.
In contrast, the first headphones that function the same way as what we have today only appeared in 1958.
Unless we go into exotic extremes like single-driver full-range speakers, most traditional multi-way systems will deliver a more correct frequency response than headphones or IEMs.
Additionally, speakers engage more naturally with the hearing apparatus. So, even affordable models can achieve stereo imaging unheard in headphones or IEMs.
But, due to physical constraints, it’s harder for speakers to reach the same low-end extension as headphones or IEMs. However, of course, hearing 20Hz at 110dB massage your earlobes is very different from feeling it literally rearrange the furniture in your house.
My Own Experience
Even though I’ve been an avid headphone audiophile since 2010, at some point, I explored speaker systems as well. Back in the day, my dad had a stereo with which I wasn’t too happy sound-wise, and after visiting a local hi-fi store, I caught the bug of “there must be more to sound”.
After building a respectable headphone system that consisted of the Sennheiser HD650, a DIY Gilmore Dynalo amp, and a Stello DA100 Signature DAC to drive it all, I suddenly realized that sharing good sound, if it’s headphones-only is impossible.
I can’t have buddies over and listen to good music together or demonstrate my impeccable musical taste to a future sweetheart.
Hence, I saved up some cash from my journo gig and splurged for a pair of KEF LS50 speakers. To drive them, I got a shoddy-looking Sony TA-F730ES which was a nice-sounding fixer-upper.
I even cranked the quiescent current a bit so it works in Class-A for longer. It was heaven!
Using Headphones and Speakers in Harmony
Since my foray into serious audio at my parent’s house, I’ve gone through scores of headphones, speakers, and accompanying electronics.
Would I ever settle for just one? Heck no – they all have a place in my listening routine.
Even if I yearn for some Ghost of Perdition by Opeth at concert listening levels, I’d have to ask my lovely lady first. We share the living quarters and she might be too tired for such an endeavor. Or she might counter-offer with some Zeal and Ardour or Tool. Headphones allow me to be more selfish.
On the other hand, having early Mikael Akerfeldt growling in my ear through IEMs or closed-backs makes me unavailable to other people around me. Sometimes that’s okay, but not always. Speakers also generally tie me to the designated sweet spot whilst headphones let me move around.
I would never build a speaker system to replace headphones for me or get a pair of headphones thinking that they’d allow me to ditch the monkey coffins.
While they are absolutely able to deliver the same amount of joy through music, the roads they take are different. And that’s good!