I enjoy both. Each has its strengths and weaknesses when compared to the other. Usually I'll take the speakers over the phones in spite of the less detail. It's detailed enough and more lifelike overall.
The Stax phones, with a tubed Stax driver unit, are fine for now but I can see a Blue Hawaii setup, or Woo Audio WES, in my future. The problem, of course, is that they never come up for sale on the used market. Even if they did, they would sell in minutes. Also, I see a pair of Quad electrostats in my future when I have a dedicated room to position them properly.
I have both. I guess my headphone situation is up to interpretation. I have AKG K702's with a Schitt Lyr and a custom cable made by Blue Jeans (does this sound correct? I never use it). As you can see, I never use it. The Lyr is in its original box and has been used about 5 or 6 times since it was new 4 years ago. Same with the AKG's. The headphone rig sounds great but nothing like an energized room.
I own Magnepan speakers and planar magnetic headphones. The headphones cost 50% of what I paid for the speakers (both new). I find that the sound of the headphone is pretty much identical to the sound of the speakers except for the sound stage being in the head.
I've listened to some of the Binural recordings on both and the sound stage on the headphones does come closer to those of the speakers on some of them. I find the Chesky recordings the best for this.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
