As I slowly try to work through the complexities of my listening room I sometimes wonder whether life would be simpler just having a simple, single, high quality headphone system. Seems radical I know but it’s just a thought….
Has anyone done this, what are the pros and cons, what did you miss the most from not having speakers in your system.
I’m planning a visit to my dealer to try and hear the art of the possible* - any recommendations on headphones I should try that demonstrate that?
Note. It’s just me who listens in my listening room, not worried about portability, they would stay in my room. When we have people round the Atom does background music splendidly in the other room, so this is solely about quality of the listening experience.
*I’ve never heard music through decent Headphones!
I was of the same mindset about 6 years ago. It was an absolute failure for me. However I was able to understand what I love most about a 2 channel setup.
It’s the palpability of the sound, that visceral punch and attack that engages me. I should’ve understood thats also why I’m into Naim too. I didn’t. I followed by buying alternative brands that bored me almost as much as the headphone setup.
IMHO headphones cannot equal a good quality stereo system regardless of all the flaws that a system can exhibit.
In one way it is an attractive idea, primarily because it takes the room out of the equation*, and pretty high level headphones cost less than even middling speakers. However I haven’t done, for a variety of reasons, obvious negative aspects including inability to feel bass through clothing, seat etc, inability to share with others even if the occurrence is rare, and comfort when having a long listening session. Also, if you like to play loud on occasion, I think there is more risk of not realising just how loud (and you can’t check with a sound level meter), thereby possibly greater risk of hearing damage.
*Though more and more I am reading about people setting up DSP EQ to balance the response of even expensive headphones.
I went the speaker route because I wanted to be able to listen all day without discomfort. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had comfortable headphones to the point of sometimes forgetting I was wearing them . But leather pads can make you feel hot especially in summer and even comfortable headphones can sometimes randomly cause discomfort. Also I need a portable headphone setup and it just seemed odd to me to have a separate headphone setup where I couldn’t move just to be able to get the best sound quality. I may one day get a portable amp like the chord mojo + poly and some decent wired headphones but I’d never replace my main set up.
I actually caused some damage to my right ear drum when I accidentally maxed volume on a headphones system. I had pain from my right ear for years. It would be worst during winter time. Now I don’t suffer any pain but I think my right ear hears few decibels lower. Obviously I don’t notice it now because the brain compensates for the loss.
As you have a good headphone setup with the NSC222/NPX300 the best option might be to just try using good headphones in that setup for a trail. If you went down that route you would then just remove the 300 and speakers.
I use HD800’s with a Heed Canalot and mostly use it for late night movies/TV - it’s actually very good and can be very immersive and removes the balance issues I have with the room.
Having said that, for me, music is way more dynamic and visceral played through speakers.
So I think, maybe just add headphones to your current setup and have both options?
I can’t play music loud most of the time, and certainly not at night (we live in a terraced first floor flat and our neighbours go to bed at a sensible hour, as does my wife). Headphones for nights are an absolute boon.
I would not be without speakers, but 'phones are an essential for me. Plus, they sound fab.
I think the pros and cons vary considerably from person to person.
I had some years ago a pretty good headphone setup hanging off the end of my main Naim system. I was running HD-800’s from a HeadLine2 and HiCapDR. And yet it didn’t get much use. Late at night, I found it excellent but lacking somehow. I’d describe the sound as “end game” but I always had something else I’d rather do.
Then we spent several years in rental accommodation and times of day that listening through speakers was possible was severely limited. I bought a different system using the same HD-800’s but as more of the main focus. That performed, with the same headphones, much better and I could have lived with that as my main system (in fact it’s in the office now). I came away from all that learning two things:
I won’t listen to heaphones if speakers are an option at that time of day.
I can be very happy with headphones if that’s my only option. But while I like Naim driving speakers, I don’t find it as satisfying for headphones. The missing sauce was a headphone tube amp and non Naim source.
I find headphone listening intrinsically unrealistic. It lacks the physical impact of real music and the music seems to emanate from inside my head which I find bizarre.
Obviously some find it enjoyable. But it is a completely different experience to loudspeakers. There are theoretical advantages such as taking room colourations out of the equation, but to me such is the downside that this is just irrelevant.
Certainly that would be the first step, I plan on going to have a listen to a few initially. I haven’t actually ever heard any decent headphones, I’ve always listened through speakers primarily, occasionally with cheap headphones for monitoring.
Though I would consider my Utopias and Macintosh to be more than adequate they get very little use compared to the rest of my system. Eventually you get used to the acoustic panels in your living room
I’m an occasional headphone user, and have had various headphones over the years, including Stax, Sennheiser, etc. There is no doubt in my mind that the Stax electrostatics were the best, but alas, being open-backed, they still put out too much ‘noise’ for late night listening after my wife retired to bed. So … I eventually ended up with a B&W P5 on-ear headphones, which I liked, and didn’t leak too much sound.
Now I have started to wear hearing aids, and have had to move to over-ear headphones. Again, ‘sound leakage’ mattered, so I now have a pair of Beyerdynamic T5 rather than the equivalent open back version (can’t recall the model number). Not cheap, but very good. I really only use them for late night viewing of films etc via my Anthem MRX 740.
For my music listening I stick to my mains system and its speakers. Still better than the headphones.
I use headphones for most of my listening, and in away i much prefer them. They give you a much more personal experience and i hear really distant details in a recording that are just lost sitting 3+ metres away from my speakers. On the opposite side, you do lose the impression of depth but then again (not having a dig) that isn’t something that the naim sound was renowned for.
Are planar headphones better than dynamic headphones? I have shortlisted HIFIMAN EDITION XS planar headphone and AUDEZE MM100 planar headphone, to be used with HIFIMAN EF400 R2R DAC & Headphone amp. I mainly listen to western classical music. Previously I had NAIM 32.5/140 with KEF C80 speakers which I disposed off after 38 years of excellent music enjoyment. Cant afford new system as I am 71 years old. Any suggestion
For me there’s no “better” it’s just what flavour that you prefer.
For Classical, I’d give STAX a shot first, but that does lock into an electrostatic specific driver (amp).
A Planar Magnetic doesn’t lock you into a specific amp. Hifiman are a solid choice as an around HP.
For me, my Focal Utopia that had a great dynamic driver has a very “close, narrow and intimate soundstage” as well as a punchy and dynamic sound that I just love.
Where a planar magnetic usually gives you a more spread out soundstage, while still giving a great, deep bass, that may be your preference.
Also look at Sennheiser HD800S, it’s a classical music lovers choice all around the world. It has a very, very wide soundstage that classical lovers enjoy. It’s a dynamic driver and it’s a bargain second hand for mint condition examples.
. But leather pads can make you feel hot especially in summer and even comfortable headphones can sometimes randomly cause discomfort. Also I need a portable headphone setup and it just seemed odd to me to have a separate headphone setup where I couldn’t move just to be able to get the best sound quality. I may one day get a portable amp like the chord mojo + poly and some decent wired headphones but I’d never replace my main set up.
