HEADPHONES and / or LOUDSPEAKERS?

PAUL MCGOWAN / PS AUDIO

I’ve never understood the rift between headphone and speaker advocates.

Chat rooms, forums, and blog posts by the hundreds are rife with strong opinions why one’s superior to the other. It is constantly pointed out that headphones are more full range, lower distortion, generally have only one driver, are easy to drive, and so on. Defenders and provocateurs of loudspeakers point out that headphones miss out on any visceral feel, they cannot recreate a true sense of room, and they do not encourage sharing.

The arguments and battles seem rather endless.

I take a different, more moderate view. I like both.

Instead of pointing out the flaws inherent in each, I prefer to instead focus on the positives afforded by these very different methods of playing music.

Each is high-end and each provides an entirely different and unique listening experience.

It’s not that one’s better than the other.

We could safely suggest that both bring us closer to the music in ways the other misses.

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