Comparing car audio to headphones

I've read that you can get headphones of equal sound quality to home systems that cost many times more. I find that interesting and I've never really had any experience with headphones other than the cheap crap that you get for free. I'm thinking about getting a nice pair of Grado headphones (SR80) and I was curious how these would compare to a high-end car audio system strictly from a listening standpoint. Would the imaging be vastly different? What about the sound quality?

Car audio and headphone listening are as different as night and day.  Good headphones (usually matched with a good headphone amplifier) can rival the best high-end stereo setups.  I personally am not a fan of the Grado phones (although Grado turntable carts are great.)  My current favorite phones are the AKG 701 and the Sennheiser 600.  I am listening to music through a set Sennheisers as I type this, as a matter of fact.Support the12volt.com

The other Dave agrees... Unless you are looking into the Grado Reference Series (or better), the AKG will spank 'em... One thing I will mention, to echo DYohn's input, one thing you will notice when listening to a worldclass set of "cans", is that most car stereos will be very bass heavy, unless properly tuned. If you like a predominance of bass, most likely you won't be happy listening to an accurate set of headphones...It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Well I state my opinion on the comaprison of Hedphones to Car Aduio in a real-time situation.......Right now Im wearing a Sony MDR-7506 and im playing music for ME....In about 20 minutes when I leave for dinner, Ill be playing music for everyone in a 3 block radius.......'89 Mercedes-Benz 300E

Pioneer DEH-5900UB

(2)RE Audio SX 10"s

(1)US Amps MD3D

3ft^3 @ 37Hz

Blowing up in a car accident doesnt worry me, as long as I'm putting out some major dB's when I die...

Thanks for the input guys. Theoretically though, if a pair of headphones and a car audio system were both perfectly flat wouldn't they sound the same? Cloak- how do you like those Sony's? I'm looking for something in the $100 range and I've heard a lot of good things about the V6's.

luckydevil wrote: Thanks for the input guys. Theoretically though, if a pair of headphones and a car audio system were both perfectly flat wouldn't they sound the same?

Not at all.  Headphones will always be a completely different experience than any system driven by loudspeakers.  For a great-sounding inexpensive set, try the Sennheiser HD485.  Sony cans are fine for sound recording or DJ use, but for critical listening they fall short IMO.

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Right now I'm listening to music from Itunes with the ear pieces that came with my brothers Ipod...lol...I could care less...sounds fine to me...haha

Anyone heard an old school pioneer monitor 10, set of phones? These bad boys are 25+ years old.....sweet sound...........