> Why use headphones at home? They'll never sound as good as a hi-fi speaker system. I've tried.

Disagree with your subjective impression but in no way is it "wrong" nor do I mean to imply it is. Just speaking from my own preferences.

Obviously, headphones won't deliver the chest feel of a stereo system nor will they deliver a soundstage on the level of stereo. But on pure sound quality, my headphones eek out my 2.1 system. Both cost roughly the same (LCD-5 vs. Philharmonic BMR towers) and both employ DSP (convolution to measure "flat").

There's something to the immediacy of music notes when you have a planar driver 3" from your ear drum that the stereo lacks. And that in turn changes the perception of sound.