Quality headphones vs Big Stereo System

in that price range stick with headphones (personally I prefer AKG over Sennheiser), if you want a stereo, actually buy a stereo and not a home theater system.

headphones

Headphones:

• Generally Cheaper.
• Noise Cancelling on some models.
  =Ease of use.
• While some can put out decent bass, you won't get that whole body feel as from a sub-woofer.
• Easier to break, Harder(possibly more expensive) to repair

Home Theater:

• True Surround Sound.
• Bass you can feel.
  = Could be a bit complicated to set up, but once your done you won't have to mess around much.
• Wake the neighbors/wife
• Takes up much more room, electricity.
• more expensive.

Quality is a matter of brand. Sennheiser Headphones are fantastic, they weren't lying. However, I have doubts as to the quality of a stereo system that is the same price as a set of premium headphones.

audio technica ath m40x & audio technica ath m50x

I say get a good stereo and a cheap headphone. The headphone solely for the purpose of talking to people (online games and such). Stereo for everything else. I'm a big bass enthusiast so I would never give up a good stereo over a headphone.

Well, i like to be aware of my surroundings. so i don't ever use headphones
plus

I went through a little audiophile phase for a while. I think the big stereo is far more satisfying, but the headphones are honestly as good if not better for sound separation and general quality. My favorite headphones of the ones I bought were the Grado SR80i's. They weren't the most expensive of the bunch but they have a good comfy sound so I keep going back to them.

"LG stereo 2.1CH 1900 RMS with a subwoofer"
Sorry, but that sounds fake. It's like with cars. If someone is offering a Golf with 300 PS for the price of a Polo with 55PS then something is not right.
Plus, having a lot of Watts does not automatically mean sound quality.

Damn those threats...why would people threaten for asking about headphones? :( Anyway, I don't have headphones at all. Like TinyPurple said, I like to be aware of my surroundings as well. I don't wish to isolate myself from my gf. Also, so far any headphones I've tried make my head hurt pretty fast.

First of, I'll repeat myself: Watts don't mean shit. Not in any way. They're to be ignored.

Secondly, not only one brand can or should be considered good at making headphones. Lots of brands - lots of fine headphones, often from lesser known ones, as the big names tend to use their brand name and start to lose out on sound quality in terms of price/performance.
The HD205 and 203 are cheap headphones, they sound ok, but for that price, much higher quality sound can be achieved, for instance with the usually even cheapter monoprice 8323, or the likely a tad more expensive takstar HD-2050, just for measure.
Just to make my point, headphones under the HD598 (so everything with a lower price and model number, leave aside their wireless solutions) aren't really up to what the competition is currently offering. Not to say Sennheiser is a bad brand, other brands do it as well (AKGs headphones are sometimes worthlessly overpriced, for instance) but there's no all-round-go-to-brand in headphones. See below, regarding personal taste. Also, market competition should always be taken into consideration. Just because one's never heard of one brand, doesn't mean it's crap, for instance.

Third: LG just makes trash speakers. Forget about LG!

Also, wearing heapdhones doesn't instantly mean losing awareness of surroundings -> there's open back headphones, which don't isolate nearly as much from the environment around you, also decent speaker replacements for example reasons listed in one of my other posts in this thread.

In any way, you should consider what you really want: Freedom all the time with speakers, but lesser sound quality compared with equally priced headphones and more quality loss when listening from a bad angle, or not-so-much freedom with heaving to wear headphones, but the advantages listed before?

When buying headphones or speakers, you should very much consider testing them yourself in a good-sorted hifi-store. They all differ in the kind of sound signature they deliver, to match people's different tastes in almost every price-range. Buying the wrong sound-signature will definitely turn down the speakers or headphones value for yourself! Choose the one that suits your own tastes best!

Also, when buying speakers, really, really think about buying a subwoofer. Stereo-speakers have bass, too, for starters. Sometimes, it's a lesser experience than subwoofers, of course, but mostly, stereo speakers deliver the higher-quality experience.
Additionally, a wrongly-placed subwoofer won't sound good - the bass will be bloaty, too extensive and will wipe over the frequencies lying above (like higher bass and lower midrange frequencies), taunting lower-frequency vocals and the like, making the sound in general sound very bloated - less enjoyable.

What you should consider (and tell in the thread) is:

• how big is your room? Where would you put the speakers, and in case, the subwoofer?
• What will be your most-of-the-time usage?
• What of the mentioned pros/cons for headphones/speakers (such as, freedom, etc.) appeal most to you?
• Are you planing on using the headphones mobile?
• What sources to drive the headphones or speakers are at your disposal, which are planned?
• something I forgot to mention but is important to you...?
• lastly: what are you willing to spend?

Wooden 5.1. No exceptions! :)
Once you'll try it in gaming you'll never even think about headphones.

And buy some cheap headphones for those cases you need to be quiet for your housemates.