At the $300 (HD650) price point I don't think you will find a pair of speakers that will compete with a really well driven HD650.

I don't know about $1000 but at $3000 my studio monitors in a tiny untreated room (aka: crippled) are still better then all my headphones (incl HD650) at everything: imaging/soundstage, tonality, impact.  The only thing the headphones consistently do better is ultimate detail retrieval due to the sealed environment/lower noise floor.  Once I get some GIK in here the difference is only going to get larger.

That's not to say I don't greatly enjoy the headphone experience BTW.

Truth.

It is through hearing more than a few speakers, I ended up with studio monitors. I use at home the PMC IB2i, which are passive studio monitors, and when I said exactly the same thing time ago on HF, some did not take it well. But that's OK because it takes hearing some of this stuff. Ideally with sufficient exposure. The good news is that in the headphone realm lies a lot of untapped potential. The pricing however is going the wrong way for the performance offered and this cannot be said often enough imo. With speakers it went the wrong way a long time ago. But there are some great speakers even from a decade or two ago that will challenge the best of today.

Some people even think the stock HD800s are good as reference headphones. It's great that they can be modded though. It's also interesting how the HEK seem to introduce a fail factor in AB testing. I told you guys those are not very good for flagship level performance. But I get it they are nice / relaxing / etc to hear.

It's a shame the HE-6s weren't there. Those too can be modded with some pretty damn great results. Some of those amps could even drive them. Well almost.

At the $300 (HD650) price point I don't think you will find a pair of speakers that will compete with a really well driven HD650.

I don't know about $1000 but at $3000 my studio monitors in a tiny untreated room (aka: crippled) are still better then all my headphones (incl HD650) at everything: imaging/soundstage, tonality, impact.  The only thing the headphones consistently do better is ultimate detail retrieval due to the sealed environment/lower noise floor.  Once I get some GIK in here the difference is only going to get larger.

That's not to say I don't greatly enjoy the headphone experience BTW.

Woah woah, what? $300 for the HD650? I think you're being a bit optimistic, the HD650 is $500. $300 is a rare sale price. It usually goes for $4-450 on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00018MSNI/

While reading the latest post on Big Sound 2015 over at innerfidelity, Tyll said something interesting. He mention that he and Bob Katz both believe that the very best headphones still come short against state of the art studio monitors. Which got me thinking about what speakers would be considered to be a better experience then certain headphones.

So what would you consider to be a desktop experience that surpasses an HD650 with proper amplification? Would I have to spend a fortune or could I get something good for under $1000?

I don't put much weight into statements like the above.  Buying some fancy studio monitors is just the first step into a different world of audio; unless the studio monitors have massive woofers, IE not desktop sized then the bass impact may not be for you then requiring a sub.  Powered monitors can often have a terrible noise floor and having internal amps it is also not uncommon to overheat and die after some years.  Going separates can add up fast depending on your goal.  Then you have to deal with spacing from the wall, angle, and possibly room treatments and decoupling.  It adds up fast and in my experience the resell on speakers is not as good as headphone gear and it all makes it a tougher pill to swallow.  I'm not even sure if a $1k budget would cover my needs and I try to keep things affordable. 

I have a nearfield setup myself that I happen to like but am not necessarily enamored with.  There's just a great deal more control and IMO less variables with headphone rigs.  If you do want to go this route I suggest looking to well taken care of vintage gear on the cheap or super popular makes/models to minimize any risk going in.

I don't put much weight into statements like the above.  Buying some fancy studio monitors is just the first step into a different world of audio; unless the studio monitors have massive woofers, IE not desktop sized then the bass impact may not be for you.  Powered monitors can often have a terrible noise floor and having internal amps it is also not uncommon to overheat and die after some years.  Going separates is great fun but can add up fast depending on your goal.  Then you have to deal with spacing from the wall, angle, and possibly room treatments and decoupling.  It adds up fast and in my experience the resell on speakers is not as good as headphone gear and it all makes it a tougher pill to swallow.  I'm not even sure if a $1k budget would cover my needs and I try to keep things affordable.

Exactly. Small studio monitors have a more reduced scope of what they can offer, due to inherent size limitations. Now mid-field monitors and far-field monitors, with sufficient investment around them are quite something else. It's not only about bass resolution and impact, it's a whole other level of reference performance. The downside: cost & space requirements. The only way to cheat at this game is to buy on the used market. The top full-range studio monitors are rare as hen's teeth on the used market over here (especially the passive ones as if they are old we wouldn't want actives). For good reasons.

Well seasoned passive ATC 50s and 100s are a good place to look at. Also any of the old PMCs, 3 ways. Needs to have the big mid dome preferrably. They will not be very cheap unless they are very old.