Well, in a dorm situation, speakers tend to annoy people. I listen to music [in dorm or on the go] about 6 hours a day, maybe more. You also can't get the same level of 'detail' from speakers. (don't get me wrong, you get a much MUCH better 'feel' for the music. but you lose a lot of the clarity due to all the distortions[room size/shape/material etc].) I've always been a portable type of person because I live in crowded urban environments. Headphones offer a form of isolation.