What is the difference between speakers and headsets?

headsets are smaller and typically worn in your ears or on your head to listen to stuff like music. headsets usually have 1 driver to reproduce sound but because they are so small, they tend to be more inaccurate and have lots of distortion. an example of a headset would be those whist Apple headphones you get when you buy an iPod or iphone. speakers are typically larger and can produce louder and bigger notes. in addition to that, they are usually paired with other devices and and speakers to be able to produce fuller notes and "surround sound." a major difference is the drivers though and there is a trade off between the 2. speakers, by themselves, have a general better frequency response (that is, the frequency range at which humans can hear which is 20 - 20,000 Hz) and they also tend to have less distortion as well because the drivers are bigger. the problem is, many speakers dont have solid bass so you wont get the full, deep, rich low notes unless you pair the speakers with a woofer. headphones on the other hand, are able to produce high and low notes quite well but like i said earlier, they have more distortion because of their size so even though they are labeled to be 20-20,000 Hz, the distortion maybe 20% (more or less depending on the brand but most often, companies dont disclose this info) so you get uneven bass of offset high notes unless you are willing to pay around 200$ for some decent heaphones like B and W C5 which has a frequency response (or Total Harmonic Distortion THD for short) of less than 1%. in terms of health for your ears, speakers are better because headphones blast notes into your ears creating pressure that can damage your ears. speakers send notes over a longer distance (from the speaker to your ear) making it more gentle.