Cheap home theater setup with headphones

[solaris7]

Hi guys, I want a nice home theater setup in the living room but because I live in an apartment I feel like a good pair of headphones are more ideal than loud speakers.
I also want top notch sound quality so would it make a difference if I connect my headphones directly to the HDTV vs. a 5.1 stereo receiver (connected to the tv). I will also be using a gaming system.
I don't want to spend too much so can anyone recommend me a decent setup.

 

[vasquez]

I found myself asking a similar question not too long ago.

I eventually settled on Astro's Mixamp 5.8, which is a wireless 5.1 dolby digital (virtual) setup. It set me back about 140 bucks, and I still had to look for a pair of headphones. During the time I was looking I played a lot of Call Of Duty, and Audio Tehnica's ATH700 headphones seemed to be the ideal headphone for my needs. It has a large soundstage, so when used with a virtual dolby digital setup, it'll do a pretty good job at keeping things from sounding "squished."

Some receivers will allow for virtual dolby digital (Yamaha has a feature called silent cinema) which allows you to just plug a pair of headphones in.