Which companies are better than Bose?
Speakers (as in, small-mid-size near-field monitors, from very expensive to why-not cheap): Genelec ($3000), Adam ($2000), KRK ($750), Logitech ($100). Tastes in speakers vary a lot, and it makes a difference where you will be using them. These numbers are for the upper-middle end of the range. I like KRKs for their clear but slightly forward sound. I don't need a pair of Genelecs, but they are amazingly good. Some people swear by the Adams, they don't evoke any strong response from me. At the cheapie end the Logitech stuff strikes me as having a surprising level of bang for the buck, but it's been a while since I listened carefully to anything like that.
Buy powered speakers. Don't waste money on passive + amp combinations unless you have strong opinions on the electronics of different amplifier classes, in which case you probably want to build your own at some point.
Headphones: Sony MDR7506. The end.
Definitely. I've recommended them on HN before. They're the best 'pro' headphones at a very fair price that the companies making overpriced 'amateur professional' products don't want you to know about, including Sony themselves.
That's a testable statement. It would be difficult to ABX headphones to prove it, but do you have any objective quality comparisons?
It helps to have access to decently-equipped wood shop, but if you don't you can try asking a local custom-cabinet maker if they will cut and assemble the box for you. IME they are receptive to these types of projects since they can often use scrap from their other projects which allows them to make some money from material that would typically be wasted.
Some resources:
http://www.parts-express.com/ (full disclosure: I am a PE reseller)
http://www.amazon.com/Loudspeaker-Design-Cookbook-Vance-Dick...
But you'll have to try them out, all of them have several lines with different sounds, and each company has distinct characteristics.
You'll need to try them out.
I also discovered Headfonia ( http://www.headfonia.com/ ), a nice blog.
After reading http://www.headfonia.com/closed-cans-shootout-m-50-esw-9-t50... and many discussions on Head-Fi, I bought a Sennheiser HD-25-1, and I'm really happy with it ;)
This does not directly answer your question, but I think it may still be of interest.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap...
I own a pair of Grado phones, and a pair of Sennheiser, high end. There's a pretty big difference between the two.
The Sennheiser is, for lack of a better word, "transparent". It's like the sound is coming not from a pair of cans, but from "out there". It's very easy to forget you're wearing phones. It's like they don't have any personality of their own.
The Grado, OTOH, is very different. The sound is very much "in your face". Can you hear all sorts of tiny details and nuances? Sure, but that's because they were magnified a lot, to force them to become obvious. A look at the response curve tells you why: Grado likes to crank up the high-frequency response on their cans. They are great, though, if you're mixing audio tracks and are keeping an eye out for tiny mistakes.
The Sennheiser is like a wide-screen TV. The Grado is like a microscope. Both are useful, but for different purposes.
Pair with heavy-duty 2-channel amplifier like the Onkyo M-282, or a decent Denon, Harman Kardon, NAD, etc. home theater receiver.