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From: wm@tekchips.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: speaker testing for the connoisseur
Message-ID: <234@tekchips.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Jul-83 12:46:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekchips.234
Posted: Mon Jul 18 12:46:33 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Jul-83 22:10:43 EDT
References: <1783@ihldt.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 33

It is very difficult to compare speakers.  Even if you have the test
conditions set up just right, and you can hear noticable differences
between the speakers, how can you decide which sounds "better" unless
you have the live music there too for comparison?  The problem is that
people are trying to compare the distortion and coloration of speakers,
and you cannot directly compare this.  I have found that the only way
that I can compare speakers is to give them the "nervous test".  You
can do it in the showroom, you can even do it at a friend's house.  The
only requirement is that the rest of the system is comparable,
especially the parts that might color the sound in the same way as a
speaker (e.g., the phono cartridge).  What you do is listen to the
speakers for awhile and wait for when you get "nervous".  Telltale
signs are wanting to "change the station" when you are listening to a
record, figiting, talking about the weather, and so on.  The point of
all this is that your subconscience will tell you when you have had
enough of a certain sound.  The best speakers for you are the ones that
make you feel comfortable listening to music (this even applies to
listening to punk), and lets you listen to music longer without
fatigue, or makes you want to listen to music more.

I have used this method for years, and it has survived all the fads.
When boomy bass was popular, people were buying speakers with oversized
woofers, and getting headaches listening to them.

Oh, the other (newer) name for this test is the StarWars test and is
summed up as follows:
  1- Listen to speakers for at least an hour with different material,
	until you can "feel the Force".
  2- "Reach out with your senses" and "trust your feelings".

				Sorry,
				Wm Leler
				tektronix!tekchips!wm