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How to meaningfully audition speakers??

I think this topic has appeared elsewhere, even if worded differently. But I thought I'd ask anyway.

Just upgraded my amp and was thinking about auditioning different speakers. Problem is that there are only a handful of high-end B&M stores nearby. Another complication is that no one store has the 2 or 3 speaker brands that I want to check out.

Further, I am dubious that one can meaningfully audition gear by running from store to store because the test conditions are not identical. In addition, unless a piece is really terrible or incredibly terrific, I don't trust my aural memory. Perhaps other have a different view.

Seems to me that the best way to accomplish what I want is to have the speakers of interest brought to my house and hooked up to my rig. But -- I am NOT aware of any dealer willing to part with expensive gear like that, especially if it has to be specially ordered from a distributor because the model is not on display.

So the Q is what do most folks do? Just buy speakers on hope and a prayer?? Rely on reviews or Forum comments??
bifwynne
rlwainwright
1,901 posts
 
The best way, of course, is to audition the speakers in your environment. If you have the funds, time, etc. you might consider buying (used) each of the speakers you are most interested in and then auditioning them side by side at home.

Once you've identified the best of the lot, sell the others (perhaps at a small loss) and live happily ever after...

-RW-
dweller's avatar
dweller
2,152 posts
 
Try to find a brand or designer you trust and start there.
Learn which crossover type you like (first order, infinite slope, etc.), driver material, cabinet material.
Go to shows (Rocky Mountain fest is soon) where you can spend lots of time listening.
Lastly, have some recordings you know well to check for things you care about (deep bass? clean treble?).
The bottom line is: You may have to make many purchases before you find your sonic soul-mate.
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,502 posts
 
The best way to audition speakers in your home but like you said there are very few dealer or speaker manufacturers who would allow you to do that. I honestly will go through various forums, read reviews on speakers I'm interested in and if there are enough positive reviews I buy them. I'm also hoping and a praying that my results are like what I've read. If not then I re-sell at a loss. I think in this day and age that is the only way to go unless there is an audio society/club where you live and maybe you can audition different speakers there.

Buy, Try and Re-sell after some time is what I've had to follow.

There have been times I've gone to B&M stores and brought music I like to audition speakers. Other times I've worked with the associates to give them details about my listening area so we can try to simulate it in their demo room. Even then the music won't sound exactly the same with my gear in my room.
shazam
204 posts
 
One of the best things I ever did was go to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest where I could walk from room to room and hear all kinds of equipment and setups and ask questions about them. They may not have your exact setup, but there will be tons of things that you can get a good idea of in a couple days.
czarivey
4,494 posts
 
for this you need good microphone or good acoustic transducer(or few), good recorder(or multi-track... teac 4-track r2r is one of the great examples), good player, good room and possibly good amplifier. in addition you'll need a musical instrument that you're going to record. good ones to test are trumpet, sax, guitar, double-bass and certainly piano. you'll also need monitor headphones to adjust proper recording level when you test your instrument.

1. record any instrument handy(i'd use 15ips speed of recording on r2r gear)
2. adjust volume of amp to the same level as volume of your live instrument
3. play it through the speakers and analyze the difference.
4. if the difference minimal the speakers are good.
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