is this listening test valid ?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 188516
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Deleted member 188516

Guest
i found this video where two different models of dynaudio speakers are tested / compared at the same time "live" whilst a track is played.

this, from what i can see, is possible because both speakers are connected to the yamaha a-s2200 at the same time but obviously to different channels.
(hence the reason why the person is sat on the floor adjusting the amplifier settings / switching channels when he gets the command).

i was just wondering if this is a valid way of doing an "instant" test as regards to testing speakers in such a manner ?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDE7zjfIJIQ
 

matthewpiano

Well-known member
It looks as though rather than switching 'channels', the reviewer's assistant is switching between the two sets of speaker terminals - A and B. I suppose this is a way to immediately compare some aspects of performance between the old and new versions of the speaker, but it isn't very thorough.

The video itself is, like most YouTube videos of hi-fi, pretty useless. It is impossible, using this video, to gain any proper impression of the sound produced. It's really no better than reading a written review.
 
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Deleted member 188516

Guest
It looks as though rather than switching 'channels', the reviewer's assistant is switching between the two sets of speaker terminals - A and B. I suppose this is a way to immediately compare some aspects of performance between the old and new versions of the speaker, but it isn't very thorough.

The video itself is, like most YouTube videos of hi-fi, pretty useless. It is impossible, using this video, to gain any proper impression of the sound produced. It's really no better than reading a written review.

i meant speaker terminals not channels !
(was not sure of the exact description).

i agree no good as a viewer on youtube but if you were sat in the room as well it would give an instant comparison...of sorts !
 
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Deleted member 160668

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I'll let you know how I get on.

I've already ordered another pair of TQ Black II speaker cable which arrives later this week and have purchased a set of ProAc Studio 118's and the matching Atacama HMS2.1 stands. These I intended to compare (just a bit of fun really) against my PMC Twenty 23's.

The ProAcs should be with me early next week and I planned to do exactly this using sp output 1/2 on my A39.

Edit: the only variable I can't replicate is the Isoacoustic Gaia's as they're on the PMC's. But I'll prob leave them on there, then switch them onto the bases of the Atacamas too so it's fair.

2nd edit: this is not for instant comparison, but for adding a different flavour/sound. Obvs I will compare but dont intend to switch mid-song or anything. Just so I dont need to reset up my kit each time.

Fun times 👍
 
D

Deleted member 188516

Guest
I'll let you know how I get on.

I've already ordered another pair of TQ Black II speaker cable which arrives later this week and have purchased a set of ProAc Studio 118's and the matching Atacama HMS2.1 stands. These I intended to compare (just a bit of fun really) against my PMC Twenty 23's.

The ProAcs should be with me early next week and I planned to do exactly this using sp output 1/2 on my A39.

Edit: the only variable I can't replicate is the Isoacoustic Gaia's as they're on the PMC's. But I'll prob leave them on there, then switch them onto the bases of the Atacamas too so it's fair.

2nd edit: this is not for instant comparison, but for adding a different flavour/sound. Obvs I will compare but dont intend to switch mid-song or anything. Just so I dont need to reset up my kit each time.

Fun times 👍

please report back your findings.
 
Back in the 70s and 80s I had part-time job at a Hifi store. We used a comparator with about 15 pairs of speakers wired up. The switchbox was hardly State of the Art, but it did enable a fairly quick narrowing down of preferences.

Such things are frowned on today, and indeed ‘single speaker’ pair demos became de riguer by the end of the 1980s, iirc. Obviously another speaker nearby does affect the sound a bit.

Nothing wrong with using A/B connections at home for a bit of fun, bearing in mind both pairs can’t be in the best spot at the same time. And impossible to adjust for relative volume, which massively affects what we perceive.
 
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Deleted member 108165

Guest
On the new amp I only have 2 pairs on binding posts so I purchased a switch-box to compare PMC vs Harbeth when trying to decide which speakers I wanted to keep. As nopiano states it is difficult to volume match but it was an interesting and functional way to reach an informed decision.
 
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Deleted member 160668

Guest
please report back your findings.
Thought I'd bump this with an update. Been much faff re this since my last post. I posted the seller a suitable box (one of my PMC floorstander boxes, filled with a roll of bubble wrap), but the courier has lost/disposed of it ☹. Therefore, more bubble wrap ordered and waiting to arrive then will have to post the other box. This one I will add a note to as it's a pretty weird parcel a huge box, with no weight.

Not fussed, just a delay. I'll get there in the end.

In the interim though I've been doing some reading up on ProAc's... I bought them for some fun, but actually they read as if they could be seriously good! Also, having looked around, they rarely seem to be available 2nd hand to buy. So I'm guessing either they are great, in which case people don't sell them on. Or they are very niche and dont sell that many.

I've not heard ProAc's yet and am quietly excited.

Fingers crossed I'll get them at the back end of next week if I dont get nobbled by the couriers on my 2nd attempt. Will keep them a week or so and then bump this again with some thoughts and of having compared them in this fashion.
 

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