How do you compare speakers?

[JKent]

I know many of us like to do A/B comparisons of our speakers (and amps too). Is anyone aware of a remote control speaker selector that lets you switch speakers from the listening position? I know I could hard-wire it but all those speaker wires running across the floor seems like a bad idea.

Thoughts?

-Kent

[DavidDru]

It is always harder than it seem it should be.  So many different connection types makes it awkward .  I went ahead and got a nice speaker selector box and ran a few different speaker wires from it.  One with bananas, one with spades and one just bare wire.  Seemed to be the best way.

Not sure about one with a remote.

I get kinda funny about the A/B thing.  I don't like to put two pairs in the room next to each other.  Seems like neither in this case are in the correct spot.  I remove one then bring in the other.

[dxho]

A peek on the auction site showed a few selectors w/remotes,
but it might be cheaper to buy a receiver with second room
speaker output.

[DavidDru]

B on the speaker selector is always the easiest for sure.

[Jeff_C]

Doing an accurate A/B speaker comparison is more difficult than it may appear, even if the switchover gear is sorted.  If you just want to get a good idea of how 2 or more sets of speakers sound then switching over with the speakers side by side may suffice.  If you are trying for something more than that, then there are problems in that the 2nd set of speakers need to be in exactly the same position as the first set (they need to be removed and replaced) and the listener needs to be in exactly the same position.  If you bother to go to that trouble then another problem is introduced which is short term audio memory.  By the time the speakers have been removed and replaced you will have forgotten how the first set sounded. It is a bit of a paradox.  IMO side by side comparison with an instant switchover is probably the most practical way to do the comparison.

 

Edit - Another important thing to do is level match the volume for the comparison. This is not as easy as it sounds with different efficiency speakers being compared. You cannot just rely on the volume control being in the same place in order to level match.  Oh dear - it gets more difficult the more you think about it.

[JKent]

15 hours ago, dxho said:

A peek on the auction site showed a few selectors w/remotes, but it might be cheaper to buy a receiver with second room speaker output.

I looked and found a grand total of one, and it had a wired remote. The receiver idea could work but I want to use my vintage gear.

Jeff-I agree with your points. You mention "side by side comparison with an instant switchover". That's what I would like to accomplish. I want to sit in the listening position and instantly switch back and forth. The "ideal" setup would involve a switch box with level-matching and a wireless remote control.

No such animal?

Maybe the only solution is to hire a lackey to operate my manual switch box while I listen 

[owlsplace]

8 hours ago, JKent said:

 .... Maybe the only solution is to hire a lackey to operate my manual switch box while I listen 

Lackey's are good ... it needs to be a blind test anyway

Roger

[ar_pro]

Jeff makes a good point about the placement of each speaker under test; it's unlikely that both speakers would be in the optimal position for evaluation.

Years ago, there was a UK manufacturer - it might've been Linn, or Naim - that subscribed to the "single speaker demonstration" approach to auditioning; wherein it was suggested that the mere presence of any loudspeakers other than the one under audition would upset the acoustic balance of the listening room, affecting the outcome of any listening test. I believe that it had something to do with the effect of all of those passive drivers in the inactive speakers.

[dxho]

11 hours ago, JKent said:

I looked and found a grand total of one, and it had a wired remote.
...

The Aton DLA2 looks capable. Here are a couple of auctions.

252155664717
252324418723

[owlsplace]

I wasn't aware of these units. Here is another from Outdoor Speaker Depot w/banana plugs that looks like it may work also -- 400W with either 2-in/7-out or vice-versa.

May have to get one of these and let the games begin

ATM-7 Zone Automatic Speaker Selector w/ Remote Control -- Product code: OSD-ATM-7

PDF manual: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-5323690727015/OSD-ATM-7-Manual.pdf#_ga=1.50663721.1852765240.1458496961

Roger

[Steve F]

Regarding A-B speaker comparisons, all of what has been said here has some validity: The need for level-matching, the need to have the speakers under comparison be similarly-positioned in the room so their placements are affected in close to the same way, ‘blind’ A-B listening, the possible effect that the passive drivers of an un-driven speaker might have on the sound of an actively-playing speaker, although that’s a pretty ethereal consideration for just two pairs in a domestic listening room, and more likely a serious consideration only in a retail showroom, where there might be 10 pairs (20 cabinets’ worth) of passive drivers influencing the sound of any single pair being played at a given time.

I find none of the above matters that much in reality, however. I’ve done 100’s of A-B’s over the span of perhaps 45 years in my home, using either manual speaker switchers or amplifier “Speaker A-B” buttons. If the efficiency/level differences are incredibly dramatic, as I select A or B, I turn the volume up or down accordingly at the same time. Close enough.

I have found the differences between the 4x/2ax, Large Advent/2ax, Large Advent/3a, ESS 9/3a, 2ax/3a, 3a/11, Connoisseur 50/11, Connoisseur 50/Boston VR40, Atlantic AT-1/AR9, etc., etc. to be so dramatic that within a nanosecond of the very first switchover, the two speaker’s individual tonal signature are indelibly locked into my brain and I knew which one I preferred and what the detailed differences were between them. It takes a mere fraction of a split second.

“Oh, I get it. Speaker A does this and Speaker B does that.”

A few dB of level difference does not matter one bit. Less than not at all. Nor does switching at the amplifier and having to go back 8-10 feet to sit down in my listening chair.

None of that has any impact whatsoever. I have never, ever, ever changed my impressions and opinion of an A-B speaker test because of level, room positioning, program material, being close-up to the speakers when performing the switch, nothing.

It takes one switch and then you know absolutely everything, every time, without fail.

That’s not to say that you know before the A-B test how the two will stack up. That can be a bit of a surprise. But after one switchover, you know it all. Every single last little bit.

Steve F.

[Aadams]

I agree with Steve F.  The instantaneous method is about as conclusive as you can get in a home listening space, especially if the speakers are dissimilar in woofer size and crossover points.   Thorough comparison of a Large Advent or a full range EPI to a 3a, for instance, or an AR58, which has no level controls, is pretty difficult without a multi band equalizer on at least one set of speakers.  This assumes you have a reference sound which you prefer and you know when you hear it.  I squirted away a lot of money and time in my younger days ABing speakers in showrooms because I had not yet learned this lesson for myself.  Just my opinion.

Adams

[der]

Again, I must agree with Steve F. It certainly doesn't take long to detect differences. I remember back when it was common for dedicated shops to allow customers to audition speakers in their homes.  I brought home a pair of well regarded speakers (which will remain nameless) and hooked them up in my listening room.  I knew before the first track had finished that I didn't care for them. I took them back the next day.

der