Just curious what y'all tend to "zoom into" when listening to a speaker, as in a good speaker always does "X" really well. For instance the way a cymbal sounds...

Particular tracks you use over and over to assess.

Sounds like a discussion to take over to AVS. :P

It is such a subjective subject, you could pick literally any speaker out there and find a hundred people who love it and a hundred people who hate it, and many of their reasons will overlap.

I am happy with my Klipsch KLF-20/C-7 combo at home. Old school, big black boxes, great sound, and I am not worried that my kids color on them, climb on them, stuff toys into the ports, etc. I keep wanting to do an actual "install" and put some speakers in the wall or ceiling, out of harms way. I know that would be a step down in almost every area of sound performance compared to these beasts. But think about all the floor space I could free up for activities! (gratuitous "Stepbrothers" reference). :)

He is asking about what demo material we use to evaluate a speaker with.

I like starting out with the first 2:00 minutes of Al Di Meola's 'South Bound Traveler'. Good wide range of sounds throughout the frequency band, nice transits, clear recording.

Always demo a good drum solo

Depends on what type of music the customer listens to.

Rickie Lee Jones "We Belong Together"
Leon Thomas Blues Band "Shake Rattle and Roll"
Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges "Back to Back"
Dexter Gordon "Fenja"
Midori "Bach violin (don't recall)"
Los Fabulous Cadillacs
Les Negrittes Vertes
Ditchlilies

would be discs I'd pick depending on taste

I've always liked to use this as a demo as it has a many different and fairly unique sounds as well as a fantastic singer


in case the link doesn't work, the song is by the properllerheads, playing the song, history repeating and its sung by Shirley Bassie - she perforemed the theme song to three james bond movies as well.

I listen for music. I listen for the speaker to be the sonic equivalent of "invisible."

If the sound of a speaker impresses me, I'm likely to cross it off the list. "Impressive" today is very likely irritating in six months, if not sooner. I learned this from customers who bought our speakers (Rogersound Labs) and chose a model against our recommendation.

I listen for clarity and cleanness of sound. I listen for music that does not sound like it's coming from a speaker.

And, everyone is correct. You don't need to like my speaker and I don't need to like your favorite speaker.

Use music that makes sense to the listener.

I usually use three selections: simple acoustic instruments, female vocal with relatively simple accompaniment, and something very busy (full orchestra or opera when appropriate). Save the busy one for last and evaluate if the instruments mush together or maintain their integrity. After half an hour or so, if you are feeling tired, not elated about the speaker, pass -- regardless of how well it handled the selections. One can listen to the right speaker for extended periods.

Be careful not to demo material that is much higher in resolution or production quality than what will be played on them when they are installed in your customers' homes. If all they listen to is Pandora, demo Pandora. Otherwise you might get the call I got...."These speakers sound kind of dull and lifeless....are there better ones?" Then you get to do this demo at their home....playing a song on their favorite Pandora station and doing an A-B with the same song from a CD in their collection. "Wow!!!" was the reaction. Most people have no clue what they are missing out on. And they do not really care honestly.

I am rarely wowed by the sound of most of the DA systems we have installed in the last several years. And it comes down to the content quality. 99% of the time, it is streaming audio of poor quality. Garbage in, garbage out is what they say, right? So true. I actually got excited when that client called to complain about the sound of their new in-ceiling speakers. It is rare that anyone really actually cares about how the stuff sounds. I cringe at the sound of some of the installs we do, but the reaction is always "Wow...this is amazing!" So I nod my head and collect the check. :)

You can look at this as a half empty or half full glass. Lament the loss of demand for quality or rub your hands and wait for the massive upgrade to come.

If you aren't familiar with this, you should read it. Suzanne Vega is the mother of the mp3: [Link: observer.com]


Yeah, but all you listen for is buzz.

Ba-dum-pum!


One of my stranger habits is reading dictionary etymologies. I recently ran across the amusing fact that many of our words that mean sexual activities come from a proto-indo-european word that means "to rub."

Rub your hands, indeed!

Holy Tom's diner!

Also, in reference to others who have gone before us, how loud do they want to listen?

Fit the tool to the job....

I usually wait for the sound of panites hitting the floor. Then I know it's a good speaker or track.

That's where I'm at.


The old DTS demo disc had some great samplings, and I used that a lot.

My thought. I don't listen for any one characteristic the speaker does well. It needs to do them all well. More importantly I must know the music well. If you can't stand the music, the demo won't move you.