Proper way to audition speakers

[Cellindo]

Guys, I have a close friend who owns new Vivid G2 and I live with Sasha for more than two years.

Despite the room and electronic differences I'm almost certain the G2 are a bit more transparent and also significantly smoother than the Sasha.
For now I prefer the PRAT and bass on the Wilson but for all other aspects the Vivid win by a small margin.

However a move from Sasha to G2 would not be justified money wise. Moreover the Vivid G2's with their bass units on the side 'panels' almost impose no electronic equipment (or very little) positionned between the speakers. This is a significant placement constraint one should not forget....
Anyway thumb-up for the Vivid G2 who is a truly spectacular speaker.

Don't know yet the Alexia. ;-)

[GaryProtein]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Gary...but would you have the two speakers you are comparing set-up in the same room at the same time and keep on switching back and forth? Or would you compare them serially? Meaning spend a couple of hours with one and then repeat same musical programming with the other one right after and compare them that way? I personally think you get more of a holistic and accurate feel for the speaker when you do a couple of hours at a time on each speaker because if you have them both set up at the same time in same room and switch them back and forth there are two problems:

1) It becomes too disjointed to keep on switching between speakers on each track or cut of music, and you can easily become obsessed/distracted by one aspect or another without stepping back and taking in the whole sonic picture (i.e., you focus in on the trees and lose sight of the forest if that makes sense). It becomes an exercise in hyper-critical listening which may keep you from making the right overall pick.

2) If the two speakers occupy similar (or same) sweet spots in the listening room than if you have them both set-up at the same time and switching back and forth, you are obviously disadvantaging the speaker that is not occupying its optimal sweet spot in the listening space.

Just my 2c.

I would setup the two pair of speakers with each set on opposite ends of a symmetrical room, spending about 30 minutes (or more or less, depending on how quickly you either clearly liked or disliked a speaker) a couple of times with each speaker before picking a winner to advance to the next "round of competition." The listener would only have to spin his chair around and possibly adjust his listening distance a bit.

You need to spend at least 20-30 minutes before making a change. You can't do it track by track, you need to let your ears accommodate to each speaker and possible volume differences, although you should have them pretty equal. It's also hard to jump back and forth any way you do it because the speaker sensitivities and their volumes are always different.

[Kippyy]

Originally Posted by Cellindo

Guys, I have a close friend who owns new Vivid G2 and I live with Sasha for more than two years.

Despite the room and electronic differences I'm almost certain the G2 are a bit more transparent and also significantly smoother than the Sasha.
For now I prefer the PRAT and bass on the Wilson but for all other aspects the Vivid win by a small margin.

However a move from Sasha to G2 would not be justified money wise. Moreover the Vivid G2's with their bass units on the side 'panels' almost impose no electronic equipment (or very little) positionned between the speakers. This is a significant placement constraint one should not forget....
Anyway thumb-up for the Vivid G2 who is a truly spectacular speaker.

Don't know yet the Alexia. ;-)

Cellindo,
I appreciate your observations. I assume you feel that the Sashas and the Giya G2's are very similar, and that spending the additional $ to change from Sashas to the G2 is not worth the audible differences.
I do have a rack with gear between the speakers, and had not considered the impact of the on-the-side bass enclosures of the Giya on sonics. That being said, I do recall seeing Giyas demonstrated with gear between them.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

Side by side is the only way. Any other way introduces more variables and auditory memory isn't very good, so side by side is it. Don't do separate auditions. Do two sets at a time, the winner goes to the next round of auditions.

I agree with Gary in general. As others note it is difficult to insure that when you compare them side by side that one or the others is not sitting in the ideal location. That said once you identify your preferred speaker then you should get it into your room if at all possible. You might have to offer to cover some charges if you decide not to purchase them once you audition them in your home, but that is the only way you will know what they really sound like.