Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Hearing Things A six month long test of an Axiom Tower vs. ???

Chess - I will swing by Best Buy and grab a couple of them!

We need more dorks.

Given the size of those speakers, it's not clear exactly where the parentheses should go in your second sentence...

huge (vintage stereophiles) ?

(huge vintage) stereophiles ?

The beauty about what you guys built is it is waaay faster than a normal switch, and cant accidentally short something out if you are doing amp comparisons. A normal speaker selector switch used for an amp comparison would be hazardous to equipment unless the user was really focused on turning all off between cycles and turning the other on. That box would be a neat project.

I should have been more clear ... it is the subwoofers I want to get at Best Buy, not the switch box.

One thing I have noticed with groups of 4 or more in a listening session is the "AB" instant switching tends to annoy most of the people in the test.

We all want to be able to control when the switch is made. John will just be getting into a feel for speaker "A", and Norm, the guy with the control switches speakers, leaving John hanging.

I ran this idea past Ian yesterday - it's the type of blind test we have done at the last few GTG's - you listen to a bunch of tracks for about an hour on "A", then everyone leaves, speakers are switched, and the same thing is done with "B".

The participants take 5 minutes to write notes between the switch.

Yes, you lose the instant back and forth, but you gain a more realistic listening session. You also gain the ability for the listeners to move around - check how well both speakers did off axis ... closer to the front, further back ... etc ...

I wrote that with a few beers in me.
Let's rephrase.

Yes, these {speakers} are real, built and owned by a friend of a friend. Both {lads} are huge {long time, enthusiastic, dedicated} vintage stereophiles.

Phew.
Just about broke my thesaurus there.

I think my buddy has the electrical specs diagram written down somewhere if you want it. I'm fairly sure he sent it to me once.

The A/B switching, especially when done quickly, instantaneously, is definitely more of a solo activity. However, you could have a short segment where you tell everyone that the switch will be toggled every 5 seconds for 1 minute (a total of 12 toggles), a fairly short test. If people focus on specific musicals tones (bass, treble, voices, etc.) after every 3 switches, they can get a more accurate observation of those specific things.
"Does X speaker immediately have more bass than Y?
Switch.
Listen again.
Switch.
Listen again.
Switch
Listen again.

Restart the same music piece.

Does X vocals sound brighter or muffled in comparison?"
Switch.
Listen again.
Switch.
Listen again.
Switch
Listen again.

The instantaneous method REALLY makes a huge difference in observing these variations between units and is much more similar to how Axiom has their setup as well, just that the Axiom switching unit isn't quite as quick a switch as the one i've used here.

This instantaneous switching is where level matching becomes very important because you can immediately notice if one speaker sounds louder than another. It also makes it easy to observe if the speakers are located on the right or the left which is why i suggest sitting a bit farther back (say 12' or more) and play the music in mono. This goes a long way to eliminating the left and right pull that can fool your ears into thinking it is a sound character difference vs. spatial location.
Again, this is why such a test is better done solo since having 12 guys located in different spots in the room would have that left vs. right issue the more off axis they were located, but it is worth trying in a group IMO, just for a very short period.
Reduces aggravation.
Hand out an extra beer before the test (or 'green chocolate' if you happen to live in Colorado).

Chess, I'll take you up on that for sure. If for nothing else than to learn something.

Craig, have you had the opportunity to hear any of the Martin Logan Dynamo subs?

Chess - I am familiar with this type of mono test - back in the late 70's, when I actually was employed full time selling audio equipment, this was how we evaluated speakers under consideration for the store. Those were fun times in audio ... beefy amps, great two channel sound ...

I have a feeling this GTG will be a lot "lighter" than that - but let's see what happens between now and November.

Adrian - I have not heard the Martin Logan subs. They do look interesting. It's likely I will be purchasing a pair of SVS PC-12 Plus subs to compare to a single EP-800.

The PC-12's are $300 less than the outlet price (A Stock) for the EP-800, but a $2180 package vs. a $2480 package seems pretty fair, especially considering the "higher WAF" of the $2480 package.

I might also grab a pair of Prime Towers. Between the M100's, M50's, Martin Logan ESL Hybrids and Prime Towers ... PLUS an EP800 / PC-12 plus pair, there will be plenty to keep me busy having fun.