How to evaluate speakers?

You have to do a lot of listening, that is the only way to tell. Try some of the following recordings for some very specific evaluations:

1. Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" on the "Time Out" album. At about 2:45 into the recording there is an extended drum solo. If reproduced correctly, there should be a lot of air around those drums, cymbals, and sticks. Also, the drum solo has the pace of a machine gun attack.

2. Elvis Presley's "Kentucky Rain" on the "From Elvis in Memphis" album. The desperation in Elvis' voice, the stark bits of silence, the tension in the air should all be audible and convincing.

3. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington's "Duke's Place" on "The Summit" album. The piano is clear, razor sharp, and all so crisp.

4. Coldplay's "Politik" on the "A Rush of Blood to the Head" album. The thumping sound created by the piano stomping during both the song's opening and closing should be very musical in its presentation.

I am sure that you have other examples, but also pick out some music that has a lot of range and variety to it, and see which speaker is the less fatiguing to you. Listenability over time is the real test.

Regards, Rich

See if this helps http://home.att.net/~chimeraone/audiotestgraph1.html

Dave

Two sugggestions:
Pay particular attention to the piano passages on the music you've chosen. I believe piano tones (decay etc) is very difficult to reproduce accurately.
Listen to on set of speakers for an extended period of time (maybe 4-5 straight hours) to get a feel for the sound and see if listening fatigue sets in. Then do the same with the other pair, you don't necessarily have to listen to identical music, just something similar.
It's so difficult when we're changing out speakers after a couple of songs over and over again.