Sorry for the clickbait-y title. It was done tongue in cheek. Obviously, the answer is generally "a lot".
But, I am wondering about a specific situation...
Say that you have a well-treated listening room, an existing "2.2" system, and either already use some software solution, minidsp+dirac live, or trinnov for sub integration and correction....
And, you're generally happy but considering a speaker upgrade (mains/satellites only) partially to solve a specific problem and partially because "it feels like time".
Now consider that 2 specific speakers are kind of bubbling to the top of your research, at different price points (say, one is double the price of the other), both well-regarded...but only one of them has been thoroughly measured and you can't find a spinorama for the other. You're confident they're both good...but not directly comparable via measurements and not both available to demo at the same place, and subjective impressions of both are all over the map.
Short of ordering both and going back and forth (which is always a headache)....
Any thoughts?
But, I am wondering about a specific situation...
Say that you have a well-treated listening room, an existing "2.2" system, and either already use some software solution, minidsp+dirac live, or trinnov for sub integration and correction....
And, you're generally happy but considering a speaker upgrade (mains/satellites only) partially to solve a specific problem and partially because "it feels like time".
Now consider that 2 specific speakers are kind of bubbling to the top of your research, at different price points (say, one is double the price of the other), both well-regarded...but only one of them has been thoroughly measured and you can't find a spinorama for the other. You're confident they're both good...but not directly comparable via measurements and not both available to demo at the same place, and subjective impressions of both are all over the map.
Short of ordering both and going back and forth (which is always a headache)....
- How would you go about comparing?
- Is it reasonable to rely on the correction to even-out probably minor "defects" in one?
- What else might make the decision for you?
Any thoughts?