Could you identify your system/ speakers in a blind test?

[Pearljam5000]

I'm pretty sure I can know what speakers I'm listening to by their sound without seeing them.
Can you do the same with your system/speakers?

 

[DVDdoug]

Yes, at least in my living room. In a different room/space, possibly not.

As a generalization, all speakers & headphones sound different. All good electronics sound the same unless overdriven into clipping/distortion (and ignoring EQ/tone controls, or other intentional processing).


.. But I've never done a blind test. And I can't say there are NO speakers in the world that sound like mine.

 

[Oddball]

I would guess no as there are 18 of them. So something in similar class and tuned in similarly could end up sounding similar. I could probably tell if there was different tuning to the system or substantially lower quality speakers, as something would be "off".

I am confident that I could distinguish my Klipsch HT vs the reference one with very high level of confidence.

 

[xaviescacs]

I've actually tried this in a different room, at a friend's house. A bigger and rectangular untreated room, while mine is smaller, asymmetric and with mild treatment. The sound was completely different, didn't sound like a pair of 8030C but much worse actually.

 

[Somafunk]

Yep no bother, even with my spms and numb fingers I could tell what they were if blindfolded.

If we are talking audio.......I seriously doubt I could tell if the levels were matched/tweeter height/similar PEQ applied for my room etc, I'd give myself a 10% chance at most of correctly identifying them, I am well aware of my non existent golden ears

 

[kemmler3D]

There are conditions where I could tell my speakers apart from other speakers, and conditions where I could not. I think the question isn't specific enough.

Can I tell a 2.2 monitor system from a Bluetooth speaker? Yes, under probably all conditions.

Can I tell my LS60s from LS50 metas + subs if we're only listening to solo jazz piano? The odds are against me.

 

[MattHooper]

There are conditions where I could tell my speakers apart from other speakers, and conditions where I could not. I think the question isn't specific enough.

I figure the same here. I’m sure I could identify my system versus any number of other systems, but some others might be close enough that it would become a challenge.

 

[wadude]

Not the electronics, but maybe the speaks. Decades ago while visiting a hifi shop I was able to listen to a pair of Wharfedales from the early '70s that would have been competition to the Advents of the time; large three way bookshelfs with the purple tweeters, and could immediately tell that the mids were more present in comparison. Much more separation between the instruments, etc. It was easy to hear the difference without AB-ing.

 

[Robbo99999]

I'm pretty sure I can know what speakers I'm listening to by their sound without seeing them.
Can you do the same with your system/speakers?

I'd stand a better chance identifying my headphones along with the EQ's I use on each of them. First off obviously I'll recognise how they feel on my head, but might be able to do it through sound cues on the tracks I know. As for recognising your speakers, what does that mean? Are you talking if someone brought in some different speakers into your room and switched them and then you would know they were not yours & then if they replaced them back with yours then you'd be able to recognise - well that could be easy if there's big differences between the speakers, and would be harder if they're more similar models & frequency responses. You'd also have to think about what to do about roomEQ on all of them or none of them. Does it really matter if you could identify your own speakers or not - well it would if you've spent a lot of money & time on them and think they're brilliant! What would really hurt is if you thought some other ones were better that were simpler & better value or perhaps a different scenario where they measured a hell of a lot worse and you still liked them better than yours (not that I would expect that)! Ha, it's all so hypothetical though, does it matter.

 

[mhardy6647]

Totally depends on what they're being compared to.

 

[RayDunzl]

Could you identify your system/ speakers in a blind test?

I have MartinLogan reQuest and JBL LSR 308 adjacent to each other.

JBLs are the "daily drivers" for low electric/heat vs the baby Krell monolocks on the ML.

If I've been messing with both and forget which is running and I'm at my desk I can't be sure which are playing at moderate levels.

With volume, the little JBL can audibly distort.

In the sweet spot the 'stats presentation (low room reflections) is much more to my liking.

So, yes and no.

I don't anticipate having the opportinity to do any further tests.

 

[Curvature]

My system is neutral. The only signatures are flaws, like a blur around 1kHz because of reflections and slightly uneven bass. I couldn't pick it out of a crowd otherwise.

 

[Multicore]

no

 

[MAB]

No.
Neither could customers in the store I worked at if multiple speakers were set up together. Salespeople couldn't either. It was important to know what you were doing, especially in the switch room, to not make a fool out of yourself in front of customers. And to not fool the customers, who were uniformly convinced they had ears that could keep track of all of these differences.

 

[Mart68]

No.
Neither could customers in the store I worked at if multiple speakers were set up together. Salespeople couldn't either. It was important to know what you were doing, especially in the switch room, to not make a fool out of yourself in front of customers. And to not fool the customers, who were uniformly convinced they had ears that could keep track of all of these differences.

Yes. I've found that unless there's a big disparity in bass response it's worryingly difficult to tell good speakers apart.

I was told that in the Hi-Fi Choice loudspeaker blind tests, many mistook the towers for the bookshelves and vice versa. Also the reps sometimes could not identify the speaker they were selling.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Are you asking if I could walk into a room where my speakers had been set up without my knowledge and I was asked to listen blind and then to state whether or not they were my speakers? Or are you asking if I could ID my speakers when compared side by side in my room with some other set of speakers that had just been plunked down next to them without any prep for the comparison? Or, are you asking if I could ID my speakers in a proper blind comparison with another roughly similar set that had also been "tuned" to the room like mine have?

I'll answer the 3 options in order.

1 - Perhaps, but it would be a guess.
2 - maybe. It would depend how different the speakers were I suppose.
3 - Probably not.