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I've been wondering about this for a while now. Many of you probably have read the results of the test organised by John Schuermann - comparing the Revel Salon2 vs the JBL M2, which is what first made me wonder about this.
Both of these loudspeakers are what can be considered excellent loudspeakers from an objective point of view, according to the comprehensive anechoic data available on both.
Yet in the blind test, the Salon2 was widely preferred across the board. It may be worth noting that while the difference in overall score was not extremely large - the Salon2 did take the lead on nearly all of the tracks played.
Reading through F. Toole's book it is stated that not treating the early lateral reflections is often preferred for loudspeakers with good (neutral) off-axis behaviour, and that the reason for this is because of the basic limitations of stereo reproduction. It helps with envelopment.
This makes me wonder if we can further conclude that this effect would only get exaggerated under mono circumstances - meaning that loudspeakers that have neutral off-axis behavior, but wider dispersion (stronger lateral reflections) would always have the upper hand compared to loudspeakers that are equally neutral, but have a more controlled dispersion pattern. Reading the comments from the participants it seems that the Salon2 'disppeared' more and 'imaged better' despite being played in mono.
Floyd Toole's comments said he felt it was statistical tie - he knows what the measurements look like. Yet in practice, one was preferred. So, for equally good (objectively speaking) loudspeakers, have we reached a point where mono testing has a certain bias installed?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Both of these loudspeakers are what can be considered excellent loudspeakers from an objective point of view, according to the comprehensive anechoic data available on both.
Yet in the blind test, the Salon2 was widely preferred across the board. It may be worth noting that while the difference in overall score was not extremely large - the Salon2 did take the lead on nearly all of the tracks played.
Reading through F. Toole's book it is stated that not treating the early lateral reflections is often preferred for loudspeakers with good (neutral) off-axis behaviour, and that the reason for this is because of the basic limitations of stereo reproduction. It helps with envelopment.
This makes me wonder if we can further conclude that this effect would only get exaggerated under mono circumstances - meaning that loudspeakers that have neutral off-axis behavior, but wider dispersion (stronger lateral reflections) would always have the upper hand compared to loudspeakers that are equally neutral, but have a more controlled dispersion pattern. Reading the comments from the participants it seems that the Salon2 'disppeared' more and 'imaged better' despite being played in mono.
Floyd Toole's comments said he felt it was statistical tie - he knows what the measurements look like. Yet in practice, one was preferred. So, for equally good (objectively speaking) loudspeakers, have we reached a point where mono testing has a certain bias installed?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.