Chess,

I'd love to have a true, blind A/B set-up to remove all the biases like you say.

I suppose if all I wanted to do was A/B tests between 3 speakers, I could use a standard 7.1 receiver and place it into 7-channel stereo mode, right?

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated