I am a newbie, non-audiophile comparing speakers and have a couple of questions I was curious about.
I have a pair of axiom M22 I was comparing with CSW M80 speakers. I have one pair on the "A" speaker connections and the other on the "B" with the receiver set to Stereo. When I switch from one to the other, the CSW are noticably louder, confirmed via an SPL meter, roughly 2 db. What technically accounts for that? Is that a measure of "sensitivity"? Looking at the specs, the Axiom is rated at 93 db with the CSW at 86 db. I don't quite know if "louder" is "better" though. The axiom do seem "clearer".
Next question, I was playing the Who's Next CD. A couple of the songs had introductions where a single instrument was playing (guitar, organ, etc,). I noticed the sound seem to originate from the opposite side as I switched speakers. E.g with the Axioms the guitar sound would appear to be coming from the left speaker, then after switching to the CSW, the sound appeared from the right side. Then when another instrument or vocal came in, they also appeared to be imaged a little differently. What accounts for that? the speakers were about equal distant apart and i was in the middle between them (like a triangle).
I anyone has any other tips on what I should look for when comparing speakers, I'd appreciate it.
thanks
