Craigsub:
Axiom set up the Buffalo depot to avoid all the hassle of customs forms, declarations, etc. for US customers returning Axiom speakers across the border to Canada.
If you do your listening comparisons with Joey, try starting off listening to just one speaker of each brand in mono. You can isolate differences in tonal balance very quickly and accurately. Set up the two different speakers fairly close to each other, but not so close that the enclosures would cause interference effects, equalize the output levels, conceal the identity, and switch back and forth. Then you can move on to the stereo tests.
One of the very real problems controlling stereo listening comparisons is the shift in the soundstage when you go from one pair to the other. Not only that, but just the different locations of the other stereo pair introduce variables than may cause you to choose one pair over another. We used rotating turntables at the NRC in Canada when we did stereo sessions. An assistant would rotate the second pair into exactly the same location in the room when we switched from one pair to the other.
What was surprising was that the relative rankings assigned to competing brands did not change from the mono to the stereo tests. All the scores rose a few points in stereo, but the rank order remained unchanged. I would expect the same would apply for tests of 5.1 channel surround systems.
In other words, an inferior inaccurate speaker remains that, whether you listen in mono, stereo or multichannel. Mono listening comparisons are a rigorous test of speaker accuracy and fidelity.
Regards,
