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Listening Through Walls at Show: Vodoo or Valid?

My girlfriend and I visited the NY show on Sunday.

Although I enjoyed it nonetheless, I found it a bit crowded and the rooms a bit cramped to really settle into any particular demo for a relaxed listening session.

This led to a very weird observation: although I am normally opposed to A/B comparisons and snap judgements, thinking that only longer term listening sessions really reveal the subtleties of our hobby, I found myself making judgements about the systems from OUTSIDE the rooms, sometimes standing in the hallways through only a crack in the door or even walking past closed doors.

Pacing down the corridors we felt compelled to enter some and avoid others. My girlfriend is not an audiophile but she is really interested in music and would often say "too bright" before we would even completely enter a room. (This was not about the music, especially as 9 out of 10 demos seemed to be Patricia Barber anyway.)She particularly ran out of the Phillips? home theatre room and also shied away from the pipedreams system.

Two rooms that we liked were the Dynaudio room and the Wilson set up (Innovative Audio?) which both sounded great to our ears from outside AND inside the room -- with different music and with the Dynaudio room actually having us wonder "is it live?" -- here again from down the hall!

Obviously this might not be the most intelligent way to make pricey decisions on purchasing new components but it was quite a surprise to think about and reflect on.

For the record, I didn't have 6 bloody marys at breakfast or anything.

I would be curious to hear what others have had similar experiences or think of this test methodology?!?!?! Maybe there is something to it!
cwlondon

Showing 2 responses by drubin

drubin
3,285 posts
 
At one point I was walking down the corridor on the second floor and thought I was certainly hearing live music. Turned out it was the Wilson room. The sound was indeed good in that room and if it fooled me from down the hall, they must be doing something right. But I wonder if the main factor in explaining the illusion was SPLs. That system was cranked (although it handled the volume nicely).

I found a majority of rooms were playing louder than I normally listen at home and, well, just too loud, sometimes way too loud. Are exhibitors using volume to mask poor sound?
drubin
3,285 posts
 
I would add that Duke (Audiokinesis) is, to my mind, as credible and rational a voice as there is on Audiogon.
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