I don't think you need to spend hours or days comparing 2 sets of speakers in order to figure out which ones you prefer... what I do is I have 4 or 5 musical passages (from different musical genres that I frequently listen to) and that I chose for things like SQ, soundstage clarity, vocal / instrumental clarity, etc. and I play those and alternate between the 2 pairs of speakers. Most times, I have noticed differences / formed preferences within maybe the first 5 minutes or so of careful listening. I have also found that at least half the time the sonic difference between 2 different pairs of speakers is almost instantaneously obvious... then I just need to figure our which sonic presentation my ears prefer...
Maybe critical listening skills are bad?
In another thread about how to A/B compare speakers for a home I was thinking to myself, maybe the skills a reviewer may use to convey pros and cons of a speaker to readers is a bad skill to use when we evaluate hardware and gear?
I'm not against science, or nuance at all. I was just thinking to myself, do I really want to spend hours A/B testing and scoring a speaker system I want to live with?
I do not actually. I think listening for 2 days to a pair of speakers, and doing the same to another pair I need to focus first on what made me happy. Could I listen to them for hours? Was I drawn to spend more time with music or was I drawn to writing minutiae down?
And how much does precise imaging really do for my enjoyment by the way? I prefer to have a system that seems endless. As if I'm focusing my eyes across a valley than to have palpable lung sounds in my living room.
Anyway, just a thought that maybe we as consumers need to use a different skill set when buying than reviewers do when selling.