Crutchfield's Speaker Compare

Nobody ever said this is the same as auditioning speakers at home, not even Crutchfield said that. In fact, they state that this is not like audition speakers yourself. Take it as it is, which is a good way to compare speaker sound characteristics. It works well for that. For instance, it really helped me to see how soft the Elac UB5 sound compared to the Klipsch 600, and how much bass the KEF Q350 have compared to the Definitive technology D11. It's a great tool IMO. It also helped me to compared how the speakers I have at home compare to others. it's a comparison...a relative comparison. As simple as that.   

"auditioned" watching ... YouTube videos.  Lo and behold, they sound as expected.

So said the Fuze and Wall Sticky king... 

Confirmation bias anyone?

Right or wrong, I think this highlights a situation we all face. Speaker comparisons. Especially as you move toward the higher end. I was in the market for some good audiophile speakers. I bought Revel Salon 2's and I am very happy with them. But I was also very intrigued with the Legacy Aeris and Focal's. All very different speakers however, locations were not close to home. 

@cedargrover. There is quite a bit of science and technology behind this online tool. I would not call it a parlor trick. That’s why they have PhD’s working on it. What you call filters are actually models. They take a lot of measurements from the speaker playing different music in an anechoic room and put that empirical data into a model that mimic the sound of a particular speaker, and adjusted to your headphones. I would not call that silly at all. I think it’s brilliant just for that. Now, is it the same as auditioning speakers at home? Not at all. However, those folks who cannot audition speakers in person or don’t know where to start when it comes to speaker sound signatures, this is IMO a great starting tool. My two cents.

As most people with PhDs will tell you, having PhDs involved is no defense!!

They are attempting to apply the speaker's transfer function to the audio sample.  Call applying that transfer function something other than a "filter" if you like.   And how did they arrive at that transfer function? What domains does it encompass?  

Is it cool?  Sure it is.  Parlor tricks always are.  (Kidding with you!)  In my view, there is too much room for error for it to be useful for its intended purpose, but I can appreciate and respect that you see it differently.  I think we can all live in a world where we don't agree about the efficacy of the Crutchfield Speaker Comparison Tool!  :)