Stupid speaker test question...please help a n00b

oh and PS...I would go by my ear but it is so difficult to tell A/B type comparisons. also hearing one place vs hearing it at home...different sources...etc...

Spartanmorning, One reason is that few manufacturers who use more expensive underhanged speakers would have clear advantage. No incentive for everybody else who is using overhang drivers to publish distortion. The other reason is that speaker distortion is not only performance at particular frequency and sound level but also at complex signal (music). Non-linear membrane action and membrane bending at higher frequencies creates intermodulation distortions. Speaker also has different phase shifts at different frequencies and presents complex load to amplifier that is difficult to measure. Specifying distortion at particular sound level and particular frequency driven by some perfect lab gear would not make much sense. There are few people on this forum who know speakers much better (design them for living) and I hope they will comment on this interesting thread.

Ears are less sensitive to distortion at lower frequencies. 5%? 10% I know it would look awful on a chart.
At higher frequencies ears are much better.

As for sensitivity being the sole measure needed? Well, I'd like to know if I were getting a speaker with high phase angles before popping for that good tube amp.
The dyns and va should be compared in optimum setups in the same room.
It is easy to have that much variation so that the speaker with better bass spec actually sounds thinner. Maybe the speaker is built to a higher 'Q' or there is an amp issue with speaker / amp not getting along at low frequencies where a high phase angle may play havoc with an amps ability to produce enough power. All sorts of other possibliities exist.

Now, I dont' know....how easy IS it to measure speaker distorion and how many flavors does it come in? Is time / phase coherence part of distortion?
Doing such measurements sounds like a legitmate use of an anachoic chamber and mega bucks worth of amp.

We are well beyond my knowledge level (obviously) but I have to say I find this field of 'hi-fi' quite frustrating. There seems to be so much misinformation and disinformation that obtaining any semblance of understanding would require a formal acoustics degree of some variety.

"I have to say I find this field of 'hi-fi' quite frustrating"

You're not alone. We are here to learn.