<font color='#000000'>I'm real skeptical about all this business of certain recievers going with certain speakers*. It is a matter of controversy, to say the least, and I'll get an argument here! In my opinion, you should give it little if any consideration. Even if it is true the effect is likely to be extremely subtle as I mentioned earlier.
You *are* undeniably correct that listening to different speakers in different rooms makes it hard to compare. I would say, nearly impossible, if we're talking basically good speakers (truly sucky ones will be easier to weed out with some experience). The listening room is as important as the speakers. Some say, with justification, that the room and speakers are in reality a single system! There's really no way to know you have THE speaker for you until you listen in your own room. And even then, if your room is too echo-ey or has a lot of bass "room boom" you'll need to experiment to find the best position for your speakers, and maybe do some interior decorating with an emphasis on correcting acoustics (see the articles on acoustics in Audioholics, and check out the threads under "speaker position and room acoustics" in the forum).
Really, shopping for speakers is like dating. You "audition" likely candidates in highly artificial settings, and only after spending time with them in everyday life do you discover their true strengths and weaknesses. And generally, it's easy to weed out the real jerks pretty quickly, even on a date. You, like the rest of us, will own many speakers before discovering the "type" that you can live with for a long time. The good thing is, it's not as messy as breakups, or divorce and remarriage! Can be just as expensive, though!
Come to think of it, I think it's why a lot of guys are audiophiles -- less risky than sex and extramarital affairs, but still a thrill! Hmmm...sounds like a good thesis subject for a psych PhD candidate! I can just hear Freud now, "Ja, ze pursuit of ze ultimate zpeaker iss in reality ze zublimated zexual drrrive..."
But enough of that! Happy dating...er, shopping!
*The techy reasons for my assertion: The amplifiers in all recievers all basically have flat frequency response (all the bass, midrange, and treble are in balance without any frequency being emphasised or suppressed), distortion and noise below or near the threshold of hearing, decent damping factor (mainly so the woofer will shut up after it goes "boom" and not continue to ring), and low output impedance. These are pretty much the only things you can hear from an amp, and the only things your speakers will respond to. Nearly all modern amps do those jobs well, including the one in your Marantz. 30 or 40 years ago you couldn't take this for granted but now you can, except maybe for the very cheapest gear. Ain't technology grand?</font>