Speaker evaluation the toughest of all!
I have to agree with Admin. on this speaker testing issue. Unfortunately with any electromechanical advice pure testing alone is not going to tell you how it sounds. In this aspect speakers are the worst of all. It is well nigh impossible to convey how a speaker sounds in words.
The fact is designing and building a speaker is that tricky combination of science, art and judgment.
In this highly technical world in which we live this tends to get people out of their comfort zone. As a critical care physician this is well within my comfort zone!
If you go to the B & W site you will see that they are very honest on this point, they do good design and measurement, but have to voice even their most expensive speakers after extensive listening tests.
I have been building speakers for over 50 years, and I can tell you that is true. Worse than that it takes several months of listening to get to know a speaker. The late John Wright of TDL, who I think produced some of the finest speakers of his generation, taught me that. Once he had a speaker good, he would not tinker with it until three or four months of listening had elapsed. This is how you progress from good to excellent.
I understand the members' problem. They want to buy speakers at heavy discount over the Internet, sight unseen. I'm sorry, but at the current state of the art it is just not possible to build an excellent system this way.
So the golden rules are.
Don't buy a speaker you have not heard.
Even if you have heard it, make sure you can return it at least within thirty days. Be warned however that even 30 days may not be enough for the speaker to reveal all it's vices to you.
When it comes to speakers there really is no substitute for a competent, understanding and accommodating local dealer. Unfortunately they are a dying breed, the big box and Internet retailers have done it for most of them.
Actually that allows unscrupulous speaker manufacturers to get away with murder, of the music anyway.