You have to have some experience in order to judge a stereo
system quality, so it's important to be patient and to
plan to
spend several days for this mission.
It's difficult to describe with words how to judge music
quality, but there are several simple rules that can
be
use only as "first aid" to guide a listener.
1. We explained that every one of us have the natural
ability
to locate sources of noise. This ability
has nothing
to do with music quality and it's a "built
in" feature in our
hearing system.
So, while listening to a stereo system,
first thing we can look
for is the quality of "IMAGE". When the
system plays well,
first thing you notice is that it appears
like sounds don't come
from speakers but from the area around speakers
- it like you
hear the music from many speakers that are
spread all over
the wall in front of you.
2. You can identify each instrument when a difficult piece
of
music is played. One way to do it is to
pick out one
instrument and to follow it when music is
played.
3. Easy ability to follow words when singers are singing.
4. The ability of the stereo system to follow quick changes
in
music volume without affecting music quality.
5. The timing and match with the instruments and singers.
A poor stereo system can make an excellent
recording
of high quality orchestra sound like a group
of people
who are playing with no connection between
them.
6. The most important thing, is to be able to listen to
the music
for an hour or more, if you become nervous
after several minutes
of listening, something is wrong with the
system you are listening too.