NoAudiophile.com Review Scoring System

These are the guidelines I use to rate speakers. Some are based on objective data, most are my subjective interpretations of the performance. Putting numbers to subjective data does not make it objective. Keep in mind that these numbers represent my opinion. You will notice that unlike other reviewers, I don't grade on a curve for cost. If something is bad it gets a low score, and if it is good it gets a high score.

No excuses accepted.

Build Quality

Tweeter Quality

0 - Massive diffuser small dome made of plastic
10 - Large ribbon, magnesium dome, other god like objects

Woofer Quality

0 - Plastic or stamped steel frame, cloth surround, undersized magnet, visible tinsel leads on the front of a cone, high FS, capable of 100Hz or less.
10 - Cast Aluminum, exotic metals or absurd paper products, oversized neodymium magnets, Low FS, a piece of art sculpted out of low distortion bliss.

Cabinet Quality

0 - Paper thin rattle trap
10 - 2 inch thick Aluminum with the weight of a collapsed star

Features/Size

0 - Does not have features listed in sales material and broken
4 - Little large
5 - Average size
6 - Smaller than normal, multiple inputs, volume control
7 - Remote
10 - Wireless mind reading multiple input switching with remote and computer interface for dsp control

Crossover Quality

0 - No crossover
1 - 1 cap on the crossover
2 - Cap and coil first order crossover
3 - 2nd order on woofer, first on tweeter
4 - 2nd order crossover on woofer and tweeter, no resistors for level matching
5 - Functional 2nd order crossover, or DSP equivalent.
6 - Functional and some nicer parts
7 - Functional with a Fancy cap, or presentation.
8 - Functional with mostly Exotic parts.
9 - MiniDSP equivalent PEQ filter based driver correction and 48db slopes.
10 - Digital time aligned DSP driver correction with FIR filters and 96db linear phase slopes.

Amp Quality

0 - Poor soldering, missing parts, no fuse, fire hazard.
10 - Toroidal transformer, Class A, multiple output transistors per channel, heat sinks the size of small cars, hand crafted by gnomes and soldered with exotic wire made from the tears of environmentalists.

Subwoofer Quality

0 - Rattle trap, junk driver and junk box.
10 - Overbuilt box, and a driver that will cause seismic readings and damage to structures in a 2 mile radius.

Sound Quality

Neutrality

0 - +-7dB+
1 - +-6dB
2 - +-5dB
3 - +-4dB
4 - +-3.5dB
5 - +-3dB
6 - +-2.5dB
7 - +-2dB
8 - +-1.5dB
9 - +-1dB
10 - +-0.5dB

Bass Reproduction

0 - Chuffing and distortion with hump in response and rattles at all volumes
10 - 20 Hz flat at 120dB and no audible distortion

Bass Extension

0 - 100Hz flat
1 - 90Hz Flat
2 - 80Hz Flat
3 - 70Hz Flat
4 - 60Hz Flat
5 - 50Hz flat
6 - 40Hz flat
7 - 35Hz Flat
8 - 30Hz flat
9 - 25Hz flat
10 - 20Hz flat

Treble Reproduction

0 - Audible cone breakup from woofer, rising response, and poor dispersion
10 - Controlled dispersion, low distortion sound, and no interference from woofer

Midrange Reproduction

0 - Comb filtering, missed crossover points, humps in response, distortion
10 - Smooth, flat, low distortion, plays loud without straining ears

Headroom

0 - distortion above a whisper
1 - 75db
2 - 80db
3 - 85db
4 - 90dB
5 - 95db
6 - 100db
7 - 105db
8 - 110db
9 - 115db
10 - 120dB without distortion or compression

Dispersion

0 - Comb filtering, weird lobe patterns, uneven tone, cancelation of bass from port or subwoofer
10 - Exceeds at design goal of speaker - Super wide and narrow for a large ribbon, constant directivity for a large horn, etc.

Detail

0 - Muddy sound that has missing parts
10 - Clean black sound with more detail, without a rising response or too much treble

Imaging

0 - Wrong sounds coming from wrong drivers, hump in midrange, cancelation issues
4 - Recessed or forward imaging.
5 - Everything works as expected.
8 - Easy placement to couple with room and produce a large detailed image.
10 - God himself can be summoned at will.