Live-versus-reproduced demos were contrived marketing that masked genuine loudspeaker flaws.

Evidence

In spite of the trustworthy impressions given by these exhibitions, they were, in fact, contrived marketing exercises. Not everyone was persuaded that those loudspeakers were good enough, but many people were. Loudspeakers that were criticized in properly conducted listening tests in small rooms using commercial recordings were judged to sound fine when evaluated against live instruments in public comparisons. See Figure 1.3(b) for measurements on the loudspeakers used in the Villchur demonstrations—it was seriously criticized in the author’s first blind listening tests in 1965–1966. Are we now wiser, more aurally acute, and less likely to be taken in by a good demonstration? What really matters is how commercial recordings sound in small rooms, and that is not what was demonstrated. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 399

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly extends the channel’s interest in how demonstration contexts flatter or distort true performance—parallels the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ pattern of marketing theater trumping substance across history.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: whether contemporary high-end audio demos (showrooms, trade shows) still exploit the same contrived-settings effect today.