Loudspeaker evaluation requires mono, while enjoyment happens in multichannel

Evidence

This is a disruptive observation in that it implies that the acoustical contributions of the listening room are diminished during multichannel activity. A spacious multichannel recording contributes greatly to the pleasure of listening, and in the process, it appears to exercise significant influence on what we are able to discern about the playback loudspeakers, the room, and very likely aspects of the program itself. Only in hard-panned, monophonic, components are our critical abilities restored. This is why it is necessary to evaluate loudspeakers in mono comparson tests, and enjoy them in stereo and multichannel systems. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1426

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s goal of linking models to real applications — this is a practical methodological consequence of the psychoacoustic masking mechanism.