Perceived Sound Quality of Small Original and Optimized Loudspeaker Systems

The perceived sound quality of small loudspeaker systems with and without digital optimization was empirically evaluated in a listening experiment. Further, the influence on the results of the presentation order of the two versions was investigated, as well as a self-evaluation of potential use for variance reduction. The systems were optimized by means of FIR filters. The two versions of each loudspeaker system were rated in a paired comparison test for music stimuli. For the purpose of analysis a linear gaussian model was applied, resulting in an interval scale revealing interesting information about certainty and discrimination ability of the subjects. The test investigated whether linear precompensation of rather cheap systems results in a significant improvement of the perceived audio quality in a typical listening situation. The results indicated a significant preference for the optimized version and a significant dependency on the presentation order was detected. The self-evaluation was found to be uncorrelated to the test results.