Brian -
Jim,
Your reply sounds as sensible as can be, but I'm wondering how much attention you would pay to what kind of electronics are feeding a pair of speakers, i.e. are the non-room-dependent attributes possibly gear-dependent in your mind (or can you evaluate whether a speaker is worth taking home for further auditioning pretty much regardless of what's powering it).
In short, for this type of analysis, source gear and room acoustics are not material. (But in my case, I am always listening with the same sets of source gear and the same rooms. In my shop, I have a Sqeezebox feeding a DEQX unit feeding a Bryston 4B. So I am very used to the sound (and room acoustics). At home I have all top-line AVA gear - DAC, pre and amp and am very much used to that sound. So I do have a benchmark to go by.)
The basic level of detail and transparency are pretty much going to be evident no matter what is driving the speaker and what room they are located in. I am not listening for overall quality here, just the general level of detail and transparency (and a few other performance attributes). For example, I also have a Panasonic DX45 digital amp laying around. While all three set-ups sound slightly different, the relative level of detail (or veiling) and transparency are very evident on all three set-ups.
Obviously, source equipment can make a difference. But this difference is dwarfed by the difference in speakers. For example, speaker frequency response is generally rated at +/- 3db. You wouldn't even consider source equipment rated within similar tolerances.
While the tonal balance of source gear is clearly audible, any source gear in any room will provide a pretty good idea of the detail and transparency of a given speaker design. In fact, listening to just the drivers themselves will give you a pretty good indication of the performance in these two areas that you will likely hear in a finished design.
There are other performance attirbutes that are not necessarily room or source equipment dependent. For example, bass extension is also an area that I would evaluate without regard to source equipment. In this case, I am only listening for the lowest frequencies the speaker will reproduce, not the quality of the resulting bass (which is highly room dependent). A speaker will exhibit a given level of bass extension regardless of room or source gear considerations (with the exception, pershaps, of an EQ unit).
I hope that makes sense.
- Jim