Why we publish the standard
Most manufacturers ask you to trust a demonstration room built to flatter their product, at a volume chosen to flatter their product, with a track chosen to flatter their product. APANI asks the opposite. Bring your own music. Use your own room. Match the levels. Change one variable at a time. Then decide.
If our loudspeakers are what we say they are, they do not need favourable conditions. They need fair ones.
What verification looks like in practice
Level matched comparisons, within a tenth of a decibel, so loudness never disguises itself as quality.
A fixed reference volume around 85 decibels, because human hearing itself is unreliable below that point.
A documented listening list, so every change in sound has a traceable cause.
An ABX protocol, for anyone who wants to test audibility itself, not just preference.
Printable worksheets, so a comparison produces a record, not just a memory.
The APANI position
The highest level of audiophile is not owning the right gear. It is owning your own judgment.
We would rather lose a sale to an honest test than win one on a story. That is the whole of what Dare to Compare means.
