I ask because in my experience short-term comparisons and/or evaluations using a limited range of program material may not give you a substantive enough base on which to make a judgment that holds up over the long pull.
In the shootout environment it's easy to get hooked by a particular aspect of a component's performance (e.g., bass slam, lush midrange, shimmering highs) and overlook its overall strengths and weaknesses. A three-amplifier comparison is trickier than two under any circumstances, and when you compound that difficulty by auditioning on two sets of speakers, thereby adding another set of variables to your evaluation equation, you may wind up leaving yourself more confused than anything. Compound it further with a narrow range of program material, and--well, you get the idea.
I'm not saying that a shootout wouldn't be fun, or perhaps even instructive in some respects. But I'd be wary about reaching conclusions that commit you to a piece of equipment you might decide to off next month because you discover during a concentrated listening session two weeks from now that the shootout's "winner" really doesn't do that well in an aspect of performance that the complexity and timeframe of the shootout environment didn't allow you to explore in the depth it deserved.
FWIW.
Jim
http://www.geocities.com/jimtranr/index.html
