The speech perception of two multiple‐channel cochlear implant patients was compared with that of three normally hearing listeners using an acoustic model of the implant for 22 different speech tests. The tests used included a minimal auditory capabilities battery, both closed‐set and open‐set word and sentence tests, speech tracking and a 12‐consonant confusion study using nonsense syllables. The acoustic model represented electrical current pulses by bursts of noise and the effects of different electrodes were represented by using bandpass filters with different center frequencies. All subjects used a speech processor that coded the fundamental voicing frequency of speech as a pulse rate and the second formant frequency of speech as the electrode position in the cochlea, or the center frequency of the bandpass filter. Very good agreement was found for the two groups of subjects, indicating that the acoustic model is a useful tool for the development and evaluation of alternative cochlear implant speech processing strategies.