HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SYSTEM IN LESS THAN 30 SECONDS


I am serious.  I work VERY hard to have the best system I can.  I have made many upgrades and am more than happy with my equipment.  I stream 100% of the time, mostly form Qobuz.  My digital front end is highly optimized.  But when I want my system to sound AMAZING?

 

I play Mark Knopfler or my favorite  Dire Straits.  Seriously.  It is recorded so exceptionally  well, and seems to have harmonics which just please the ear and soul.  I often think it sounds a bit 'tube like', as my system is all solid state.  There are just no offending sounds, and never sibilance.  I could list songs, but it would be easier to just list the one not to play ('Money for Nothing').

 

fastfreight

Six Blade Knife is great too. Great tune but really good for testing or showing off your systems lower end capabilities.

The self titled album is their best IMO and what a way to come out.

Wild West End is great too. When I moved back to England one of the first things on my list was to buy coffee at Angelucci’s. His grandson served me and I asked about the song. Mark asked permission to use it, but sadly they were not credited in anyway, but I’m guessing they still get traffic from it even today.

 

Although not everyone's cup of tea, I've always thought Wang Chung's albums had consistently good mastering. Their album "To Live And Die In LA" is one of my bench mark players when testing new gear.

Dire Straits does sound great.  I also like Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily and Tracy Chapman when I'm testing different components, etc. 

@rcm1203,

Why do you feel it necessary to write all your posts in bold script??

Brother's In Arms was the first CD I ever bought back in the 80's. It's funny, the album won some award for recording, the second CD I bought was Momentary Lapse of Reason, also won some award. I was listening to it last night and comparing the 2019 remix version with the original 1987 recording. I think the original sounds better, at least on my system - possibly because it's what I expect to hear. The re-mix seems a little more saturated in the upper midrange, which my B&W's are super efficient in reproducing. It was pretty cool listening session. I closed out the session with Dire Straits Private Investigation, love the dynamics and crisp recording.