Something for Everyone in Super High Fidelity


Like a missionary in the jungle, I continue to practice my usual high end evangelism with non audiophile friends, rarely finding the eager disciple.

Despite warnings of this peculiar audiophile habit in many other threads, I must admit I am often tempted to play something that sounds good, only to be reminded that music which people don't like (not to mention straight percussion or steam trains) probably wont inspire them to upgrade their stereo system.

On the other hand, we all know that deferring to a friends musical taste for a demo will immediately locate the screechiest, worst sounding recording in your collection.

Bearing this in mind (and maybe some of you have already done this) 1) what COLLECTION of well recorded tracks, 2) across genres of music, would you 3) put on a compliation CD or "rip" into WAV files to accomodate the widest musical tastes of future audiophiles?

Some classical? Jazz? Rock? Soundtracks?

Each of these genres have been discussed in other threads, but what tracks would you include to capture the widest possible audience as an audio missionary?

Thanks for ideas.
cwlondon
Several that came to mind:

Ray, Aimee Mann
Patanga, Trace Bundy
Gloria, U2
Skating, Vince Giraldi Trio
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey), De La Soul
Clampdown, The Clash
Theme from Jaws
Ain't Nobody, Chaka Khan
Bolero, Maurice Ravel
Blue Monday, New Order
Cabaret, Liza Minelli
Take Five, Dave Brubeck
As an audiophile with a pretty good system, I will admit that I like to listen to rap on my own system. I also listen to electronic, classical, classic rock, rock, bluegrass, Norah/Allison/etc..., pop (for lack of a better descriptor), latin, southern rock, blues, jam bands, funk, jazz and others that defy category. I am 23. I believe your system should sound good with all types of music, unless you can have more than one system to handle different types of music. Because my own tastes are so varied it is hard to recommend something for auditioning for everyone. My suggestion is therefore a CD that they are familiar with. Then they can hear the difference.
R
Dire Straits B.I.A., Pink Floyd DSOTM, Steely Dan Aja, Holst the Planets, Willie Nelson Stardust, Telarc Bond and Beyond.
Gammajo and others

It would be very helpful to know at least the particular tracks and in some cases the exact recording.

I like Led Zeppelin and so do many of my friends. But I wouldnt know where to start on tracks or recordings for a good demo - much of it sounds harsh and compressed to me.

Sogood 51 Re Chris Isaak - very good suggestion. Baby Did a Bad Thing is a great demo track - good bass, atmospheric and even a little spooky imaging too - while easily recognizable to non audiophiles.
female -sade,stevie nicks,
rock- boston, hendrix
jazz- billy cobham, freddie hubbard, ronnie laws
soundtrack -rocky gonna fly now, boogie nights
classical mid -summers night dream
country-charlie daniels band, waylon jennings