Soundstage...How to determine what's right?

I have the Chesky Ultimate Demonstration Disc as well as the Sheffield disc. I like the Shieffield disc for its 'walk about' cut, and its 'out of phase' cut but other than that it didn't impress me. It does have 'burn in' tracks some might like to use.

I didn't find the Chesky disc all that useful, especially compared to the Opus 3 disc's, which are much more varied and easier to 'understand'. But I did get the Opus 3's first and was thoroughly familar with them when I got the Chesky. And, I've got to admit that perhaps my system just wasn't up to the level where I could appreciate the benefits of the Chesky, a label I have been more disappointed by than impressed. FWIW - YMMV.

The LEDR demo on the Chesky provides a series of pulses that begin by going UP to help you find ceiling reflections that might be alleviated with absorption. Then OVER which starts 2 feet beyond the left speaker and describes an arc over the center stage and beyond the right speaker, then LATERAL from past the right front of the right speaker and ends at the left rear of the left and vice versa. You can find a more in depth discussion of the test in the December 1989 issue of Stereophile. Another track has Dave Chesky describing where on the stage he has placed his microphones, and a variety of locations on this stage from which he is speaking and striking his tamborine, so you can determine whether your system is recreating the info and/or whether you can hear it. Very easy to understand. The disc is available direct from Chesky for about $16.00, and perhaps for less on Amazon. I have often wished I wasn't so familiar with live music(acoustic and amplified). I'd have saved megabucks over the last 30 years. Yes- The pure musicality of tubes is addictive. Unfortunately the best are always the NOS ones from the 40's through the 60's, and BOY are the prices going up!!

(http://www.stereophile.com/features/772/index.html) Just to make it a bit easier: here's the URL for that article in Stereophile. They do a much better job of explaining the LEDR test. That disc also contains a left-right imaging test that extends beyond the speakers which a great many systems can't reproduce.

Rodman,
Thanks again. The link is helpful and the article gives a good intro to the disc. Will start with just one of the disc and see how far I get.
What about congestion? Over the last couple of days I have listened to more music than normal and heard some things that were a bit confusing. On some cd's I could place instruments and vocals front to back easily. Others it seemed that all the sound was on a single plane and from left to right. My guess is this was the recording. Still other disc seemed that all the sound was from one point and it was very difficult to differentiate one instrument location fron another(congestion?). Since it may be recording related are there recommended recordings with a lot of instruments playing at the same time that will serve as a reference? If this is addressed on the already mentioned test disc then which one?
Thanks again. Really appreciate the help.
Steve

Congestion is closely linked to a lack of dynamics. Live music is highly dynamic and there are all kind of peaks that stick out and act as cues to the ears about position and detail. Our hearing suffers from an effect called "masking" (a loud sound completely masks other sounds close by in frequency). Careful musical compositions and careful arrangements and careful recording techniques can allow you to hear the most from a recording despite your hearing limitation due to "masking". Of course none of this is much good if your speakers compress the sound or your amplifier clips. Harmonic distortion from tubes can really help bring out detail in a system that is dynamically limited. Essentially there are two ways to increase the perceived strength of a note....loudness/dynamics or by adding harmonics (makes the note sound fuller without making the peak amplitude louder). Recording engineers know this all to well and tubes are often used on vocal microphones and to process drums to get a fat or fuller kick drum sound (the richness of the harmonics increases the audibility without actually making it louder and risking breaking an average speaker). Analog tape compresses dynamics very well too. Anyone who plays an electric guitar knows about tubes and this is why guitar amps use tubes and have such a rich sound.

A very good example of a good recording with no congestion is Grace Jones "Slave to the Rhythm - hot blooded Mix". You can download this from iTunes. Another good example of a live recording is George Benson Weekend in LA "On Broadway". The George Benson recording has quite realistic drums and it will only shine if your system can be cranked and yet still produce the dynamic range in the music....otherwise it will tend to sound a bit thin at lower volume levels (remember a real unamplified drum set plays up to around 115 db SPL - enough to blow up most speakers or drive them to severe distortion - so it is no wonder that most music is heavily compressed for the capability of consumer systems). In the George Benson recording the drum set is close-miked as in funk music...this gives a very dynamic short drum sound that allows you to hear the bass guitar better (less masking)....classic jazz recordings use this technique also so you can hear the double bass whilst Rock tends to bury the bass guitar under a more fuller kick drum sound (rock being the more compressed or "congested" genre).

Another good example of creating a good tube full sound from a kick drum is ACDC "Back in Black" - this is very different from the George Benson recording mentioned above. ACDC Back in Black works extremely well on dynamically limited systems (car, most home stereo) as it has just enough compression to give it a nice punchy sound without stressing most systems.

I expect you can download all three tracks from iTunes and compare...contrary to popular audiophile belief you will not lose too much audio quality from an AAC 128 KBPS file. The tracks will still sound impressive and depending on which recording sounds best you will have an idea of the capability of your system...congested or not!

Anyway - it helps to understand how your hearing works and the recording techniques being used when evaluating a system. A system that consistently brings out new emphasis in one particuar area (compared to other systems) does NOT necessarily make it more resolving and it is NOT necessarily a good thing (no matter how pleasing). Look for clarity or increased distinction BETWEEN recordings....a system that shows greater the differences BETWEEN various recording techniques and instruments is likely a more resolving system. In this sense you are able to distinguish what the system does without being heavily influenced by an individual recording or "test CD", as unfortunately you can almost always find a track/CD that you prefer the sound of on a particular system...even ACDC may sound its best on your crap factory standard car speakers. This is why aiming for the most pleasing sound on a test CD is a bit of a minefield...a wide collection of diverse music is probably best.