Thx jj228 for the response. Would have thought there would be more interest in this topic. Agree with your selections
Music to take to an audition
I’ll never forget hearing flagship Infinity speakers in Alaska in the late 70’s. That experience put me on a path that I have been traveling on ever since. To this day, I remember the music they played at the time.....Toccata from Mannheim Steamroller’s Fresh Aire III album. That quickly became a yardstick for me and I still listen to that same Fresh Aire track when I evaluate new equipment.
It is important to have a fairly small set of diverse music selections you are very familiar with and have hopefully been able to hear on the best of systems. The music should not just be challenging to the equipment and listening room but also something you enjoy listening to.
I would be interested in what other people use to evaluate prospective components and why. Here are a few of my selections:
America-America-Donkey Jaw. (Great acoustic guitar, dynamics and holographic soundstage)
Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire III Toccata (Great recording, deep base notes with synth highs floating above)
Graham Parker-Another Grey Area-You Hit The Spot (Tight clean base control, holographic soundstage, nothing beats Graham Parker rhythm)
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture on Telarc (A challenging recording for every piece of equipment in the chain, particularly the analog front end. Watch out for the cannon blasts!)
Badfinger-Straight Up-Baby Blue. (If you can get this right say no more)
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Consider a couple recordings you know really well but are nothing special, even bad. You want to hear how the system deals with them. Another somewhat odd piece of advice is to not spend all the time listening paying close attention. Pull out a magazine article or do something else while you listen. This is not a substitute for close listening, but the way something sounds includes less-than-intense-focusing, too. |
Caution: I have had high end dealers pre-adjust tone controls to make something sound impressive in their space. Ask, check the preamp/tone controls before starting. 1. Listen to their best Demo CDs. CD’s, not LP’s. You don’t know if the TT system/cartridge alignment/anti-skate is properly done, so eliminate that potential problem. Something great might not sound great. BTW, having both CD and LP versions of these at home is a great way to refine your system’s balance, then knowing the CD’s separation, make final cartridge/tonearm/anti-skate adjustments, then compare CD to LP. 2. Separation: 3 guitarists playing together, side 2, tracks 2 and 3. And, the subtle differences of the guitar type/string type variations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_in_San_Francisco 3. Specific Voices a. Casandra Wilson (including great musicians, lots of specific bass, and imaging). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Light_%27til_Dawn If her voice wanders off center as frequencies change, no no. b. Duet: Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, incredible even if not your music type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_More_Tears_(Enough_Is_Enough) hear/identify their individual and blended voices, are these great speakers or what? c. Richard Burton’s voice, and a whole hellofalot of sound effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne%27s_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds d. Annie Lennox, Eurythmics, and Dave Stewart’s electronic manipulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Dreams_(Are_Made_of_This)_(album) |
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