What Are Your Reference Discs? or Specific Reference Tracks

I do find it interesting that several people have posted comments along the lines of..... I love this song but it is a poor recording (too bright or muffled or whatever) so if your system makes it sound OK then your system is working properly. I don’t follow. A good system IMHO should reveal a poor recording for what it is, not mask it’s faults. If a recording that really is too bright sounds OK isn't the system too dull?

Which leads me to the second thing I find interesting. How many people choose some recordings early on in their quest that perhaps aren’t really great recordings, and then tune their system to make those particular recordings sound good? Example.. They work at it until the bass on recording X sounds great, but how do you know that the bass on recording X is recorded all that well? Just because a reviewer declares it to be a great recording doesn’t make it so. Maybe it just happens to sound really good on his system

I may have missed something, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned any chamber music recordings.  I often listen to chamber music, and many systems which are really great on "big music" don't quite let you hear the wood in a pizzicato passage of a small ensemble.  When I go to listen to a system, I bring chamber pieces where texture really matters.  (Which is most chamber music, really, but for some works failure in this dimension really stands out.)  Schubert is good for this, especially the C major quintet, esp esp the 2nd movement.  Also the Eb major trio.  Also, Shostakovitch's violin and viola sonatas.  The problem with the viola sonata for this purpose is that it is in some ways painful, and so engrossing that even a mediocre system disappears and the music just takes over.  Maybe that's a criteria for reference recordings - if the purpose is to find a few pieces to listen to that display the qualities of a system you are listening to for the first time, or just for evaluation, you should choose music that is not too involving, of a genre that you listen to, but pieces you can stand away from a bit.  For showing off my own system, I just tell people to bring over what they like.  I learn more about its flaws that way.

The quick reference list is -
Steve earle guitar town,
Frank Sinatra swing easy,
Van Halen I,
Frank Zappa Apostrophe. 
If I really want to listen to my stereo I throw on the old cathedral organ Bach fugues record I have.   
I pick these because I am very familiar with them, they represent my taste, and because they are all recorded very well.  The organ music really lets you hear if your equipment is smearing the details because it so full (no space between sounds).    But as it's been said, you really need to listen for a awhile (weeks), as you normally listen, to eval anything.  

I'm not sure that reference is the proper term; I burned a CD that use a collection of tunes I like and I'm well familiar with that allow me to note certain aspects of a system that I audition (ambience, soundstage, detail, bass, etc.)

Most are not "audiophile" recordings, but well produced and recorded tunes (more or less):

Shirley Horn - The Music That Makes Me Dance
Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem
Michael Franks - Dragonfly Summer
Dianne Reeves - Never Too Far
Fourplay - 101 Eastbound
Steely Dan - Jack of Speed
Grace Jones- Don't Cry - It's Only The Rhythm
Larry Carlton & Lee Ritenour - Take That
Herbie Hancock - Butterfly
Lee Ritenour - Boss City
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Miles Davis - So What
Buddy Guy - Sweet Black Angel (Black Angel Blues)
Cassandra Wilson - A Little Warm Death

I've also been known to pop it in and just listen every once in a while!

Happy Listening!
DeeCee

herman

I just ordered a Lyngdorf MP-40. I’m hoping to use the "Center Spread" of the Lyngdorf just for the purpose of taking some of the center channel out (and moving it into the Mains) of the Eagle Visions 5.1 DTS-HD Dolby recordings of many of my Concert recordings. For example, the Eagles @ Melhorn is absolutely the gold standard. But many other otherwise good concerts, Doobie Bros @ Wolf Trap, Jethro Tull @ Montreux etc. super impose material on the center channel. Maybe they do it that way for cheaper systems, buy on a nice system it actually is irritating. You can lower the volume of that one speaker, but then you have lost all that material . I assume you are talking about 2 channel play, but I use my system for much more than that .