Top 3 songs to evaluate a system

I recommend the followings to name a few:
1. TakeDake: #6 Japanese Roots
- breadth and depth of soundstage, instrument separation and dynamics;
2. Voodoo by John Zorn & The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet
- bass, edgeness of alto saxophone, keyboard notes reproduction, separation, transients, treble extension (airy highs of cymbal); and
3. London Symphony Orchestra - Bohemian Rhapsody, Classics. 
- Let you test everything when the music/intruments/vocals get busier.

@hilde45 - we’re on the same wavelength... Shelby Lynne’s "Just a Little Lovin" cover to cover is a benchmark whenever I’m giving new gear a twirl. My mother used to play Dusty "Live in Memphis" on her Mac/Thorens/AR rig till the wheels fell off! Big fan of Hans Theessink, "My Girl" off Sounds of the Southland & Derrin Nauenforf, "Danielle" & "Ghost Town" off Live at the Boardwalk" too when trying on new speakers. Simple stuff but the decay of plucked strings speaks to me. Most anything by Ben Harper; always clean and snappy. Like JJ Grey and Mofro’s "Lockloosa" - wildly satisfying. Could keep going... Beck, "Cycle" & "Morning" off Morning Phase give you some deep clear bass that is pretty telling. Anyway, great topic 👍

As I read through the replies I noticed that most people seem to pick a song that they actually like or have an attribute that they feel stands out. For example - deep bass, 3D soundstage, type of bass guitar, or pick up a cymbal sound. This is interesting to me as these are recording attributes. I mostly prefer to hear these but I don’t use them to judge the sound. How many of you play an instrument or have recorded anything? Not that this may matter. I listen for piano first. What does that sound like as most music is in the mid-range. To me SS cannot offer the piano sound I prefer as the decay of the notes is to my ears to fast. Tubes seem to delay the decay which I prefer as to me it sounds more realistic and I can hear the "wood" of the instrument. Same goes for the sax reproduction. After that I listen for space, separation, and the placement around instruments and vocals. Especially the layering of vocal parts. How separate are they and does the layering seem smeared. Then I listen for backing instruments. I hear many systems that have layering and separation but the tone if off. Drums and bongos especially. Most of these need to have a "boing" or you should hear the skin flex and the body of the drum box. Same as the piano, how is the decay of the notes. Too many times I hear bongos sound like a flat wack. Almost like the drum is made of cardboard. Last to me is the emotion. Does the system portray emotion which I believe comes from the note decay. Shinko resistors from my experience have been the best emotional resistor I have heard.

So to my ears, does your system lay out the music and make me want to listen and not just how much I love the song.

Happy Listening.

Thanks very much for this great post....

Food for tought....You describe exactly and nail it with way  better words than i could what we must strive for when we create the right acoustic with a good system to begin with...

Anyway a good acoustic well done will reveal WHICH part of the system is to be upgrade...

But thanks to all people here for their great music  recommendation....

I will note some.....

@bgross - Beck's "Morning Phase" album is a fave Sunday morning chill record for me; but, it's also a sonically interesting record. It made me revise my opinion of him.

@bigkidz  - Totally agreed about the importance of good sounding persussion (congas, cymbals & drums). I'll never forget auditioning a speaker that made the drummer sound like he was beating on plastic trash can lids!

Great suggestions above.  Looking forward to drilling deep into these.

I'd like to add:

Kansas City Monarch -- Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters.  Nice saxophone and lively piano riffs distinguish good vs great systems
Hard Day's Night -- Kings Singers.  A textbook reference for imaging and vocal placement
Carole Horn -- Nobody Knows.  This is my go to cut for a front row seat to an amazing female vocal.

Others (honorable mention)
Ambrosia -- Time Waits for No One.  The first 1 minute of this recording is still fun to listen to after all these years (crank it up).
The Beatles -- Martha My Dear.  This is an under-appreciated contribution to The Beatles portfolio.

Also, speaking of The Beatles.  I often use the foot tap from Black Bird to demo/evaluate equipment.  You might be surprised how dramatically better equipment affects the "tonality" of something as simple as a foot tap.