What are your favorite songs or albums for illustrating a deep soundstage?


I’m optimizing my seating position and speaker position in my room and need some new musical selections to use as a reference for projecting depth well beyond the speakers. What are your top choices?

Bonus points if they are available on Qobuz or Tidal, though vinyl record suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

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Janacek String Quartets, the Mandelring Quartet on Audite SACD.  The instruments frequently sound well outside speaker boundary.  The Haitink Shostakovich Symphony cycle on Decca from the Eighties is an excellent for front to back orchestral depth in an analog recording 

Hopefully, this thread doesn’t end once Juan has his system setup. This has been a great thread with many superb suggestions.

A first for my system was my wife actually sitting down and listening to it. While I was playing Madonna’s Voque she entered the room on her own and sat down, listened until then end and then remarked how great it sounded. Of course, upon leaving she told me that the room was a mess and that I should clean it up. She is especially fond of the idea that I should eliminate all the wires.

I had just returned from the audiologist where I learned that my high frequency hearing loss was moderately severe…then she (the audiologist) told me this was the frequency range occupied mostly by female voice. I bit my tongue, thanked her and left.

Birds, Dominique Fils-Aimé 

NASA, ariana Grande

Late to the flight, Laura Marling 

You go to my head, Julie London 

Take Five,  Brubeck

All on Tidal. Let us know what you find are best!

The Raven that wouldn’t sing, by Steve Wilson, Cognitive by Soen, Lunatic Soul band & album, Stratosfear album, Blackfield album, PFM band, Riverside band, all prog rock albums or names or bands. 

Artist; Mary Fahl
Album: From the dark side of the moon

Specially Track3: On The Run
At the beginning of the track her voice swirls round in circle overhead - you are literally forced to look up to see if you have speakers in the ceiling!

Tracy Chapman - Give me one Reason
Front soundstage is amazing and clearly visualise each instrument's placement.