A little gift for my fellow audiophiles

In this, the season of giving, I thought I’d share some of my most treasured music with you. In the early 2000s I attended an audio show in Manhattan, and in the Usher room they handed out a CD they put together for demo purposes. That room continues to be one of the finest musical experiences of my life and why Usher speakers — completely under the radar here in the US — continue to be one of my top five speaker manufacturers in the world. And in case you didn’t know, they’re also one of the few who make their own drivers, and I happen to think they make some of the most gorgeous speakers extant and right up there with Sonus Faber in that regard They also happen to be an insane value IMHO. Anyway, I used several of the songs off their demo CD for many years when reviewing audio equipment because it’s mostly really well recorded and has some really, really interesting music. I still have the CD, but as far as I can tell it’s now unobtainable, but I found it on this site and it seems to be of high quality so thought I’d share it with you here. It’s kinda hit or miss on an individual song basis IMHO, but there are some real stars here that should make you smile when you play them on your system. I’d single out “Modona” and “De Main Ganche” as two standouts. The former is an excellent chorale arrangement, but it’s interestingly accompanied by an orchestra and some electronica, which seems like an odd combo but it works beautifully here, and I’d encourage you to listen to it at night with the lights off as it better reveals the scope and scale of the performance. The latter is a French female singer, and her voice is so powerful and her vocals are captured so purely it’s an absolute joy to listen to. There are some other gems here but just wanted to point you to those two, among others, for your enjoyment.

Anyway, a little gift for my audiophile friends here, and hope you and yours have Happy Holidays!

https://audiophilemusic.io/portfolio/usher-audio-be-there-volume-3-2006/