Quality of recording while evaluating speakers

Just yesterday, I was at my dealer listening to a pair of speakers I’m interested in and I created a playlist on Qobuz of music I know and like.  Unfortunately, they only have Tidal. However I was able to pull up the playlist on my phone and then use the Hifi Rose app and Tidal and hear my tunes.

@emergingsoul 

"It's amusing how you put together all these cryptic threads posing hypothetical questions, but you are very close to the cuff when talking about what actually comprises your own system. I guess you just like to keep people in the dark."  

So true.  And what are those fantasy $50K speakers from your other thread that you also refuse to identify, despite making an entire thread about them?

Notwithstanding that, I think that you are trying to ask some thought-provoking if hypothetical questions, which is fine, I guess.  And as far as not being happy living in Malibu on the beach, perhaps if you kicked out your brother and his 10 year old son, you might enjoy it more!

OK, on to the hypothetical at hand.  I test all equipment, including speakers, with a range of material.  I usually start with excellent quality recordings like Patricia Barber's Companion and DSOTM (50th Ann. remaster), Jazz At the Pawnshop, and Gary Burton and Ralph Towner's Matchbook.  That shows what the system can really do with both excellent studio and live recordings.  Then I try some recordings that are not well-recorded and see how the system sounds with those.  Different systems handle poor quality recordings differently.  Some make mediocre quality recordings sound OK, some make them sound horrible.  Who's Next is one that immediately comes to mind.  Finally, I put on a Led Zeppelin bootleg or two (usually a soundboard tape and an audience tape) to see how the system handles those.  The end result is that no matter what the new component or cables I am checking out, the foregoing gives me a pretty good idea of the good/bad of that new component or cable.  Then you know, based on what you like to listen to, whether the speaker etc. is a good fit for your system.  Going through that same testing on a completely different system will only let you compare that system to your own, obviously, which makes it more important to test a speaker in your own listening room with your own equipment.

You want something that will test your record recordings and sound listen to DISCO, people hated it but it will drive your system to the fullest extremes....most people hated it then in the 70s and now 50 years later...but man,I was a rocker From Beatles to Stones ,Led Zeppelin....but now I listen and I enjoy it ,just listen and enjoy.....

Generally speaking, the quality of a recording is not very important for comparative evaluations as long as there are good dynamics and extension in bass & treble.

The key is to use the same recording for the comparisons.

OTOH, I was comparing my 32-bit 384kHz recordings to the same recording saved as 24-bit 384k. They were close, but the 32-bit music has slightly better resolution in the upper treble audible on B&W 805 D4 Signature speakers and Meze Elite headphones. There would be value in using the 32-bit recordings when comparing speakers or other components to understand ultimate high frequency performance. 

@imjerrys 

Interesting points. I'm impressed you can tell the difference between 32 and 24 bit. Maybe more so using headphones which I'm not really familiar with that much.

I have a tube of amplifier and I am milking the benefits of using better tubes to see if that helps improve speakers before I decide to buy new speakers.   Solid state amplifiers provide no means to do this clearly, although changing bit rates can influence how a speaker performs.  So many variables