Establishing a common analog listening bias

It is - apparently - very difficult to establish any kind of "reference standard" (this is not meant to be taken in as "quality" here!) in a subject which is so highly individual and burden with taste, preference and emotion.
Some may even fear such a benchmark being established for whatever reason.
I thought it would be a good one, following the paths Harry Pearson laid out with his list of preferred test records in "the absolu!e sound" almost 3 decades ago.
To have some kind of common ground to return to and to compare things could bring a much better understanding of each other's sonic picture and set-up while communicating about the very sonics in virtual cyberspace.
What I missed however was a constructive counter-proposal.
Especially from the most opposing "critics".
But then constructiveness seems a rare bird anyway these days in "audiophile communication".
Often it is not the message which provokes opposition, but the mere personality of the messenger...;-) .....
I for one still think we missed just another chance to fortify and clarify a part of our communication regarding our passion.

Viridian, while I do not share your opinion nor would say that you understood my proposal correctly (neither in intend nor content), I agree - with the experience of the past year here on Audiogon... - that there is hardly any intention to agree no matter how obvious a given thing/concept/consequence may be.
In reverse it rather seems that the all present chance and option to deny out of personal preferences and intentions is an omnipresent force in audiophile online discussions. A force few can resist to use. Somehow haunted by the ghost of Mephistofeles who claimed and named himself the "spirit of negation".

Dertonarm,
I, for one, appreciate your efforts in this thread and was hoping that it would lead to some kind of list that we could use to discuss sonics and systems. However, the thread died about a year and a half ago. Why not tally the results, make a list and use it as originally intended? Call it Dertonarm's List or something.

Those members who are not interested, need not be involved. The Audiogon Analog forum could be the host location for discussion. Perhaps a list of 25 or so currently available LPs is sufficient, or ten LPs in each of three or four genres.

What do you think?

Dear Peterayer, your suggestion is worth musing about. I will have some spare time over the christmas holidays and will prepare a list of my favorite records used for exploring the sonic abilities of components.
Cheers,
D.

Partial list:

Depth of soundstage: The Wand of Youth, EMI

Depth of Bass: Zoon - Fields of the Nephilim (LP, Begger's Banquet BEGA172) (1st track, side 3, bass goes sub-sonic
alternate: Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, w/Louis Fremeaux cond., EMI

Dynamic Range/trackability: Paranoid, Black Sabbath on white label German Vertigo.
alternate: Verdi Requiem, RCA Soria box. track: Dies Irae

Either LP puts most stereos on their knees in a few seconds.

Most LPs by the Atrium Musicae de Madrid on Harmonia Mundi are good for staging and detail.

Ability of a system to resolve detail within high energy vocals: Village Music of Bulgaria, Nonsuch. Field recording of exceptional merit. If your system has problems this recording will sound like hell.