Albums you use to test your gears?

I usually bring the best recorded music that I enjoy listening to. I see no point in bringing audiophile selections that don't engage me in the music simply because they are good recordings. As Mapman points out, bring a wide variety of material that is representative of the range of music you listen to. I'd disagree that any system should sound good regardless of source material. If your source material is poorly engineered/mixed/recorded there is very little a good system can do to correct any of that. Garbage in = Garbage out. I see no point in bringing poorly recorded music to test, unless it is something you listen to often... I suppose it will tell you what to expect from the system in that specific regard.

I don't know that the best recorded material that I enjoy is necessarily material that you'd enjoy, but here's a few picks.

For hall ambiance and vocal dynamics I like, El Cant de la Sibil La.

For bass, percussion and soundstaging, Qalam Kar, by Trio Chemirani

For leanings towards jazz, bass, piano Achirana

For female vocals, soundstage Holly Cole's tribute to Tom Wates, Temptation

For male vocals selections from either Johnny Cash or Greg Brown.

For stark, solo violin Bach Works for Violin Solo, by Lara St. John

I don't listen to much densely textured dynamic music such as Rock or Orchestral so I tend not to bring anything in that realm. If I did I'd probably choose something from Beck or Radiohead.

This CD will satisfy all your test needs.
Magnificent Recording Quality, World Class Musicianship, Gorgeous Music.

Rosa Passos and Ron Carter
"Entre Amigos" / "Among Friends"
Producers David Chesky and Cliff Korman
Engineer Barry Wilifson

I use the first cut of side two, In Your Eyes, from Peter Gabriel's "So" album to test tonearm/cartridge alignment.

The words "instincts" and "churches" are repeated a number of times. They will mistrack i.e. excessive sibilance if your alignment is off.

Listen for clarity and neatness of the letter "S" in both words.

This of course does not guarantee ideal alignment but, among others, it's one of the passages I use when setting up a tonearm and/or cartridge.

use your favorites

I like Pink Floyd wish you were here and Steely Dan to test out new gear,