Demo CD's

[RoadWarrior]

Everyone.....

I'm looking for recommendations on CD's to buy to test the 340'S vs Monitor RS6/8. Any suggestions regarding what I should buy? Classical? Rock? Blues? Jazz etc etc. Perhaps a compilation of all on one CD?

What about a movie for home theater? Matrix Revolutions? Saving Private Ryan? Days of Thunder? Top Gun?

Finally getting close to buying.
Thanks!!

[curtis]

This is a great disc for learning about what to listen for, and comparing speakers:
http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=UD095&category=1

[Sam1000]

Yeah, that's a good one. I got that CD based on Curtis's recommendation.


This is a great disc for learning about what to listen for, and comparing speakers:
http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=UD095&category=1

[GirgleMirt]

Yeah I bought it too a short while ago. Not too bad, I find the guy speaking somewhat disturbing though... "this is a warm recording, with rich, full bass..." "you could feel the energy, and the band was having a grand time", "the bass is rich and full..." :p

If you like rock, which I do, I recommend Roger Water's (ex-Pink Floyd Member) Amused to death. Nice effects, great sound quality, amazing music. One of my favorite albums.
http://www.amazon.com/Amused-Death-Roger-Waters/dp/B0000027I6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5102820-7731942?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1176344382&sr=8-1

For DVD I love David Gilmour's (Pink Floyd guitarist/singer) Concert DVD. Holy mother of god 45% off at amazon... only 11$... what a steal! Mostly acoustic, very nice indeed!
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00006LI4S/ref=s9_asin_image_2-hf_favarsnfggenpx_2267_g1/104-5102820-7731942?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1EJ62W7G68KCH5GCW4KA&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=279581101&pf_rd_i=507846

The Eagles Hell freezes over is supposed to be great. Haven't picked it up so far yet, but been told it really sounds as good as can. http://www.amazon.com/Eagles-Hell-Freezes-Over/dp/B0007Y89ZM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5102820-7731942?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1176344719&sr=1-1

cd: Pink Floyd The Wall is great, so is The Dark Side of the moon, I also love their last album, The Division bell. All of those have awesome recording. (I also love all their others album but meh.. start with those ;))

Jazz... Not a huge fan. I guess Diana Krall... :p I also picked up Chesky's 20th anniversary disk and there's a pretty good mix on it. It's 2 cds, 15$, so very good value. Lots of styles, jazz, classic, blues, so good disk to pickup to see what artists you like. As it's Chesky the recording is top rate. That with the ultimate demonstration disk has all you need to set a system thru it's paces!

[Gov]

Anything by Diana Krall, Steely Dan and Donald Fagen

[Classpro]

I like to listen to acoustic instruments and natural voices so that I can compare the sound produced by the system with the known sound of real instruments. The problem with so much popular music is that the engineers play with the recordings to create sound effects that are not natural, and therefore there is no baseline for comparison. Listening to real instruments recorded in a real space at least gives you some basis for comparison (assuming of course that you've heard real instruments before). Classical music rarely sounds as impressive on first listening as a close-miked jazz or rock recording, but it is a more reliable test (there are, of course, some good acoustic jazz recordings that would make for a worthwhile test).

Also, I want to test high frequency response, the critical mids, and low frequency response. For low, nothing beats organ, string base (higher lows) and drums). For mids and highs, I play lots of different things - piano, guitar, string quartets, male and female voices, choral, solo cello. Highs are really about the air around instruments and voices, because instruments don't generally go very high. In some symphonic music you can hear bells and triangles and stuff like that, but it's really the harmonics around the sound that I look for.

Certain labels have excellent natural recordings. Telarc, Dorian, Delos, RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence are generally reliable high-quality labels. The majors (DG, London, EMI, RCA Red Seal, etc) have some great recordings, but are more variable.

[Quinn]

I too have the Chesky disc.

One of my favorite torture tests is the Fairfield Four's Standing in the Safety Zone. This disc is a great test of seperation. Can the speaker produce the different voices individually in harmony or does it sound like a choir. Track 6 around 1:55 in is a great test, a deep bass voice joined by four others harmonizing.

[debo]

DVD...EAGLES - FAREWELL I TOUR LIVE FROM MELBOURNE
The audio and video are fantastic, recorded in DTS.
Thirty songs just over three hours.

[muzz]

DVD...EAGLES - FAREWELL I TOUR LIVE FROM MELBOURNE
The audio and video are fantastic, recorded in DTS.
Thirty songs just over three hours.

I'm watching this as we speak(115" of front projector goodness), just got it today!!
I also have Hell Freezes Over, which IMO, is a fantastic DVD as well.

My decision to buy the Ascend 170se L/R, and the 340se CC, are reinforced everytime I put on something like this.

One of my favorite(and BEST) decisions ever. :D

[Eddie Horton]

Haven't posted in a while, but I just caught this thread and had to throw in my all time fav for testing: Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus" CD really does it for me. Great bass, drums, horns, organ, guitar, vocals, really everything. It's been one of my favorite albums for years and years and I still throw it in the player about once a month.

[Mag_Neato]

DVD...EAGLES - FAREWELL I TOUR LIVE FROM MELBOURNE
The audio and video are fantastic, recorded in DTS.
Thirty songs just over three hours.

100% agreed.......excellent DVD!!