Various tests for the Ascends that allow them to shine.
Here's a my favs on the Ascend my 170SE Hsu STF1 2.1 system connected to dvd player via optical cable:
These melt your soul with the clarity of vocals, strings:
Sia: Colour the Small One
Andrew Bird: Mysterious Production of Eggs
Beck: Sea Change
These are my technical marvels that I've never heard accurately represented until I got my Ascends:
Radiohead: OK Computer, Kid A, Hail to the Thief, Amnesiac
Grandaddy: Sophtware Slump
Massive Attack: Mezzanine
Portishead: Dummy
Sigur Ros: Takk
Groove Armada: Vertigo
and in the Misc category:
Wynton Marsallis(don't know, it was a friends cd but the horns/piano were amazing)
Led Zeppelin: I
And if you have them connected to your computer and ESPECIALLY if you like motion graphics, this is one of my favorite clips(and others on the site):
Zoo Room Ranch
And for some really good independant radio with a quality stream:
The Current: Minnesota Public Radio
One issue. Previously I couldn't hear the difference in this material on my cds ripped to 192kbps mp3s in iTunes and now I can hear 'clipping' of the dynamics and it is very annoying. Not REALLY a problem when you really think about it though...