Favorite Songs to Demo Speakers

markmarc
markmarc Posts: 2,309
edited August 2008 in Music & Movies
I have always found it fascinating what music people choose when demoing speakers. Here are my choices:

Phoebe Snow: Something Real
Bonnie Raitt: Nick of Time
Joe Jackson: Night and Day
Dan Fogelberg: The Innocent Age
George Winston: December
Aaron Copeland: Appalachian Spring
Review Site_ (((AudioPursuit)))
Founder/Publisher Affordable$$Audio 2006-13.
Former Staff Member TONEAudio
2 Ch. System
Amplifiers: Parasound Halo P6 pre, Vista Audio i34, Peachtree amp500, Adcom GFP-565 GFA-535ii, 545ii, 555ii
Digital: SimAudio HAD230 DAC, iMac 20in/Amarra,
Speakers: Paradigm Performa F75, Magnepan .7, Totem Model 1's, ACI Emerald XL, Celestion Si Stands. Totem Dreamcatcher sub
Analog: Technics SL-J2 w/Pickering 3000D, SimAudio LP5.3 phono pre
Cable/Wires: Cardas, AudioArt, Shunyata Venom 3
Post edited by markmarc on
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  • Mjr7531
    Mjr7531 Posts: 856
    edited June 2005
    The Telarc Recording of the "1812 overture"; Bela Fleck's "Flight of the Cosmic Hippos"; and Berlioz's "March au supplice." I run any speaker through those before I do any other tests.
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  • gregure
    gregure Posts: 871
    edited June 2005
    -Jeff Buckley: Lilac Wine
    -R. Struass: Also Sprach Zarathustra - BPO/Karajan
    -Dianna Krall: When I Look In Your Eyes
    -The Doors: Spanish Caravan
    -Van Morrison: Moondance
    -Pink Floyd: Money
    -Stravinksy: Dance of the Firebird from The Firebird - San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas

    Just a few of my faves.
    Current System:

    Mitsubishi 30" LCD LT-3020 (for sale**)
    Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand (Rosewood)-Mains (with Audioquest Mont Blanc cables)
    CSi5-Center (for sale**)
    FXi3-surrounds (for sale**)
    Martin Logan Depth-Sub
    B&K AVR 507
    Pimare CD21-CD Player
    Denon 1815-DVD Player
    Panamax M5500-EX-Line Conditioner
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited June 2005
    I use:

    Rush- "Chronicles" both discs when time permits
    Tracy Chapman- "Fast Car"
    James Taylor- Greatest Hits
    Dire Straits- "Sultans of Swing"
    Pink Floyd-"Wish You Were Here"
    Andre Segovia does Bach
    Beatles- "Rubber Soul"
    Just a few but others are used from time to time
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • woodyjacobs
    woodyjacobs Posts: 706
    edited June 2005
    Cool post.

    I use:

    Sting - "Hounds of Winter" from Mercury Falling and "Shape of My Heart" from Ten Summoner's Tales (and "A Thousand Years" from Brand New Day for testing subs)
    Chris Isaak - "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing"
    Weezer - "Take Control" from Maladroit
    Miles Davis - "Blue in Green" from Kind of Blue
    Metallica - "The Ecstacy of Gold" and "The Call of Ktulu" from S&M
    Beastie Boys - The In Sound from Way Out (anything on this CD is great)
    Jonny Lang - "Darker Side" from Lie to Meo Me
    system 1:
    Athena: AS-F1 mains, AS-C1 center, AS-B1 surrounds, AS-P400 sub, Yammie RXV-730, Rotel RB-976 driving front stage, Samsung BD3600 Blue Ray, Denon DVD2900 for sacd/cd , jbl n24awII on the deck, samsung 40" 1080p lcd

    system 2:
    XBox 360 Spherex 5.1 system, HK DVD38, Phillips CDC 926 CD changer, Phillips 32" LCD

    2 channel
    NAD 1600 pre, NAD 2400 THX amp, Phillips CDC 926, Linn extra speaks, crappy TT
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  • chunk
    chunk Posts: 17
    edited June 2005
    good idea for a thread. here are the three i used when looking for my sub. each are totally different from the others but reflect the wide range of music i listen too.

    herbie hancock - "head hunters"
    robert earl keen - "live from austin, tx"
    donna the buffalo - "positive friction"
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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited June 2005
    I listen primarily to heavy metal so I take a slightly different approach.

    Dream Theater's "Train of Thought" CD is very very heavy with a very muddy mix but it has a lot of intricate and very technically detailed parts that can be hard to make out. A very good and detailed speaker will play these parts very clear.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
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  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,520
    edited June 2005
    Blue Man Group
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited June 2005
    Shpongle
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,207
    edited June 2005
    For Female Vocal:

    Erin McKeown
    Norah Jones
    Jewel

    Acoustic Inst.

    Elton John-early stuff
    Al Dimeola-One Night in SanFran
    Buddy Guy & Junior Wells-Acoustic

    Jazz

    GRP-Live In Session
    Billy Cobham-Spectrum
    Max Roach vs. Buddy Rich
    Miles Davis-Kind of Blue

    Rock

    The Who-Live @ Leeds
    Best of The Cult
    LZ-Physical Graf or House of the Holy or
    In Thru the Out Door.
    DMB

    A few off the top of my head

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • tonyv1
    tonyv1 Posts: 365
    edited June 2005
    I made a CD with music that I use to audition equipment with.
    It starts off with "Nether Lands" by Dan Fogelberg, "Bali Hai" by Fourplay (great bass transitions) and "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,207
    edited June 2005
    Originally posted by tonyv1
    I made a CD with music that I use to audition equipment with.
    It starts off with "Nether Lands" by Dan Fogelberg, "Bali Hai" by Fourplay (great bass transitions) and "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears.

    That’s a good idea….I have made some compilations of fave artists and burned them to cd. I should make a disc of all demo material. I used to do that with cassette tapes way back when I sold audio, before cd burners were the norm. Why didn’t I think of this b4? :rolleyes:

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • markmarc
    markmarc Posts: 2,309
    edited June 2005
    The key is to burn at full bitrate quality, not the compressed MP3.
    I had several demo tapes when I sold audio some 20 years ago myself. Some people thought I was cheating by using Metal Tape.
    Review Site_ (((AudioPursuit)))
    Founder/Publisher Affordable$$Audio 2006-13.
    Former Staff Member TONEAudio
    2 Ch. System
    Amplifiers: Parasound Halo P6 pre, Vista Audio i34, Peachtree amp500, Adcom GFP-565 GFA-535ii, 545ii, 555ii
    Digital: SimAudio HAD230 DAC, iMac 20in/Amarra,
    Speakers: Paradigm Performa F75, Magnepan .7, Totem Model 1's, ACI Emerald XL, Celestion Si Stands. Totem Dreamcatcher sub
    Analog: Technics SL-J2 w/Pickering 3000D, SimAudio LP5.3 phono pre
    Cable/Wires: Cardas, AudioArt, Shunyata Venom 3
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,207
    edited June 2005
    Originally posted by markmarc
    The key is to burn at full bitrate quality, not the compressed MP3.
    I had several demo tapes when I sold audio some 20 years ago myself. Some people thought I was cheating by using Metal Tape.

    Oh absolutely….no MP3’s ever!!! That brings back memories. I used to use Metal type tapes. I have always owned Nakamichi decks and back then I had a Nak Dragon. A friend of mine came in to look a car stereo’s and I popped in a Metal tape and he commented, “That’s not one of those tapes from your Dragon, is it? Because that’s not fair. It’s going to sound better than anything I put in it”. We just laughed

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 11,057
    edited June 2005
    FWIW :

    Ben Harper
    Wynton Marsalis
    Paganini
    Canadian Brass
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  • kingtut
    kingtut Posts: 813
    edited June 2005
    Probaby overdone by a lot of people, but I choose Hotel California by the Eagle -- Good bass, nice acoustic guitar and clear vocal.
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  • broncsrule21@
    broncsrule21@ Posts: 113
    edited July 2008
    kingtut wrote: »
    Probaby overdone by a lot of people, but I choose Hotel California by the Eagle -- Good bass, nice acoustic guitar and clear vocal.
    The Hell Freezes Over version or the original??

    I use that Hell Freezes Over (DTS) version for testing my HT.
    HT-- Denon avr-2808ci,Emotiva UPA-1s, RTi 10's, CSi A6, ERD-1 surrounds, Vizio P50, Yamaha yst-sw300, DVR hr21, 40g PS3, APC-h15

    Downstairs-- Denon avr-3300,Emotiva UPA-2, Toshiba 50" rear projection, Denon 2200 sacd, Emotiva ERM-1s, small Yamaha sub
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  • bigaudiofanatic
    bigaudiofanatic Posts: 4,415
    edited July 2008
    Coldplay Viva La Vida
    HT setup
    Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ80U
    Denon DBP-1610
    Monster HTS 1650
    Carver A400X :cool:
    MIT Exp 3 Speaker Wire
    Kef 104/2
    URC MX-780 Remote
    Sonos Play 1

    Living Room
    63 inch Samsung PN63C800YF
    Polk Surroundbar 3000
    Samsung BD-C7900
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited July 2008
    Old thread but wth it's still relevant:

    1. Andreas Vollenweider, White winds (album), The glass hall (song #3)
    2. Celine Dion, Falling into you (album), Call the man (song #13)
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,972
    edited July 2008
    Three years late to the party I be...

    Single favorite song? Way Down Deep, Jennifer Warnes.

    I understand that this OOP album (The Hunter) is being re-released on CD and LP this fall.
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited July 2008
    I always liked Crash by the Dave Matthews Band as a good demo song.
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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited July 2008
    I am surprisd no one has mentioned Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms"....

    "Money For Nothing" for dynamics and "Your Latest Trick" for imaging. Even when using a 2 channel stereo version, "Your Latest Trick" can seem surround-like.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited July 2008
    I usually just throw in some Yoko Ono and crank that **** up to 11+ on the dial.... seems to work just fine for me. :rolleyes: :eek:
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited July 2008
    Shine on You Crazy Diamond . . . all parts.
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  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited July 2008
    Re-recorded version of The Sound of Animals Fighting - "Tiger and The Duke"
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

    Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii

    Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999

    Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3

    HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited August 2008
    Neil Diamond - America
    Norah Jones - pretty much any song
    Armik - "Rain Dancer" and "Gypsy Flame" albums. Well, all his albums are very good.
    Jesse Cook - Vertigo and Frontiers albums.
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited August 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    I usually just throw in some Yoko Ono and crank that **** up to 11+ on the dial.... seems to work just fine for me. :rolleyes: :eek:


    That must clear the neighborhood of cats, dogs, mice, rats, bugs, cause kids to cry, fell grown men to their knees.....
    180px-Activated_pain_band.jpg

    :D

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • DForeman
    DForeman Posts: 468
    edited August 2008
    Steely Dan - Two Against Nature album.
    Parasound P5 Pre
    Marantz AV 7703 Pre/Pro
    Outlaw 7500 Amp
    Marantz SA14s1 SACD/CD
    Rega Planar 2 TT
    Polk Audio Speakers: LSiM 705 Fronts, LC65FX Surround, LSiM 704c
    Oppo BDP-103
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  • hockeyboy
    hockeyboy Posts: 1,428
    edited August 2008
    Lately I have been using Daughtry: It's not over
    My Main Gear
    Mitsu HC5000 (Proj.)
    Marantz SR8001 (AVR)
    Sunfire TGA7200 (AMP)
    Marantz DV7001 (SACD)
    Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-Ray
    LSi 15's (Front)
    LSiC (Center)
    LSiFx (Surrounds)
    DUAL SVS 20-39 CS Plus     (Passive Subs)
    Marantz IS201 I-Pod Dock[/SIZE]
    Panamax M5300EX
    Carada Criterion 106" Brightwhite Screen
    Sunfire TGA 5200 & (4) B&W 605's in the party room
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  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited August 2008
    Danny Tse wrote: »
    I am surprisd no one has mentioned Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms"....

    "Money For Nothing" for dynamics and "Your Latest Trick" for imaging. Even when using a 2 channel stereo version, "Your Latest Trick" can seem surround-like.

    The dynamics in Money for Nothing make it one of my absolute favorite songs to demo. I think the Rockford guys might be a little tired of it by now.
    HT
    RTi70 mains
    CSi30 center
    RTi28 Rears
    Velodyne CHT-12
    H/K AVR-247
    ADCOM GFA-7000
    Samsung PN58B860
    Playstation 3
    2-Channel
    Polk Audio LSi15's
    Rotel RCD-1072
    Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
    ADCOM GFA-555
    Signal Cable Analog II IC's
    Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
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  • bigaudiofanatic
    bigaudiofanatic Posts: 4,415
    edited August 2008
    eagles hell freezes over dvd with dts on.
    HT setup
    Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ80U
    Denon DBP-1610
    Monster HTS 1650
    Carver A400X :cool:
    MIT Exp 3 Speaker Wire
    Kef 104/2
    URC MX-780 Remote
    Sonos Play 1

    Living Room
    63 inch Samsung PN63C800YF
    Polk Surroundbar 3000
    Samsung BD-C7900
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