Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ken Brookings]

What songs do you use to audition speakers - that is the very best sonic recording you have?
Such as :
James Newton Howard
Larry Carlton
Mannheim Steamroller (yes, still, after all these years)
Jennifer Warnes; Bird on a Wire
Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack
Grand Canyon Soundtrack

[sekim]

This is kind of relative, isn't it? But, for the sake of two cents...

Chicago - I'm A Man (LOUD). If the speakers can take that, then they work fine for me. Blew up one set listening to this.  

Was a real good excuse to go out and get a new set of Sony's. At least that's what I tried to justify with 'Honey'. She doesn't always quite see things in the same light as me though. Never could figure that out...

[Moonshine]

For testing the low end (bass) limitations, tightness and control Sarah McLachlan's "Black and White" from her album "Surfacing" is very good.   I have two 18" Velodyne's and three 12" Canton's setup in my theater and that song hits the seating with such a powerful/wave of bass at moments you would swear there was a quake.  

For transient response and high end, pretty much anything by Struntz and Farah (latin flamenco guitar) is my favorite.  Great music and very well recorded.  Also Midori's violin solos on a Philip's classical CD of Paganini

For mids and vocals there is a lot to play with.  Mazzy Star, Fiona Apple, Jack Johnson, Jeff Buckley, etc..

For overall powerhandling I'd say something from the Crystal Method.  Powerful electronic/synth stuff like that can really torture a good set of speakers quickly.

[sekim]

The Crystal Method would be a good one for 'how much can I torture these?'. Especially the beginning minute and a half or so of 'Ph.D'.

[JohnT]

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature

These two have great recording quality and dynamic range for pop groups.

[dnoyeb]

For reproduction quality and clarity and responsiveness of ~8-10" woofers I use the Drum solo by Billy Cobham.  Its also a good test of how well your system can create a live environment.

Album:  Spectrum
2. a. Searching for the right door.

check it on my server.  btw if im listening you will likely not be able to hear since my server only servs 128kbps.  Thanks Comcast!

68:42:200:36:23


I should add that this song is not "full" as a typical Rock song, or as busy as a typical Rap song so its easier to walk into BestBuy and shove this thing in and play it without too much distraction.

[zevele10]

HEY HEY i am not the only one who has Mazzy Star records.....

If you are listening to metal  a lot,you have to check with metal records.
First class speakers may not sound fine with metal.And speakers fine with Metal may sound messy with other music,
I am new to Metal and this problem annoys me quite a lot

[DaveL]

When auditioning speakers make sure to listen a cross section of the material to which you normally listen.  In my case this includes older Jazz and Rock recordings.  Not all speakers sound good with older records.

My favs:

Bela Fleck - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (killer bass)
Yellowjackets - Anything new
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Steely Dan - Aja
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Thomas Dolby - Aliens ate my Buick

[Ken Brookings]

I left the post really just to hear what people thought were sonically superior production, not really to test speakers or how loud something can be played.

Note to DaveL.: Great selections, we could listen to music together anytime.  JohnT: Nice choices!