Testing Your System What Albums Do You Use

by **rockinroy** » 11 Jul 2009 16:22

My favorite test disc is the Dire Straits 1982 album Love Over Gold there is a section on this disc 4:38 seconds in when you have a very resonant drum sound and piano and a breath sounds underlying this it takes a system with good resolution to hear this in the background.

Please lets here from the VE members tho know what you use

by **satanfriendly** » 11 Jul 2009 16:55

ABC Lexicon of Love. I tend to know this awfully naff album inside out, but there are some incredibly dynamic passages where the bass and the drums roll across the speakers while linked with some very light hyatts. So many light and heavy touches at the same time. Over produced, but awesomely so.

Dire Straits Making Movies, just for the simply sublime imaging which can be extracted from this album. Needs perfect speed to bring out the best and any fluctuations quickly shown.

by **danmanch** » 11 Jul 2009 17:30

Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, Making Movies, and Self Titled. All great for testing the system. Also Pink Floyds Dark side of the Moon, very dynamic. And one of my favorites Jimi Hendrix Electric lady land, great dynamics and imaging. I'm sure their are others but these stick out in my head.

by **Alec124c41** » 11 Jul 2009 20:41

Cantate Domino, on Proprius. Yeah, it's Christmas music, but it is very nicely recorded in a church in Sweden. Great tonal and dynamic range, between the choir and the organ.
What I listen for is the sense of the space. The better you get, the more you go from nice music to in a church to admiring the stonework way up there, if you know what I mean.

Cheers,
Alec

by **CallMeJoe** » 11 Jul 2009 20:53

Thomas Dolby's the Flat Earth. Wide frequency range, wide dynamic range, and an intriguing variety of percussion instruments; the title song has a large number of layered synthesizer riffs that a poor system will render indistinguishable.

Saint Saens' 3d symphony. A beautiful instrumental showpiece with pedal tones in the organ that challenge the bottom end of any speaker system.

Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. Two-part vocal harmonies and lots of acoustic guitar.

the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out. Properly voicing a piano is a challenge for speakers, and this album is just so good...

by **lanny** » 12 Jul 2009 15:03

Kör, Proprius: "Thou Knowest Lord the Secrets of our Hearts" for vocals, sibilants, hall volume, organ pedals.

The King James Version, Sheffield: "More Splutie Please" for brass sound, transparency, bass detail, lack of high-frequency distortion.

La Folia, ATR reissue (entire LP) for detail retrieval, soundstage.

Growing Up in Hollywood Town, Sheffield: "Love Letters" for bass linearity.

Tafelmusik, Reference Recordings (entire LP) for transparency, string and woodwind sound, sense of realism.

I have more...

by **ScottBrough** » 12 Jul 2009 22:15

Either Frank Zappa's Hot Rtas, or Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan.

by **mp3ophobe** » 12 Jul 2009 22:51

The Doors, LA woman. I close my eyes and wait for the thunder on Riders
on the storm, and if I can feel raindrops on my head then the setup is a
goodun.

by **stereophile** » 13 Jul 2009 01:00

Chorus: Cantate Domino(Proprius)
Male Vocal: David Roth(Stockfish)- Vincent
Female Vocal: Diana Krall(ORG)- Look of Love
Mono- Ella & Louis(Verve/Speakers Corner)
Big Band- For Duke(M&K)
Classical Strings/Violin- Rossini Overtures/Accardo (Philips re-issue)
Bros. Four Sing the Beatles

by **TheArc** » 13 Jul 2009 10:24

Rickie Lee Jones - self titled, usually Last Chance Texaco for the ambience

Dire Straits - Dire Straits - it's a very simply constructed album arrangement-wise and produced beautifully so it's a good test of a system's ability to draw out the constituents of a mix

Rain Tree Crow - self titled. The track Red Earth (As Summertime Ends) is an amazing instrumental and very dynamic with some great Spanish guitar, lush keys and some brilliant finger cymbals and ceramic drums which really test a system's ability to do detail, reverbs, dynamic and errr just shimmer.

Supertramp - Crime of the Century. A really well produced album that I know inside out so easy to judge with this.

I guess I should use records that are badly recorded or with frequency extremes that push a system hard but I reckon that if it plays the good stuff well then it will probably make anything sound good.

by **tassiemouse** » 13 Jul 2009 13:18

Cantate Domino (Proprius)
Jazz at the Pawnshop (Proprius)
Dave Grusin Sheffield lab
to name a few.....

by **JoeE SP9** » 13 Jul 2009 17:56

I could be a smart ass and say, my vinyl copy of The 1812 from Telarc but I won't. Yeah, the one with the warning about it being audio's toughest challenge. It actually snapped a stylus right off the cantilever on a Shure V-15 cartridge.

In reality:
For Duke----Take The A-Train---- M&K Realtime Direct To Disc
Fantastic sound. They are right there around and behind my speakers.

Donald Fagen----Walk Between The Raindrops----The Nightfly
The Nightfly is on of the best sounding "ordinary" LP's I've heard.

Michael Jackson----Rock With You----Off The Wall CBS Mastersound Half Speed Master
Great Quincy Jones production.

Charlie Byrd----At Seventeen----Charlie Byrd Crystal Clear 45RPM Direct To Disc
This puts Charlie and his trio right in front of me.

George Benson----entire LP----Give Me The Night Japanese Import
Better in every way than the US issue.

Wayne Shorter----entire LP----Speak No Evil Blue Note Direct Metal Master
Blue Note recordings are the BOMB!

Stravinsky The Firebird Telarc LP
A Telarc recording that will play on any TT. Tremendous Bass drum.

by **Nathan in MI** » 14 Jul 2009 03:25

JoeE SP9 wrote:I could be a smart ass and say, my vinyl copy of The 1812 from Telarc but I won't. Yeah, the one with the warning about it being audio's toughest challenge. It actually snapped a stylus right off the cantilever on a Shure V-15 cartridge.

...seriously? :shock:

by **blue-starfish** » 14 Jul 2009 05:10

- Round Up from Telarc - Magnificent Seven Theme song for scale and dynamics. Pops hoedown for ambience and litle details

- The Shadows 20 Golden Greats - Foot Tapper for system ability to unravel fast staccato beats and to make sense of the PRaT

- Enya Watermark - Deep deep slow sustained bass and rhythms over it

- Steely Dan's Can't Buy a Thrill and Aja - well recorded well pressed recordings with multiple layers of sound

- Dave Brubeck's Time Out

- Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle- for Sentimental Reasons - natural recording of a female voice with big band accompaniment

- Poetry of the Sea form JVC - Huge soundstage that appears from the entire wall behind the speakers and 3-D image of waves breaking around my ankles. Seagulls appear to be flying in the sky above. This LP can bring sensurround of the seaside into yr room if the system and room is done right

Testing Your System What Albums Do You Use

Testing your System what albums do you use