What would be a great song to use while auditioning speakers?

[highfigh]

One thing that reveals major deficiencies in speakers is human voice, speaking. If it's a voice that's familiar, it needs to sound as natural as possible. If this doesn't happen, they won't sound natural for music, either. Then, listen to well-recorded acoustic piano.

 

[cpp]

Another vote for Dire Straits, I use the CD 'On Every Street' as it has a great mix.

 

[Pyrrho]

One thing that reveals major deficiencies in speakers is human voice, speaking. If it's a voice that's familiar, it needs to sound as natural as possible. If this doesn't happen, they won't sound natural for music, either. Then, listen to well-recorded acoustic piano.

Yes, things that are natural sounds with which one is familiar are often the most revealing. An electric guitar always sounds like some speaker or other, so speaker distortions are part of the sound. This is one reason why one's standards and tastes in speakers are partly due to one's taste in music, as certain deficiencies and defects are less noticeable with some kinds of music than others.

 

[highfigh]

Yes, things that are natural sounds with which one is familiar are often the most revealing. An electric guitar always sounds like some speaker or other, so speaker distortions are part of the sound. This is one reason why one's standards and tastes in speakers are partly due to one's taste in music, as certain deficiencies and defects are less noticeable with some kinds of music than others.

IMO, unless a person is familiar with the sound of the actual guitar/amp/effects used, they should audition speakers with other music. Having said that, I played a CD that was so lifelike I had goosebumps because of the guitar/amp sound. There's no mistaking the sound of a tweed Fender amp and a Strat when you have one.

 

[GranteedEV]

One thing that reveals major deficiencies in speakers is human voice, speaking. If it's a voice that's familiar, it needs to sound as natural as possible. If this doesn't happen, they won't sound natural for music, either. Then, listen to well-recorded acoustic piano.

That's not fair - How many speakers can do a piano justice without costing a good bit?

Anyways, back on the topic of recommended recordings.

One recording I really like is on the McIntosh Test disc. "Libertango" - Astor Piazzolla. This disc also has a recording of Dvorak's FTNW Mv 4 (which is my GO-TO track when possible) but I am ::much:: more familiar with the Cleveland Orchestra version of... Even though it's the same piece, the one i'm familiar with has a different nature to it and if I accidentally took the McIntosh one to an audition I would be fooled into thinking the speakers I were hearing were "different" to say the least.

I guess my point is, you really need recordings you yourself are intimately familiar with. Even then, listening to them through speakers can form your opinion of timbre so it's not always a good thing to use recordings you only know from listening to speakers.

It's an eternal paradox. They're recordings, so the only reference you have for their accuracy is the recorded material - not the live performance. Yet great speakers might make the recorded material sound dull and weak speakers might make it sound live - is this the goal?

It's tough to say.

That's why I think, while auditioning speakers is important, you need measurements to verify what you're hearing. Was it the room that sounded great or poor? Was it the speaker?

Oh yeah, and another track I like to listen is "All in the Lights - Kanye West" (vinyl version). The horns at the start of this track just kick *** and really give a sense of "Is this the soundstage I want"

 

[MatthewB.]

I would have to put in my suggestion for an avante gard artist named Rufus Wainwright's "Oh, what a world" Song starts out just Rufus singing, then the music starts to build with what a basic garage band would have, then halfway through it builds and builds and builds into a full orchestra. You get everything from high frequency instruments to kick drums. It's actually great to listen to and will test the entire frequency spectrum of any full range speaker. But get the studio version and not the live version.

Next up would be the SACD of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd or the Gold version of "The Wall".

another great Dire Straights song from "Love over Gold" album "Industrial Disease"

 

[tom67]

Audition music

Actually, choral music like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is superb. It is very textured and complex with very high tones and low bass organ tones. It is the most difficult material to reproduce for most speakers. If applause sounds like rain and the bass inteferes with the vocals, you may want to look at another brand.There is something to be said for using music you are familar with, but I would avoid just guitar as it is easy to reproduce for most speakers.

 

[GranteedEV]

Actually, choral music like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is superb. It is very textured and complex with very high tones and low bass organ tones.

Choral music is a bit of an a"choir"ed taste but this does remind me.

Studio recordings don't, in my opinion, often show what a speaker can do. I find live recordings sound more...well.. live and are more revealing of the speakers reproducing them.

 

[cpp]

One also has to remember, you audition speakers with music you like to listen to, not what someone else might like as they will not be residing in your home listening to your system.

 

[highfigh]

"That's not fair - How many speakers can do a piano justice without costing a good bit?"

Well, we're here to improve audio quality, right?

"I guess my point is, you really need recordings you yourself are intimately familiar with. Even then, listening to them through speakers can form your opinion of timbre so it's not always a good thing to use recordings you only know from listening to speakers."

I understand your point but through different speakers, we can only become familiar with that performance through those speakers, unless the speakers we audition sound amazingly similar.

It's an eternal paradox. They're recordings, so the only reference you have for their accuracy is the recorded material - not the live performance. Yet great speakers might make the recorded material sound dull and weak speakers might make it sound live - is this the goal?

It's tough to say.

"That's why I think, while auditioning speakers is important, you need measure
ments to verify what you're hearing. Was it the room that sounded great or poor? Was it the speaker?"

Exactly- if we listen to music that we haven't heard before, we have to stop ourselves from concentrating so much on the performance and listen more to the sound, but IMO, what we use as source material needs to be something we can understand, musically. If someone who only listens to mainstream music is made to listen to avant-garde jazz, it won't go well. Definitely a paradox.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

what we use as source material needs to be something we can understand, musically. If someone who only listens to mainstream music is made to listen to avant-garde jazz, it won't go well.[/COLOR]

You have to listen to your own genre of music.

If you listen to both rock/pop & classical, then bring both.

But if you listen to rock/pop 100% of the time, don't even bother bringing classical music because you won't even know what to listen to.

 

[walter duque]

I take 3 CD's
"Brother in Arms"
Primus "Pork Soda"
And the best demo disc for me is the title song "Breaking Silence" by Janis Ian. Not that this is my type of music, but a few years ago I auditioned the Sonus Faber Stradivarius powered by 600 watt mono blocks and the store owner played that track at around -5 db and I was just blown away by it. Just a great song to demo speakers. You do need a good system to get the full impact.