Enter to Win: $50 Gift Certificate from SVS

[Tom Andry]

SV Subwoofers wants your opinion!

SV Subwoofers is offering (2) $50.00 Gift Certificates redeemable up to 6 months after the drawing date (January 30th, 2006) to forum members that answer the question below in this forum.

To be eligible to win, you must: 1) Be a registered Audioholics forum member, 2) Have USA or Canadian Residence 3) Answer the question below in this contest thread:

Contest Question: What CDs/DVDs do you use to test out a system? Please list what each of your preferred discs is good at testing.


Note this contest ends on January 31st, 2006. Winners will be drawn shortly thereafter

Have fun and good luck!

 

[agarwalro]

Edit (01/27/06): Ok, I have finally made up my mind, if I win, I am getting my PB-12 Ultra. Since I dont have the balls to suck it up and fork out the cash, I am going to leave it to chance.

What CDs/DVDs do you use to test out a system? Please list what each of your preferred discs is good at testing.

Music:
Tool - Lateralis (good dynamics, good recording)
Dave Brubeck Quatet - Time Out (details, good recording)
Paul van Dyk - Columbia EP (Thump in your chest value)
Animusic (Cool factor)

Movies:
The 5th Element (overall fun movie with good audio and video)
Finding Nemo (overall fun movie with good audio and video)
U-571 (bass demo)
THX sampler (surround sound demo)

 

[bigbassdave]

I use The Lord of the Rings Two Towers or Gladiator for Dvds and for the cd I use the Eagles When Hell Freezes Over

 

[malvado78]

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (DTS)
Fifth Element (Superbit)
Porcupine Tree: Deadwing
Diana Krall: Christmas Songs

 

[Rutlanda]

Testers

Movies:
LOTR ROK
NEMO
The Fifth Element
Gladiator DTS
The Haunting DTS

Music:
Several Mapleshade recordings
Allison Kraus + Union Station
Tool Lateralis
Diana Krall, Live in Paris

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

U571 for subwoofers. I also have a burned CD-R containing stuff used at car SPL events. That disc usually bottoms out every sub I test.

Talking Heads, Blues Traveler, and Diana Krall for music.

 

[MacManNM]

Movies: BladeII, Hellboy, war of the worlds, sin city, Flight of the Phoenix (opening sequence), The Punisher, The Hulk

Music:
Telearc 1812, Time warp.

 

[warpdrive]

CD's
Sheffield Labs: Creme de la Creme,
- for testing vocals-> Amanda McBroom tracks, Bass tightness-> Drum tracks).

DVD's:
- War of the Worlds, Flight the Phoenix -> bass demo
- Fifth Element Superbit -> sound and picture quality

 

[Jim Robbins]

Demo DVDs

I like to show off my system, so I go for:

Elephant scene in LOTR: Return of the King Extended
It has lots of cool subsonics when the feet smash down, etc...

Attack on the Harbor Scene in Pearl Harbor
Yeah, I know it is a little older, but it has great surround sound, and cool low frequence sounds as well.

First Alien ship emerging from the earth in War of the Worlds
This one is incredible! You feel like it is really going to rip the walls of your house open. Tons of bass. One of my audiophile buddies read somewhere that the sound actually contains data down to 5hz. I think I have a highpass filter on my sub at 10hz to keep me from dying or something. But anyway, this one is a great test of your sound system.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

CDs = Joe Satriani / Crystal Planet, Burning for Buddy Volume 1, plus many others. I need to burn a new CD just for this one of these days. (after reveiwing this tread)

DVDs = Eric Clapton / Crossroads Guitar Festival & The Incredibles

 

[lbjazz]

Test Discs

I usually only test a system using music because if it can do music well then it will do movies well enough for me.

Marcus Miller - lots of quick lows that test the tightness and smoothness of a subwoofer and a full range speaker.

YoYo Ma plays Ennio Morricone - Extremely dynamic and lush music that can really make a lot of speakers sound bad. I esecially like the Ecstacy of Gold from the Good the Bad and the Ugly.

Norah Jones - I turn the volume way up and see how the speakers do with her voice in more dynamic moments. I've heard many otherwise decent speakers break up her voice.

Dream Theater - I like to use Overture 1928 from Scenes From A Memory. It's not the greatest recording, but I test insturment separation with it.

 

[Josuah]

Kodo - Ibuki CD: Bass - loud bass
Moulin Rouge DVD: Musical separation (being able to distinguish between the overlapping singing and music)
Blue Man Group - Audio DVD-Audio: 5.1 sound panning
Tori Amos - To Venus and Back CD: Live audio, piano, vocals
The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole CD: Simultaneous wide-spectrum note reproduction
Various Classical CD: soundstage, dynamics, full spectrum reproduction
Suzanne Vega - Various CD: vocal reproduction

 

[mpompey]

I use the following dvds to test out my system:

Master and Commander: Scene where the Acheron attacks in the beginning
LOTR:ROTK, The attack of the Haradrim and oliphants
LOTR:FOTR, The Balrog of Morgoth
Chronicles of Riddick, Scene where the Necros attack Helion
War of the worlds, Alien pod lifts out of the ground

CDs
Chesky Records, Oregon
Miles Davis, Some Kind of Blue
Kings X, Dogman
Van Halen, Balance
Pink Floyd, Echoes

 

[masak_aer]

I use:
DVD:
Potter Chamber of Secrets: The scene when the trio were beaten by the tree (great sub test).
Matrix Reloaded: The scene when Neo fights the agents on a field (great surround sound).
Yanni Live at the Acropolis: overall test for sound clarity.


CD: Sting: Fields of Gold

 

[KeithT]

DVD
Open Range-bass, surrounds, dynamics
The Incredibles-bass, surrounds, dynamics
Godsmack-Changes-bass, dynamics
War of the Worlds 2005-bass, surrounds, dynamics
I, Robot-bass, surrounds, dynamics
Hellboy Director's cut-bass, surrounds, dynamics
Diana Krall-Live in Paris-overall sound and dynamics
Batman Begins-bass, surrounds, dynamics
Blueman Group-Audio-bass, surrounds, dynamics
Spiderman 2-bass, surrounds, dynamics


CD
Beastie Boys-Licensed to Ill
AC/DC-Back in Black, Highway to Hell
Primus-Sailing the see of Cheese
We Were Soldiers-OST
Braveheart-OST

 

[Sheep]

DVD:
The Incredibles
U571
LOTR: All of them
Finding Nemo
War Of the Worlds
Batman Begins
Team America
Matrix Revolutions
Star Wars Ep. 1
Star Wars Ep. 3
Gladiator
Saving Private Ryan
Sin City

Music:
The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute (dynamics)
Eagles: Hell freezes over (everything)
Thrice: Vhiessu (Clean bass)
Blue Man Group: The Complex (Bass)

SheepStar

 

[fanofht]

I use i,Robot, the scene where the house is getting destroyed with Will Smith still inside, there's lots of bass(big machine destroying house) and highs(gunshots and shattering glass) and lots of detail of splintering wood!

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

CD's
Various

DVD's:
War of the Worlds, KODO, Incredibles, Pearl Harbor, All LOTR, Opening sceen of Gladiator

 

[nosaj]

Test CD

I prefer to use Classical Music CDs.

Piano for mid and clarity.
Strings for highs and placement.
Organ or low and fullness.

Additionally I use Jazz or Prog/Rock for the same tests but it is more selective and must be clean, not distorted heavy metal as it is not representative of good input.

 

[bobbydigital]

cds pink floyd: wish you were here This track contains massive
Track- Welcome to the Machine amounts of bass at the start

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Use to adjust sub phase and
Album : Flight of the Cosmic Hippo level and also speaker
placement.

DVDs- KILL BILL 1&2 Great DD &DTS tracks with lots
Surround effects, bass and lots
dialog. Use dialoge to adjust
center ch equilizer
LOrd of the Rings 1,2,3

Pink Floyd The Wall Great DD 5.1 and 2 channel PCM
Tracks. material is very familiar.
good audio set-up in dvd menu