What music do you demo with?

I take whatever is handy. Hi-Fi should make everything that I buy sound good.

Last time I took some lo-fi modern punk. (HDX demo)

It's hard to say.  Probably what ever is getting the most attention at the time of the demo.

I demo whatever holds my fancy at the time. I also bring music that highlights a specific thing I'm listening for. At my last demo I brought recordings that my system finds challenging to play as I wanted to see how a speaker change would make a difference on these recordings.

I certainly don't use pristine recordings as they'll sound good anyways.

I tend to use gear like The Dead Weather for example. And Jimmy Smith's "The Cat" album is a favorite.

There have been some very detailed threads on this, but since it is not possible to find past posts I have made, and a Google search only takes you to the root of the new forum, I am unable to give links.

Briefly.

Talk Talk -Laughing Stock - for reproduction of drums, and acoustic bass, as well as space in the recording.

Tool - Lateralus - for definition through a wall of sound guitar, and also to make sure the guitar can sound unpleasant.

David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive - acoustic and vocal clarity, as well as stereo placing.

Porcupine Tree - Trains from In Absentia, clarity through changes from gentle acoustic to loud rock.

Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending - EMI Nigel Kennedy - richness and emotion.

Also

Brian Eno & J Peter Swalm - Drawn from Life - clear, some very deep bass
Orbital - In Sides or Middle  of Nowhere, to have clarity and aggression in electronic music.
Thelonious Monk - Monks Music, because it is natural
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way - Miles Trumpet is harsh and like distorted guitar, has to have a balance between sounds harsh and musical.
Sting - Ten Sumners Tales - definition in cymbals, as well as some good pumping bass.
Yes - Close to the Edge often goes too.
William Orbit - Strange Cargo Hinterland - has been superseded by the Orbital, but a good one if you have it.
Korngold - Symphony No1

Friends have used.
AC/DC - Back in Black

I would now add an audience bootleg of Jean Michel Jarre in Amsterdam 2008, and astounding recording.

As a drummer I start with definition, and and then bring the sound back to musicality. I found long ago that you can get hooked on finding more and more definition but lose musicality. After finding a system that can play metal and techno, I then listen to some acoustic Sylvian, classical and jazz t make sure that it is still sounding like music, and not a laboratory test.

Perhaps not a method for a lot of people, but it has worked for me, which is why I have a Naim amp and CD player.

Probably more in older threads, but there, not as short as I thought.

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I found this on a webcache:

I am sure that this topic has been discussed over the many pages in this part of the forum before, but I thought that I would make a post giving some of the experiences I had when demonstrating the various items that make up my current system, and the music that helped make those decisions. (I did search to see if there was an unlocked topic active on this).

I would say that there are some very specific qualities that I require from my system, and that for many music listeners my setup would not fit their tastes.

I play drums, I like some very aggressive rock music and also techno. I also listen to ambient electronic (Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Redshift etc.), acoustic singer songwriters, jazz and some, but not a great deal of, classical music.

I am used to hearing guitars from monitors next to my drums, and one thing I do require is that kind of immediacy to the sound. It can also be said that although my range of hearing (low to high frequencies) is good (for someone in their 40s), I do have some mid range damage to my hearing from exposure to so much live guitar music, and monitoring.

I have not gone into demonstrations wishing to buy products of a specific manufacturer, but have allowed the sound to determine what I bought. I have been fortunate to be flexible on my budget as well.

For the last few demonstration sessions I have done, I have also had a method, which has been to find outright aggression in the sound, and then bring it back to musicality. Again, not a method for everyone, but one that works for me.

My music listening current equipment is:
Naim CD5x - Naim Nait 3 - Tannoy D300.

The Naim CD5x replaces an Arcam Alpha8 CD player.

I am ignoring the DVD and other AV equipment.

Demonstrating the Naim CD5x, November 2007.

I listened to a couple of Arcam CD players, but found them too 'soft', and indeed did not like the current models as much as the Alpha8 I was replacing. I then listened to the Rega (Saturn, I think £1200'ish) and the Naim CD5x.

The album that really made my choice was Porcupine Tree 'In Absentia', track 2 'Trains'.
I liked the sound of both the Rega and the Naim, but I found that although both had good separation on the instruments, the Naim, seemed to place the instruments in very specific places, while the Rega left them floating in the air.

'Trains' was such a good track to make the decision as it starts with acoustic guitar, and clear solo vocals, then the switch as the drums and bass come in test that there is no loss of projection when more instruments have to be dealt with.

Some of the other albums/tracks I used, and the reason why, in this demo were:
Talk Talk - 'Laughing Stock', track 2 'Ascension Day'.
For me this is the best recording of drums I have ever heard (twin mikes across the room I believe, no individual drum miking, honest and sounds like drums do sound), plus Danny Thompson's rich acoustic bass, overlaid by sharp electric guitar.

Tool - 'Lateralus' (hdcd), track 7 'Parabola' and track 8 'Ticks and Leeches'.
Very powerful and clear recording. Basically this is there to make sure that unpleasant 'overdriven' guitar, sounds unpleasant. Has very detailed drumming behind the guitar, and vocals buried deep in the mix. Difficult music to reproduce both the clarity and 'wall of guitar' sound at the same time.

Orbital - 'Middle of Nowhere', track 3 'Know Where to Run', also track 2 'Spare Parts Express'.
In the same way as the guitar in Tool has to have power and projection, the bass break in 'Know Where to Run' has to feel like being at a festival with your ribs vibrating to the sound system. At the same time the melodic layers over the rhythm section must stay clear and uplifting.

I also listened to Orbital - 'In Sides', any track work well in this situation.

(Nigel) Kennedy, Simon Rattle, CBSO - 'Elgar - Violin Concerto', 'The Lark Ascending' (EMI 7243 5 56413 2 8) track 4 'The Lark Ascending'
To make sure that through all this aggression, that the system can also have some beauty, clarity, and gentleness.

Sting - 'Ten Sumners Tales' track 1 'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You' and track 6 'Seven Days'.
'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You' - to make sure that the pumping bass line pumps, and 'Seven Days' to hear all the detailed cymbal playing, especially the splash cymbals that can be hard to define.

Also used.
Karfawerk 'Expo 2000', 'Tour de France: Soundtracks', Dead Can Dance 'The Serpents Egg', Joni Mitchell 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter', Thelonious Monk Septet 'Monk's Music', for clarity, and for voices.

I forgot to take Brain Eno and J Peter Schwalm - 'Drawn from Life' (tracks 2,4 & 6, 'Persis',, 'Like Pictures Part#2' and 'Rising Dust'), which alongside Talk Talk 'Laughing Stock' is may favorite recording.

Very importantly I also used.
David Sylvian - 'Secrets of the Beehive' track 6 'When Poets Dreamed of Angels'.
This is also a very important album for demonstrating systems for me, and goes back to 1994 when I bought my Arcam Alpha 8. I had almost chosen a Marantz CD player, when I tried this album one last time, and this made me change my mind completely. The Marantz was more detailed, but simply didn't sound like music when playing such a warm and gentle recording. Perhaps the warmth of this fits with the characteristics of the Arcam's warm sound anyway, but it did stop me from following a route of clarity at the expense of everything else, and reminded me that the system is to live with, and to make music.

In 1999 when I bought my Naim Nait 3 and Tannoy D300s.
I used many of the same recordings, but also:
William Orbit - 'Strange Cargo Hinterland' track 1 'Million Town' and track 3 'Montok Point', seemingly a h-fi fanatics favorite, but a little dated in its production these days, but still a good demo album.
Killing Joke - 'Pandemonium' which has been replaced by the Tool album, but served the same function.
Brian Eno - 'Apollo' - frequency, especially bass, response.
Korngold 'Symphony in F Sharp Major', (Chandos), Sir Edward Downes, BBC Philharmonic

I did try the Naim separate pre and power amps when I demonstrated the Nait 3, but I do like the aggression of the Nait 3. I tried various other makes of amp too, but nothing came near to my enjoyment of the Naim. In particular I didn't like the Musical Fidelity amplifier, which I expect is aimed at the opposite type of sound to the one I require. The person doing the demonstration set up an amp and speakers costing two or three times my choice of Nait 3 and D300s, just to make sure of the type of sound I didn't want. He thought I would not like it, and was interested that I confirmed this.

At the end of the demonstration for the Naim CD5x, Andrew at Audio Republic, said that some guitarists he knew found his system un-engaging, which does have a more sophisticated sound, but would probably find my system much more to their liking. He also asked if I minded him playing a Whitesnake live album with a quite blistering guitar solo, which is exactly the thing my system does reproduce very well. We also discussed if music is something pleasant and relaxing, which to most people it is, but I contested that it sometimes does need to be unpleasant.

My system is does not have a sophisticated sound, it would almost certainly not suit someone who listens to primarily to classical music, especially string quartets, but it does have a quite an immediacy that suits my needs.

I would be very interested to hear what specific recordings have helped make the choices others here have made when choosing their systems.

http://webcache.googleusercont...rce=www.google.co.uk

Another cached post from the past that is relevant. I only searched (Google search) using my id as part of the search, but you might find others.

Remember to follow the caches link at the bottom of Google searches, thanks Davidge.