Entertainment For Lively Minds
hi fi listening room records
Posted by tonyhunter on 31 October 2008 - 1:28am.
A brief discussion point in a recent podcast was music played to show of sound systems .Brothers in arms , floyd, elgar were cited.
being of a certain age I'd like to nominate 2 absolute certainties from the time i was exploring things stereophonic
The disco track - the hustle
Supertramp's Crime of the Century - particularly Dreamer.
Enough to make you want to hide in your shell
Any others?
Tony
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Your own favourite....
Its important that you use albums that you mainly listen too no matter how "HiFI friendly" they are - no good having a fancy HiFi system if it makes all your favourites sound crap !
Having said that, in the past I have used Kate Bush / Hounds of Love (happens to be a favourite also!) extensively - the complexity of the music is a good test to see whether it is able to pick out the individual instruments etc etc. Also used Dire Straits, but Love Over Gold rather than Brothers in Arms - Private Investigations is good. Other recommendations would be Peter Gabriel's Up (good recording) and Seal's first album (the opening on Crazy is a good test of bass).
err thanks for that
I was more just opening up a chat on what music the hi fi shops typically pump up to bedazzle you rather than seeking advice on reference tracks
The catch with stuff like the ken scott produced supertramp was that they tended to make any crap system sound good
tony
Ahh I see
I bought my hifi from a shop who demoed it with a Styx CD - so I shot home and bought a load of my own round! I seem to remember "Little Love Letters" by Carleen Carter was so appreciated by the shop they bought a copy for their own use!
Christ allmighty
a Styx CD? What was the shop called? "Valhalla Video and Stereo"? "Spandex Soundz"? "Hardcore Heavy HiFi"?
One of the first songs I ever heard on a pair of headphones
was by Jon & Vangelis. It was either "Hear Me Now" or "Find My Way Home". I don't think these were THE songs to hear but I do remember being genuinely amazed.
Another was "Flash" by Queen.
Lots of sound effects whizzing from left to right, very exciting.
Edgar
Try "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Group through headphones - the synth and drum parts are channel switching madness, but the ensemble playing too is sharply brought into focus. Worth 79p of anyone's money this fine Friday morning.
When I bought my first 'serious' bit of hi-fi kit...
...I was listening to Elton's 'Captain Fantastic' LP so I used that as my 'reference record'. Ever since then, every time I buy a new bit of kit, that's the album I play first.
It's not even a record I particularly like (although it is Sir Elt's best work) but it gives me a fixed point to compare to.
Only today, the nice DHL man brought me a new old Quad amp and, tomorrow I'll listen to Capt Fantastic through it :-)