Best CD's for Auditioning/Showing Off Your Classe Electronics

[moonlightdrive21]

What CD's and DVD's do you like to use?

Here is what I like to test with:

Clapton Unplugged (still stands the test of time)
Norah Jones (any of her CD's - amazing vocals and beautifully subtle instruments)
John Mayer Trio Live - Try (Great to test balls, dynamics, great sounding live guitar rock)
Muddy Waters Folk Singer (wanna pretend someone is playing live on a stool 10 feet in front of you?)
Alicia Keys Unplugged (superb for testing bass/dynamics, multiple live instruments coming together, some tracks have great vocals too)
Shostakovich String Quartets - Emerson String Quartet (really amazing chamber music and sound, very musical, highly recommended)
Norris Turney - Big Sweet N' Blue - Maple Shade Productions (the sound of the instruments are amazingly resolved)
Eiji Oue - Exotic Dances From the Opera - Reference Recordings (big dramatic orchestral music)

DVD's:
Eric Clapton, One More Car One More Driver (the best!!, your friends will be blown away)
U2 Live at Boston
Bruce Springstein - Hammersmith Odeon Live 1975 (even though this is an old recording, they somehow got great sound out of it, with ThunderRoad you will think Bruce is in your room, best Bruce show ever)

[sikoniko]

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here... WOW! (especially shine on you crazy diamond)
Santana - Abraxas - love the percussion in gypsy queen at the end of BMW.
Bob Marley - Legend
Star Wars Episode IV - Cantina Scene music.
Banyan - Anytime at all
Janes Addiction - the song "3 days" off of Ritual Day La Habitual
Jimi Hendrix - Blues

Just a few and in no particular order...

[moonlightdrive21]

Jimi Hendrix - Blues.

Easily one of my all time favorite CD's!!

[RobP]

Norah Jones--Any CD will do

Jack Johnson-- On and On
This one I really like, I believe it is track seven, starts out with the background beach recording, on a good setup you feel like you should pick your feet up off the floor so they dont get wet from the waves coming in.

Sarah K
Supertramp- Crime of the Century

[photoman]

Natalie Merchant - Tiger Lily, Ophelia

Norah Jones - Come away with me

Pink Floyd - Division Bell, Wish you where here, Meddle, the Wall, Dark Side of the moon, Animals, Obscured by clouds

David Gilmour - On an Island

Ottmar Liebert - Opium - all his stuff is good

Govi - Guitar Odyssey - all his stuff is pretty good

Led Zepplin - House of the Holy, In through the out door - almost anything else

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Chris Botti

Alan Parson - I Robot

Coldplay - X & Y

Rush - anything (must have the re-masters CD tough, otherwise they sound like *&^%)

Just a tiny sample - hell everything I got sounds good on my system

[sikoniko]

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

I saw RHCP at the beginning of the month in Orlando. What an amazing concert! My wife even loved it, and thought it was one of the best, most energetic concerts she has seen! They ended it with a 15 minute guitar/bass/drum solo.

I almost added Blook Sugar Sex Magik as well.

[chasw98]

Spyro Gyra - Collection. Well recorded.
Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Ruth. Very clear.

[moonlightdrive21]

Natalie Merchant - Tiger Lily, Ophelia

Norah Jones - Come away with me

Pink Floyd - Division Bell, Wish you where here, Meddle, the Wall, Dark Side of the moon, Animals, Obscured by clouds

David Gilmour - On an Island

Ottmar Liebert - Opium - all his stuff is good

Govi - Guitar Odyssey - all his stuff is pretty good

Led Zepplin - House of the Holy, In through the out door - almost anything else

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Chris Botti

Alan Parson - I Robot

Coldplay - X & Y

Rush - anything (must have the re-masters CD tough, otherwise they sound like *&^%)

Just a tiny sample - hell everything I got sounds good on my system

Our musical taste is very similar, I'm a big fan of most of the CD's you listed. :T

[photoman]

If you like that list your in for a treat. Regards.

[photoman]

I saw RHCP at the beginning of the month in Orlando. What an amazing concert! My wife even loved it, and thought it was one of the best, most energetic concerts she has seen! They ended it with a 15 minute guitar/bass/drum solo.

I almost added Blook Sugar Sex Magik as well.

Agreed. Just got Stadium on vinyl can't wait to spin it. New Audio Research Ph5 is in; fun time this weekend whoopee :B

[ChrisssB]

Cowboy Junkies : The Trinity Session (great recording)
Patricia Barber: Mythologies (ah....a personall favorite, I love that gal)
K.D. Lang: Humns of the 49th parallel
Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits HDCD (check out Private Investigations & Brothers In Arms)
Pink Floyd: wish you were here
Blade runner: soundtrack (Blade Runner Blues & Memories Of Green: Haunting stuff)

[KRC]

Cassandra Wilson - any
Rush R30 - the whole thing from start to finish
Josh Grobin (I know chick magnet) - "Live at the Greek" acoustically excellent

Kevin

[scanido]

DreamGirls soundtrack
Akon - his latest one
Keisha Cole - amazing recordings
SoulFood soundtrack
Dr.Dre - any album, this one will make or break your system!

I find rap to be a very tough genre. Your system needs to be extremely dynamic, fast yet very smooth!

I wonder if Classe is suitable for my type of music? I heard they can be too laid back.

[sikoniko]

DreamGirls soundtrack
Akon - his latest one
Keisha Cole - amazing recordings
SoulFood soundtrack
Dr.Dre - any album, this one will make or break your system!

I find rap to be a very tough genre. Your system needs to be extremely dynamic, fast yet very smooth!

I wonder if Classe is suitable for my type of music? I heard they can be too laid back.

I have Dre 2000. What track you want me to listen to? I'll give you my impressions...

[Glen B]

I find rap to be a very tough genre. Your system needs to be extremely dynamic, fast yet very smooth!

I wonder if Classe is suitable for my type of music? I heard they can be too laid back.

No problem over the years with rap on my Classé system. Here's a cross-section of my collection:

Baby aka The #1 Stunna - Birdman
Murphy Lee - Murphy's Law
LiL Flip - U Gotta Feel Me
Ludacris - Word of Mouf
Mobb Deep - Infamy
MURS - Then End of The Beginning
N.O.R.E. - God's Favorite
Eric Sermon - React
Snoop Dogg - Tha Last Meal
Snoop Dogg - R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta)
Snoop Dogg - Paid Tha Cost to Be The Boss
Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment

[sikoniko]

I prefer old school myself.. can't get into the new stuff.

A Tribe Called Quest
Run DMC
LL Cool J
Public Enemy
Beastie Boys
2 Live Crew
NWA
Ice Cube

[RobP]

Run DMC
LL Cool J
Public Enemy
Beastie Boys

Wow, does that bring back memories! :lol:

[scanido]

I have Dre 2000. What track you want me to listen to? I'll give you my impressions...

The recording is of high quality, any tracks would be a good test. I particularly like Still DRE and Xplosive.

Let us know your findings with this genre.

[scanido]

I prefer old school myself.. can't get into the new stuff.

A Tribe Called Quest
Run DMC
LL Cool J
Public Enemy
Beastie Boys
2 Live Crew
NWA
Ice Cube

I agree,

Can't forget these ones...

Notorious B.I.G
NAS
2Pac

[BasementJax]

LOL, I never expected to see a HipHop discussion in Club Classé.

I think it's a crap shoot with a lot of the new releases. Some really good sound quality, others... um, not so much. It's not strictly HipHop, but the new Nelly Furtado "Loose" really surprised me. Wish I could hear it on Aldo's system!

[sikoniko]

The recording is of high quality, any tracks would be a good test. I particularly like Still DRE and Xplosive.

Let us know your findings with this genre.

ok, but it wont be until this weekend. the room is a mess and under construction.. not able to relax and listen at the moment.

[moonlightdrive21]

For those of you with great surround sound setups, you would be doing yourself an injustice not to experience Eric Clapton's "One More Care One More Driver" DVD concert (5.1 mix).

Even if you are not a big Clapton fan, renting it would be worth it just so you can hear how amazing the sonics are reproduced on your system. I have yet to experience anything even close to this one for showing off all aspects of the system. Party guests love it!

By the way, Run DMC (especially "Raising Hell") were my ultimate rap artists, none of the newer rappers can do it as well in my opinion. ;x( Also have good memories of Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick's short time together. :T O.K., now back to Mozart and Metallica... :-y