Please recommend a reference CD for 2 Channel Stereo

[Trevor Schell]

Hi!

Just looking for some recommendations for some really good 2 channel stereo recordings that one would want to use for some nice critical reference listening and demo'ing.

Thanks,




Trevor
My HomeTheater S.E.
Sonically Enhanced
C5

[JonMarsh]

Whooooo Boyyy! Drag a chair up and sit down, let's see what we can come up with.

I tend to like some live recordings a lot; here's a good one:

Patricia Barber, "Companion", Jazz, on the Bluenote/Premonition label. 724352296323

This one sounds great, unless you hear the JVC XRCD2 version from First Impressions Music, which sounds as close to the master tape as CD will ever get. (FIM XRCD2 027)

Also in a Jazz vein, from Telarc, "Jacques Lousseir Plays Bach", CD83411 (this is one I really, REALLY hope Telarc re-releases on SACD).

Another Telearc Jazz, but a hybrid SACD/CD, (also availalbe on SBM CD downconverted from DSD), "Mcoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Fosgter", CD-83488-SA.

One last Telarc, with a more Latin flavor, "La Vienta", sort of like Acoustic Alchemy on steroids, CD-83359.

Now, a torture test disk. Hooters, "Nervous Night". CK39912. Recorded hot, lots of dynamics, hot mix on cymbols. Most CD players make a hash of the cymbols; any problems with your tweeters or amps or whatever will just make it worse. With a first rate CD player or SACD player in CD mode (I'm talking Ayre D1 in "listen" mode on filters, or SCD777ES in DF3), this recording is very alive sounding rock).

If you'd like something in rock or pop that's mellow but very well recorded, try James Taylor "Hour Glass". Available on CD and SACD; the SACD number is CS6792. Very clean sound, some VERY low bass and good dynamics on some cuts. Excellent demo material, particularly for IB subs.

If you're partial to any Cajun or Zydeco based music, it's easy to recommend Sonny Landreth's "Outward Bound", on Praxis, 72445-11032-2.

In a new age/jazz vein, Oregon has some excellent albums; try giving "Beyond Words" a listen- recorded by Chesky records (128X oversampling), JD130.

In a very classic Jazz style, "Jazz at the Pawnshop is available from Proprius on standard CD (PRCD 7778) and on an XRCD2 version from FIM. It is announced to be in production for SACD; I'll scoop up that version when available. It's a great analog tape master dating from the 70's.

In what for some will be the "difficult listening" category, I've got two to recommend for both musical qualities and sonics. Ravi Shankar, "Tana Mana" has a number of excellent cuts, including one, "West Eats Meat", that will turn many systems to mush; it's a real transient work out with a wide variety of drums across the whole frequency range.

For percussion music par excellence, ThomasW turned me on to Evelyn Glennie, a deaf percussionist reknown for her performances, who appears with many musical orgainzations around the world. Try "Shawdow behind the iron sun" to get started with her. 09026 63406-2 on BMG music.

Now, for SACD- there are so many good ones, I'm only going to highlight one each in a few categories. Note that many of the available re-issues far exceed the CD on a midrange system or better (my definition of midrange!), (such as Santanna Abraxas, Jeff Beck Blow by Blow, Friday Night in San Francisco, etc), but I'm going to stick to some basics-

1. Rock: Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Couldn't Stand the Weather". ES65871

2. Pop/folk: James Taylor "Hourglass", see above.

3. Classical: Piano Trios, the Florestan Trio, Hyperion SACDA67114- a hybird, plays on CD also.

4. Big Band: Duke Ellington, "Blues in Orbit", Mo-Fi, UDCD757 (out of print, in stock a few places, like Acoustic Sounds).

5. Latin: Gloria Estefan, "Alma Caribenna", Epic ES62163.



Naturally, I'll had to include a group of SACD's at some point; sorry guys, no matter how good your best CD's are, good SACD's are better. ThomasW was very skeptical of that until I literally shipped out my player to him last year; he ordered his own the next day.... be forewarned.

Regards,

Jon




Earth First!
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We'll screw up the other planets later....

[Trevor Schell]

Wow Jon!,,

That pretty much covers every style of music out there.
Thank You very much!,,
I printed this list to shop from.




Trevor
My HomeTheater S.E.
Sonically Enhanced
C5

[Andrew Pratt]

trev you might also want to pick up that chesky sampler CD I posted about. Chesky CD's tend to be very well mixed.

What kind of music do you normally listen to? Fire me an email with your shipping address and I'll send you a copy of my demo CD that I put together.

[Lex]

Also, Sarah Mclachlan Fumbling Towards Escacy, and Freedom Sessions. There's a 2 disc gold set out there that's just plain awesome!

Jashua Redman "Spirit of the Moment,Live at the Vangaurd".

Holly Cole Temptation

I also like one of my favorites, Christian McBride, "Gettin To it".




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