I would highly suggest using material that you are VERY familiar with. Regardless of the type or artist, if you are absolutely familiar with the track, you should be able to hear the difference.
That said, I usually use some very familiar live recordings. These live recordings have various different details in them that become more obvious on higher resolution systems and in a really good system you get a feeling of actually sitting in the audience. On high resolution systems you can actually hear conversations going on in the audience and you get a real sense of the room dimentions of the venue.
I generally use Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley" and Patricia Barber's "Companion". I also like some cuts on Indigo Girls "1200 Curfews". Obviously, I'm a fan of female vocals!
Again I would highly suggest using the most familiar recordings you know. If you don't have any familiar music, I would highly suggest getting familiar with something before you start auditioning. If you like classical, choose classical. Large scale classical pieces seem to me to be particularly difficult to recreate with a stereo rig.
Whatever you do, don't let the audio store people choose your music. Every store will have different favorites and you won't get any consistency.
Enjoy,
TIC
That said, I usually use some very familiar live recordings. These live recordings have various different details in them that become more obvious on higher resolution systems and in a really good system you get a feeling of actually sitting in the audience. On high resolution systems you can actually hear conversations going on in the audience and you get a real sense of the room dimentions of the venue.
I generally use Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley" and Patricia Barber's "Companion". I also like some cuts on Indigo Girls "1200 Curfews". Obviously, I'm a fan of female vocals!
Again I would highly suggest using the most familiar recordings you know. If you don't have any familiar music, I would highly suggest getting familiar with something before you start auditioning. If you like classical, choose classical. Large scale classical pieces seem to me to be particularly difficult to recreate with a stereo rig.
Whatever you do, don't let the audio store people choose your music. Every store will have different favorites and you won't get any consistency.
Enjoy,
TIC