To my ears the more resolving the stereo is, the harder rock is to play at louder levels. Distorted guitars come off as grating in many recordings from the decades that rock and roll dominated the airwaves. In the 70s and 80s most of this music was recorded nearfield and optimized for auto radio play. This also caused poor bass recording. Some of the newer rock recordings have steered towards a more audiophile recording mentality. Examples... Nothing but Thieves / Broken Machine and Chevelle / Niratias. I use equalization in my system to add bass and smooth grating higher frequencies in many older rock recordings and bypass the e.q. when not needed.
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I recall decades ago Bud Fried(IMF and Fried speakers) told me the hardest instruments to get right in order are male voice, female voice and piano. Voice because we are so familiar with it and male voice is harder because it goes lower than female where speakers often do poorly. Piano because it is wildly dynamic, sudden peaks of 39 dB and more. So I would find opera with both voices and and orchestra to reproduce and separateerful choice. and a powerful piano concerto another pow |
The most challenging anything to do it that which you do not like. Polka? @elliottbnewcombjr glad you are still here, you seemed pretty down the other day |
Tonality - Human Voice. Male or female, It shouldn't sound tubby, chesty, cupped, or nasal, Emmy Lou Harris Eva Cassidy, Aaron Neville, Mark Knopfler (His voice turns to mud on a lot of systems) Dynamics - A big symphony, Beethoven's 9th is the first that comes to mind Detail - Acoustic guitar. Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden. "Beyond The Missouri Sky" Soundstage - Any well recorded live album, regardless of genre, classical, jazz, rock. Dan Hicks "Where's The Money" on a goodsystem will put you in The Troubador circa 1972. The first time I ever heard Magneplanar Tympani IIIs biamped with Audio Research D-76s and D52s with this album was life changing.
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CD’s (lp’s are subject to any possible/minor alignment errors, a particular cartridge’s sound). (turn your ac system off). Vocals: I listen at home; take these CDs to Showrooms; then listen again at home. There are dynamic portions, but I want to hear Richard Burton’s voice. It is easy to ’know’ if it is ’off’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne%27s_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds Next, Barbra Streisand/Donna Summers Duet: No More Tears. The similarities and subtle differences of their voices is amazingly revealing. https://www.discogs.com/release/494873-Barbra-Streisand-Donna-Summer-No-More-Tears-Enough-Is-Enough Next, my beloved Cassandra Wilson, her voice better be ’right’. Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams: lots going on, sparkling highs and fading footsteps, channel separation, and again her voice better be right.
Dynamics/Range/Extension: this can be a trap, accurate may not be best for your ears/room/pleasure. One way to be objective is to play test CD, and measure/document with a SPL meter rather than your ears. Test CD, at listening position, ear level. Make a chart, write results down. Amazing Bytes Test Tones, tracks 9 to 38 https://www.discogs.com/release/7290000-Various-Amazing-Bytes there are others, luckily I got this when it was free, expensive now. Extension: same thing, it can be a trap, more might not be best. My JSE Infinite Slope Model II were always impressive at shows, finally got a pair, they were the most accurate speakers I ever owned (my friend has them now, restored). Joseph Audio uses some of the original Modafferri patents now) https://www.audioclassics.com/mods But, after a while I missed the sound of my less accurate vintage 4 way horns, with L-Pads to adjust for/in the room and for your particular preferences. (hard to get right, but when you do ,,,) Canons ....boom, but balanced to other frequencies?
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It depends on what you are testing. There is no one genre that does it all. In terms of low bass performance nothing beats the right organ piece. In terms of imaging nothing beats a great string quartet recording. In terms of dynamic performance, percussion pieces and NIN. If you want to get a divorce, Slipknot. |
+1 Vocals are the most challenging. We hear human voices every day for a reference. Do they sound natural in your system? (Allowing for a slight touch of reverb.) For something different, visit a piano dealer. While someone playing, listen from 5 ft away. 15 ft away. 25 ft away. It will be educational. Getting both vocals and a grand piano right would the ultimate success. |
Two channel stereo is an irretrievably broken format limited to the typical music you hear played at hifi shows (lame). A system has to be painstakingly assembled at high cost and will generally sound acceptable in only one spot in a room, the "sweet" spot. Scrap this sham and start over with an immersive audio system. Click the link below for more info: Audio Engineer explains why "Why Dolby Atmos is Definitely Going to Supersede Stereo" “We’ve been waiting for a replacement for stereo for decades,” says Jan ’Stan’ Kybert, the engineer responsible for installing the Dean St. Studios facility. “It’s an ancient technology. With music you want to feel something, like with a Saturday night or Sunday morning record. They make me feel ‘Saturday night’ or ‘Sunday morning’. That feeling has been lost with stereo now, and it’s not stereo’s fault, but with Dolby Atmos that feeling is there. It’s bigger, more exciting and wants to make you move, be more intimate, more relaxed or whatever. Everything it does it does it on a richer level.” |
A grand piano is a brutal test, especially for loudspeakers and phono cartridges. As the pianists hands descend down the keyboard, does the timbre and tonality of the instrument change? A very dynamic piano performance that has been well recorded is a real challenge for phono cartridges. The sound of stylus mistracking is extremely amusical. Another is densely recorded large ensembles of either singers (as in choirs) or orchestras. How much inner detail can you hear? For great recordings of choirs (and pipe organs), look for LP’s on the Ark label, recorded by speaker designer Robert Fulton. Beautiful, delicate voices captured in very natural sound, each voice clearly separate from the others. And Robert captured the huge "shuddering" sound of pipe organs in large spaces (cathedrals), the sound of the lowest bass pedals more felt than heard (assuming the system plays that low. The 32 ft. pipe produces a 16Hz tone!) J.Gordon Holt’s first priority in h-fi was reproducing the human voice free of what he called "vowel coloration", a term I immediately understood when I first read it. Many (most?) loudspeakers fail this test miserably. I recorded my 2 year old son's voice using a small diaphragm condenser mic plugged straight into a Revox A77 to use for loudspeaker evaluations. Talk about a brutal test! |
I would agree with @ghdprentice that overall, a classical symphony is the biggest challenge. But as I do not listen nor attend a lot of classical music, I use piano and vocals as my “challenge” for a system, as I am very familiar with many vocals and what a piano should sound like.
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Classical. For a long time, I wondered why folks that were into classical had the most expensive systems…. by a lot. An orchestra goes from playing a single instrument at near the level of perception to the entire orchestra overwhelming the ears to differentiate the wall of sound and everything in between. After having season tickets to a great symphony orchestra for over ten years… no question… classical. |
Vocalists. Any genre. Do the male voices suffer from a buzzy midrange distortion? Or do they sound rich, clear and authentically human? Are the sibilants spitty or hashy? Or are they just like you hear when somebody's talking to you? The same goes for saxophones. Big Band Jazz and Romantic Era Orchestral music can be good tests, as well. Big Band can test the system's ability to punch. Classical has a good chance of showing off a system's ability to create spaciousness and a believable soundstage. |