What selections do you play when showing off your system to others?

I’ve found the best way to show my system off to others is to let them control the queue. While the listener may appreciate analyzing the music you play, they will likely not resonate emotionally with it because they don’t know it very well.

@blisshifi  absolutely.  +1.

I am digital only, and right now my first choice would probably be Cowboy Junkies?Trinity Sessions on my  (I think, Analogue Productions) SACD.

I would also use my MFSL SACDs of Dire Straits self titled or DireStraits/Love Over Gold (particularly the first track). 

I have four different digital pressings of Patricia Barber/Cafe Blue, and I'd probably use one of the two SACDs of that.

The problem with that, however, is that I have found if the listener's taste in music varies from what I've picked out, it is not all that effective of a demonstration.  Steve Earle/Train A Coming used to be what I considered to be some of my best digital, but I remember playing my favorite track for a friend of mine, and he was pretty much disinterested.

Anymore, I'd probably just suggest that someone brought their own stuff over . . . and see how it compared.  The last time I did that, my friend was blown away.  He said something to the effect of:  that he was depressed because we both had the same speakers (B&W 805s) and mine sounded so much better.

Sometimes it's even worse when someone has a reputedly worse system (acc to reviewers etc) that sounds better than yours!

@cd318  that would have bummed me out.  This guys ears are way better than mine, but speakers aside, I have wayyyy more $ in my electronics.  He is the one that got me started  down this destructive trail, but where his main thing is HT, I diverged and became obsessed (with obsessed being a relative term) with two channel audio.

I used to play Sinaed O’ Connor doing a pretty much acoustic cover of Nirvana’s All Apologies for people. I personally found it to be realistically intimate and close up and revealing and for that reason it mesmerized me. It didn’t seem to have that effect on those I played it for, however. The Highway Men covering Steve Earle’s The Devil’s Right Hand was another one I liked to play, because I thought the sound-stage (the placement of the four vocalists) came through quite well (plus I thought it was just a lot of fun listening to those guys doing those lyrics). Probably another one I flopped out on.

I’ve always been more of a 2 channel stereo fan myself but I can definitely see myself moving over to Home Theatre sometime in the future. A large TV without high quality sound is far less immersive.

@cd318 it was back in the good old days of VHS and Dolby Pro Logic that I got started.  And I did think that was a lot of fun.  But so much happened so quickly that I didn't even try to keep up--haha, I never even bought a DVD player.  I imagine that HT has evolved beyond my wildest imagination at this date.  But that's okay, I have rationalized it (because I could never afford it now) by using TV as a just a diversion to pass the time and not allowing myself to think about how good the special effects might be when I watch a movie . . . and that kind of means that I never watch a movie because it has good special effects (like I did in the old days) but because it is a good movie with a good plot a good script and good acting.  But I can only imagine, however, how much more I would like some of my favorite movies on a HT.

@andynotadam  , would that be the live at Paris recording of "A Case Of You"/Diana Krall  or the studio recording?

@immatthewj Yes, the Live In Paris Version.

Also, Check out Black Hole Sun by Norah Jones live...

@andynotadam  I was on an ebay SHM CD buying binge, and I believe I did get that live Norah Jones CD.  I have only listened to it once, though.  I picked up the Live Krall SACD from Amazon when I was on another binge.  I do really like that live cover version she does.  Although I think I've only listened to that one 3 times, my impression was that it was very dynamic.  Wallflower is my favorite SACD by Diana Krall; I like the tracks she covered and I think she did a great job.  Her cover of "Desperado" rivals Linda Ronstadt's (imo) and I love her cover of "California Dreaming."

On yet another binge (MD this time) I think I picked up every SACD by Norah Jones they had available.  On one of them, she does a cover of Tom Waits "Long Way Home" that always makes me smile and want to sing along (which I don't, because I really want to hear Norah, not my own out of tune singing).