When pressed it can be difficult for some people to come up with a song on the spot. Especially when surrounded by hundreds of CDs and records. But if someone has made it into my listening room, then the odds are good I know at least a little something about their musical tastes. So I like to pick something they are likely to have heard many, many times before. Beatles or Stones. Ella and Louie. Take Five by Dave Brubeck. You get the idea.
It serves to put them at ease with something familiar and improves the chance they will hear something in that recording that they have not heard before.
I usually get comments about the clarity of the vocals or the instrumentation, but occasionally someone says something really nice to hear like “I can’t really tell where the sound is coming from” or my favorite ever comment, “your subwoofer is really dialed in well.”
I wasn’t using a subwoofer.
What selections do you play when showing off your system to others?
I find that when I'm having someone listen to my system that I usually play the same 4 or 5 selections. I tend to lean towards vocals and acoustic presentations. Mine are as follows:
Hold That Line- Tedeschi Trucks Band
Roadhouse and Automobiles- Chris Jones
The Hunter- Jennifer Warnes
River Blues- Eric Bibb
Flight of the Hippo- Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
It's All in the Game- Merle Haggard
Your Bright Baby Blues- Jackson Browne
What are yours?