Herman
The answer to your question is long but here it goes.
First, my listening preferences are for a wide, deep soundstage with space around vocals or solo instruments. Natural sounding mid-range. Articulate bass. I am a drummer (amateur, and bad for a LONG time) so I am very sensitive to the percussive impact of recordings and systems ability to reproduce. Natural, realistic sounding cymbals. I like "warm" sounding systems.
1. Cream - "White Room". This is an excellent sounding rock recording. Not a lot of "compression". Soundstage is wide and deep. Drums are back in the presentation. Ginger Baker plays deep into the toms. Realistic sounding cymbals. Jack Bruce bass line can be heard throughout. Clapton IS God and he tears it up on the solo.
2. Diana Krall - Excellent overall recording. Starting with cut 1, the sound of the brass should be natural and jump out at you as this great cut kicks it up a notch. Piano is well recorded as is her "scotch infused" voice. Great check for natural midrange. Jeff Hamilton is her drummer and he is one of the best. Great sounding cymbals; natural, air around them, great dynamics. Several other cuts also will tell you much about the mid-range and treble reproduction of your system.
3. Ray Brown - "Exactly Like You". Well recorded piano, bass, drums. Listen for placement of instruments. Deep articulate Ray Brown bass line throughout and solo. Gene Harris is the pianist and at about :45 into this cut, he hits a hard single note with his right hand. It should jump out of the right speaker and knock your head back. Listen for the note to decay, many systems "clip" this note making it sound hard and artificial. Natural sounding drum solo and well recorded cymbals that ring and decay!
4. Larry Carlton - You have to order this CD from his web-site. It is one of the BEST recorded CDs I've heard. Try cut 4, "Hello Tomorrow". In the first 15 seconds a solo alto sax should be presented center stage with plenty of air around it. It should sound "round". The attack of the strings from the acoustic Larry plays stands out. Check out the bass line on this cut. You should be able to follow every note. The sax recording on this cut is really good.
5. Lu - Get the Deluxe version of this one. It has the studio version and a "live" set. The "live" set is well recorded and kicks butt! "2 Cool 2 be Forgotten", great cut. Excellent vocals. Lu is center stage and you should be able to hear the "gravel" in her voice. Excellent drum track. It's a metal snare and should sound like one. Follow the bass line throughout. So many cuts on this are well recorded and can be used to examine soundstage presentation and vocal reproduction. "Hot Blood" ROCKS! If you don't get dynamics here something is not right. GREAT GROOVE.
6. Shelby - difficult to concentrate when all I can think of is an intimate encounter with Shelby. That notwithstanding, this is one OUTSTANDING recording. Cut 1 should present her voice center stage, silky smooth, breathy. DEEP BASS. Instruments presented in their own space.
Hope that helps. Remember, it is about getting closer to the music after all!
