There are many great CD's out there.  I have used Keb' Mo's 'Slow Down' as a reference CD when listening to speakers.  It's also quite enjoyable to listen to for recreation.

http://www.kebmo.com/

For you DVD-Audio fans out there I would recommend Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band XXL.  Do your eardrums a favor and listen to, It’s Alright With Me, song by Take 6/arranged by Goodwin

For Demo (and musical enjoyment):

Diana Krall - Love Scenes (Peel Me a Grape)

Michel Camilo - Triangulo (Piece of Cake)

Herbie Hancock - Headhunters (Watermelon Man)

For just pure musical enjoyment:

O.A.R.

Ben Harper

Maroon 5

Jane Monheit

Sim Redmond Band

Christy Baron

Just to name a few off the top of my head that have been in heavy rotation as of late...

I just purchased the Maroon5 single, This Love, on itunes.com. Very catchy. It actually has some very deep, tight kick drum in it.

LOVE Headhunters. I'm going to see Herbie Hancock in Southern Oregon at the Britt Festival in a couple weeks. He's playing with Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland AND Brian blade.

If you like rock, you have to check out Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon multichannel SACD. It sounds AWESOME. Right now I've been listening ALOT to TOTO IV, Rosanna, on SACD multichannel. Sweet with a capitol S.

Cheers,

Ben, I would highly suggest picking up the Maroon 5 - Songs about Jane CD.  It is one of those (rare these days) discs, where the entire album is excellent!

I'm jealous of you seeing the Herbie Hancock show. Dave Holland is also another one of my favs.!  Enjoy it! 

I'll check that disc out tonight. Hopefully itunes has it and I can just download it.

Hey if you're headed to Oregon in a couple weeks, you're welcome to join. The Britt festival is absolutely one of the best places to see a show. http://www.brittfest.org/

 

I wish I was heading out to Oregon.  No business trips out there this year.  Possibly next year though?

It looks like they have a lot of great shows lined up there, and for excellent prices as well!

This is my most anticipated show of the season: http://grassrootsfestival.org/Trumansburg/

4 days of musical bliss!!!

The first thing I listened to with my new Aperions was Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Private Investigations), then the rest of the CD!  I love Maroon 5's track "Harder to Breathe".  It kicks!  And so do my Aperions!

I have to agree that the Ben Harper album kicks it all the way through. I'm just curious if anyone has listened to Tool's Aenema through their Aperions? I simply have the S-12 for now. I'd love to hear Aenema in SACD or DVD-A.

I prefer to use either Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon or Tool's Lateralus when trying out new speakers, etc. I have also used various songs/albums from David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, and Radiohead.

Radiohead has some very cool music. I like #6 off the Amnesia album.

 

When I bought my first pair of "Real" speakers I tested them out on Billy Thorpes "Children of the Sun". If any of you remember that one. BTW that was on vinyl and it was out new at the time.

Those speakers I ended up buying were Epicure. Anyone remember those?

Haven't seen the Epicure speakers before. Haven't heard Children of the Sun either. I'm either too ignorant, or too young!

A couple other suggestion for Jazz fans:

Wynton Marsalis, Standard Time Vol. 3, The Resolution of Romance. Beautifully recorded, very good stereo imaging, Track #3 and 10 (I cover the waterfront) are my favorites.

Benny Wallace, Art of the Saxophone. Very nice recording. If you like saxophone, this is a good one. John Scofield on guitar (his amp is recorded in stereo - nice sound), Eddie Gomez on Bass.

 

http://www.****nal.net/speakers/epi/epi.txt

They were known for their concave tweeter.

http://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epicure-5.htm

http://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epicure-11.htm

Ben, This was back in the late 70's

And you need to find a copy (download?) of Children of the sun. Plenty of percussive drums and sharp synths.

I checked out the Children of the Sun. You can get the whole album on itunes. Very cool music. I'll download the album soon, and post more feedback on it.

For anyone interested, that Britt festival show is tonight. I'm going to see my favorites Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, and Brian Blade tonight! Super excited. I noticed in the NY times that they're playing at the JVC jazz festival this summer for any east coasters interested in this gig.

Best,