Excellent choice Nick. anything off that dvd will visually and musicly encapsulate the viewers. it was even better in person best concert dvd to date. My Pioneer DV578A-S DVD player was rated one of the best DVD audio and SACD players on cnet and a couple magazines ive read so going on a small tangent heres what i have to reccomend for DVD audio: -Frank Zappa "Quaudiophilliac" and -Beck "Guero" (has a cool music visualization while it plays) For SACD i have to say: Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral" (if you can still find it and your into the music) As for movies I am going to have to watch "Master and Commander" because its such a cool movie and the sound is excellent. Also "Alien" has great visuals and cool ambient music that draws you in. "Lord Of The Rings" and "Saving Private Ryan" are always good ones, but i hate coping out and showing something everyone has run into at Best Buy, so ill throw in "The Fifth Element" (DTS ed.) . A lot of sub movies have cool surround sound. being that the movie incorporates the sound into the movie script. unfortunately i havent found DTS versions of "The Hunt for the Red October" or "Crimson Tide" but i think "K-19" has a DTS version out. "Das Boot" has a excellent 5.1 DTS. hope this helps.

So I have only just got my system set up and am still doing some fine tuning.  I am definitely going to try the recommendations here but the best I have been demonstrating in this short time is the opening sequence of The Incredibles including the THX opener with the Thunder and Lightning.  I also got a pretty good sound from the opening sequence of the Sahara with the Cannon fight.

The first battle scene in "Gladiator" with 2 large armies battling against each other with arrows whizzing by your head, the sound of steal clanking together, the echoing voice of Russell Crow and the background music. Gladiator has some really clean sounding background music. Another one is War of the Worlds. Guaranteed to give your sub a workout. And a good one also is "Bad Boys II" when Will Smith and Martin Lawerence are in the Ferrari chasing the Big Rig while cars are being thrown off the Rig barely missing Will's Ferrari. The sound of that Ferrari engine on the surround sound brings a tear to my eye!!

For years, my standard has been the battle scene in Cutthroat Island where the ships are tearing into each other with cannons blazing.  Excellent surround sound effects of cannonballs and debris wizzing around your head.

Now that Kengi mentioned DTS, I may have to consider finding a new scene.

 -Dan

Recently I have been showing off the Asteroid Chase scene in Attack of the Clones.   Great mix of surround effects with excellent subwoofer workout as the charges rip through the asteroids.

I would also echo the recommendations about Master and Commander.

-James

I just put my setup together this week, and I've been using the opening crash scene from Pitch Black as a demo. It opens with a gravelly voiceover by Vin Diesel and goes right into a white-knuckle spaceship crash. There's some decent imaging in there too, whenever a piece of debris comes off the ship and goes flying off. It's a nice mix of subtle sounds and in-your-face explosions. Anyone else ever use this?

I have a DTS demo DVD with the Pitch Black trailer with that crash scene and some other great effects from that movie, the PB trailer is one of the 30 or so on the DVD that really shines to show of the system!!!

One of the better scenes I remember is the "Echo Dance" scene from House of the Flying Daggers. Go with the original Chinese track (like scene 4 or 5 if I remember right) its amazing.

I think that "MR and Mrs. Smith" scene where they are fighting their way out their home and the house explosion is truly a killer scene.  The whole movie gives your system a workout. 

For me I like the scene in War of the Worlds where the first Alien Tripod makes it's way from underground and starts lazering the people running for their lives.  I like to start it where they are looking at the storm and the wind is flapping the clothes hanging on the line.  That is the first test of the surround.  I watch as people look to the left to see what that flapping sound is.  The bass rocks the house and the sound of breaking glass has them ducking for cover so they don't get hit by flying glass.  It puts a smile on everyones face.  They leave giggling and saying I gotta get me one of these.

When the guy who had been boring me with his boasts about his new 7.1 system (which I've heard and it's OK) stoped by, I happened to have the VHS movie "Contact" set up to start.  At the beginning of the tape there is the THX logo and music (you know, that long orchestral rush that starts softly and then builds to a thundering climax).  I set my amp to MAX and let 'er rip!  It takes about ten seconds, and about a third of the way in he's waiting for it to start to harsh-out, but it never does.  By the end of the ten seconds you can feel the bass vibrating your whole body, and then it's over.  And, after I turn it off, I help the guy lift his jaw off the floor.  He said it's better than **x.  I said, No, not really better than that...well, OK, maybe just as good.

 

Onkyo TX-SR702 receiver

Aperion 632s front

Aperion S-10 sub

Aperion 533 VAC

Aperion 532s surround

I have got to agree with those promoting DTS (the only truly discrete surround sound mode). My favorite show-off scenes: Lord of the rings: where they fight the giant troll (or whatever it is) in the caves. When it swings that mace around (in the DTS mode with 6.1 or 7.1) you really hear it swing over your head in a full circle and that scene has great bass. Also U571 when the barrell bombs are being dropped in the water! Awesome bass and explosions. And another good sub workout: MI2 the dance scene. But, the BEST OVERALL SURROUND SOUND TOTAL MOVIE EXPERIENCE- imo= IROBOT (that's the one with Will Smith right?) When I finished that movie I remember thinking that was the best use of surround sound I had ever heard in a movie!

I'm surprised someone else mentioned this! The first scene of Ice Age is my top pick. With that big THUNK when the ice breaks, there's a decent pound from the sub.

I don't have any Aperions yet, but these are my fav. 1) Finding Nemo --> Darla tapping scene 2) Final Destination 2 --> Highway pileup 3) Hell Boy --> Awesome soundtrack 4) Fantastic Four --> The whole spaceship docking scene.

Mike,

Now that I am Bose free, the Gunfight starting in chapter 14 of OpenRange is now really impressive with the new S-10 Sub and other Aperion speakers.  Desperado also gives my new system the workout it deserves.