Speaker Judgement Elimination Tracks

You are quickly auditioning speakers at dealers or a show. Which of your “judgement tracks” could immediately eliminate a speaker for further consideration.
One of mine is “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out on Clapton’s “Unplugged.

 

Chris Jones "No Sanctuary Here"

Now, this example is from vinyl, but there is also an SACD that also has the vinyl needle drop on it. If this song doesn't do it for you, then quickly walk away from whatever you are auditioning, in my opinion.

 

Don't laugh, but another one that I always stand by, especially for my tastes of pop songs with great production, is this one by Celine Dion. NOTE: I am NOT a fan of Celine Dion, but the production on this one is f#@king amazing! If the room that you are in doesn't come alive, starting at the three minute mark and out, then you are auditioning boring speakers, in my opinion.

 

Two more that I find very important in my own auditions, are Steely Dan's "Aja" and "Haitian Divorce", both of which have so much going on throughout them, that they are both valuable in how well a pair of speakers can play "different" sounds and instruments.

 

Trying to explain us why you picked this particular track might be more helpful to some of us than just calling tracks.
Imo the Unplugged album is good to assess bass of a speaker. If you only hear a light foot tapping in the back, look elsewhere or buy a sub to go with the speakers because they have no (sub)bass. You should be able to hear a heavy footstomp on nearly all songs, not light foot tapping.

 

Interesting, gonna listen to the track both on my new ELACs and my Klipschorns later today if I can and will let you know my impressions.

 

I don't know if this particular track also has the foot stomping, but from what I recall most tracks on this album do (I usually only use first 4 tracks at home for evaluating stuff, it's been a while since I listened to the rest).

 

Good Choice. I'd also include The Carpenter's Superstar. For me Karen's voice is the gold standard that any speaker has to get right.

The 1966 Fischer-Dieskau/Demus recording of Schubert's Winterreisse comes at the same issue from a different angle. So simple, just a piano and a voice; yet almost impossible to get right.

 

A CD I've been using lately is Leroy Vinnegar's "Leroy Walks!" album on Contemporary (OJC). Lots of muted trumpet on that disc, and it will tell you in a hurry what the tonality of your system is like.

 

I’ll check out a few tracks. Another thing I listen for are how well Katie and Tessa’s voices are defined in the backup vocals.

 

These two tell me much. The Baker recording is a very good recording, but the each instrument is revealing. The Holst is just a driver destroyer and will push any set of speakers to their limit.

 

Chris...thanks for posting that. I pulled out the CD of that album I have, and you are right...a great song and incredible sonics! Just ordered the vinyl!!

 

I also have some low-end pink noise, which checks for port chuffing (might as well know). There's also a few tracks that have two steady tones, which often reveals intermodulation distortion. Both of those will quickly reveal design compromises, and possibly upset sales people.

 

Two test discs I always use Denon and Sheffield Lab.

 

@Khorn, I'm not sure if you enjoy orchestrated music or not, but seeing that you are a fan of Klipsch, as am I (Chorus 1's with Bob Crites crossovers and etc. for me) and over the weekend my wife and I enjoyed the following LP on them, using a Dual 1229 with Ortofon 2m Blue cart and Scott 299 tube amp and I have to say that the room was full and you could almost reach out and touch that orchestra.

(Note: This recording is very well recorded and very quiet, but nonetheless soul moving, despite the low qualities of this u-tube clip that I use as an example of it)

 

Love classical but far from having a very deep knowledge in that area. One thing I do know though: I sure wouldn’t like reproduction so realistic that the guy with the sword shows up in my living room.

 

From Eric Clapton's 'Rush' soundtrack, the 2nd song 'Tracks and Lines'. Play this at 90db (or louder) and the very dynamic whacks on the snare drum will bleed your ears (sounding harsh and edgy) on any non-balanced speaker/system.

 

“Till There Was You” on Freedom Suite by Sonny Rollins

Keepnews Collection CD 2008
Joe Tarantino remastered
Riverside RCD 30507

Get Sonny Rollins’s tenor and Oscar Pettiford’s bass right and I will keep listening. Get them wrong and I don’t care what else it does right—end of evaluation.

As a bonus you get a CD that says Max Roach is a trumpet player! (Track 8 “There Will Never Be Another You” shows him off on ... drums!)

 

What a wonderful tribute to Rachmaninoff!

 

Diana Krall - Temptation (vocals and percussion)
Art Pepper - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (horns/sax)
Blue Tofu - A Battle Between (vocals and bass)

 

Peter Gabriel - "Don't Give Up". If I don't get the full weight of Tony Levin's outro riff, including the low C (?), the speaker is a toy.

 

To audition my most recent speaker purchase (a pair of KEF LS50s), I took along:

Jackie McClean, Let Freedom Ring: To assess close microphoning of solo instruments and a small ensemble, paying particular attention to the cymbals
Jethro Tull, Aqualung: To assess loud, amplified instruments in a small ensemble
Prokofiev, Classical Symphony: To assess a small orchestra playing a comparatively low-key classical piece
Mahler, Symphony No. 3: Excellent for a large orchestral piece with a big brass sections, and solo voice assessment
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5: To hear how the speaker handles a large orchestra going full bore
Dvorak, String Quartet No. 12, The Dragon Quartet version: A particularly challenging recording to assess how a speaker handles really stridently recorded string instruments.
I think I took in a classical guitar solo disc as well.

A speaker that can handle all of these well, is a well-rounded speaker, it seems to me.

 

Massive Attack's - Mezzanine.
Grateful Dead's - Ladies and Gentlemen...