Vote

Patricia Barber. "Companion"

I rather have him bring his own to be compared.but then,I prefer to just listen to music,enjoy it,at the most say a few words about some preference or virtue of the PERFORMER or the music itself.and listen quietly . There's too much talk about music and less real love for it. music is not about impressing someone ,it's more how it relates to your brain ,emotions and mood. when listening to,say mozart, we(pals& I)may listen to Perahia,gould,brendel,tureck etc. and say very little. The most is great,the least is he(she) can play. If you can do better,go ahead and show me. just like sex,today,there's too much talking and too little doing. ultimately,you can only enjoy music if you relax and listen to it ,not to the distortions,noises mistakes and erors in the system or when its live. yes I'm one of those who's always looking for the (almost) perfect performance,system interpretation. it's futil. listen to good music and your life will be better. look for perfection,the right cap or resistance or cable and you will never stop running.(somebody should tell that to me)

Kristen Vigard's self-titled CD. This is not only my favorite demo disc, it is also my all-time favorite CD. Too bad very few people have ever heard of Kristen or her music.

mary black

Jennifer Warnes, "Famous Blue Raincoat"

The Alert (Canadian) pressing of Holly Cole's Don't Smoke in Bed

LPs, usually 180gm reissues, like, DCC Compact Classics, Analogue Productions, Classic Records, among others. I often bring out indie rock releases from Drag City, Grand Royal, Matador, and others that are probably still recorded in analog. It depends on who's over whether I bring out rock, jazz, or classical from the collection. Another personal fave is Milton Nascimento's "Clube Da Esquina." I have shown off MA Recordings, Michel Godard's, "Sous les Voutes, le Serpent . . . " (that's a CD). I'm in the process of purchasing a Graham 1.5 tonearm and a Transfiguration cartridge, so I'll probably be sticking to vinyl when showing off the system.

Tell them to bring their own CDs so they can listen for details on their albums which they've been unable to before.

Boz Scaggs, "Come on Home" Love Letters

I let them choose their favorite music...

Rutter's "Requiem" on Reference Recordings

The best demo is when a friend brings their own music to listen to and I let them do whatever they want in terms of volume. When hours go by and the time is forgotten, it's pretty cool.

Patrick O'Hearn, "Eldorado"—gorgeous sonics and beautifully produced. (Not to be confused with ELO's '74 release of the same name!)

CHESKY'S ULTIMATE DEMONSTRATION DISC

It's almost always rewarding to listen to music with friends who are not aquainted with higher end music reproduction. I like to put on something I think they will like and let my system "Speak" for it's self.

The Yuri Honing Trio, "Star Tracks." Most realistic demo I've ever heard.

DCC gold disc of Joni Mitchell's "Blue," especially the piano on "River."

Best of Cagnet World by Cagnet. Cagnet is a Japanese group that delves into different style of music, including New Age and jazz. I like it for its recording quality; some speakers I have auditioned cracked up after a while, others like Dynaudio held on...

Private Investigations track on Dire Straits "best of dire straits" hdcd

Patricia Barber's "Cafe Blue" or "Modern Cool" or Elvis Costello & Burt Bachrach's "Painted From Memory"

Lyle Lovett - Step Into this House

Erato's Paganini Violin Concerto. Track number 6. Violin-Alexander Markov

Besides all the demo-tracks on LPs and CDs I always pull-out te following CDs: Matraca Berg