Which tops out at lossy 192 kbps. If you really want to hear what that recording can sound like, locate the 12" 45 RPM version. It's 5:20 run time spans an entire side and is uncompressed.

Hey thanks for the tip, I had no idea vinyl was less compressed than Youtube. :rolleyes:
 
Hey thanks for the tip, I had no idea vinyl was less compressed than Youtube.
Not just any vinyl - 12” 45 RPM dance singles that run only about five minutes are incredibly dynamic. Much more so than the CD versions. Have about half a dozen Madonna titles.

Groove spacing is wide enough to be able to count them. :)
 
Singing Winds, Crying Beasts is actually my favorite song to showcase the stereo imaging capability of JBL L20Ts driven by lowly Sansui A-40. The speakers just disappear as the electric guitar riff pans from right to left.

It's kinda ironic that B&W DM302 needs the much more powerful Rotel RB-985 to achieve the same "disappearing" feat. :biggrin:

That’s cool, I’ll have to check out that song....

I’m using a Yamaha MX-1000, Yamaha EQ-630 and a pair of Cerwin Vega AT-100’s....all european spec !! :cool:
 
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Really dynamic stuff with a lot of slam sounds best on my rig. My JBL L200's with its compression drivers just eats the piano up and can happily play it all day at ear splitting SPL's and show no signs of distortion. Feed em some Patricia Barber ( Yellow Car 3, or Ode to Billy Joe, or Nardis) and most people would plunk right down in the chair and listen..

However, dirty guitar, lots of the same voice dubbed over and the like, and the 200's seem to dislike it. Maybe they just don't like crappy sounding recordings!
 
SACD at it's best. Incredibly alive on OB's and my favorite is number 3.

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Yes, I knew, an ideal system should have no sound of its own, thus, reproducing any kind of song with "equal opportunity". But it seems there is no such system; it seems sonic difference between systems is a fact of life. After all, Fostex FE206en driven by SET 300B sounds different than Monitor Audio Silver 500 driven by Emotiva XPA 200, doesn't it?

So, which song(s) sound best on your system? Which song(s) do you love the most when played on your system, in regard to your system's sonic characteristics?

Decades ago, when I was using the first amplifier I had, songs that sounded best on it was actually something like this one. The Standard SR-157SU didn't seem to have enough punch for rock music, but it sounded really warm and sweet for such song.

When I was using JBL 120Tis driven by Sansui AU-7900, my favorite songs were easily those with heavy top ends, especially cymbals. I always have the impression that AU-7900 sounds bright when paired with JBL 120Tis, but it's airy-bright instead of analytical-bright. Thus, cymbals become audio nirvana. Scatman (Game Over Jazz) by John Larkin was easily one of my most favorite songs when playing on that system. Singing Birds, Crying Beasts by Santana, The Vamp by Jiro Inagaki, Ring Bell, Ring Bell by Miriam Makeba, and Lugar Comum by Herbie Mann sounded like Nirvana due to the system's airy highs. I also had another system in the garage, which consisted of JBL L20Ts driven by Sansui A40, that sounds similar to the 120Tis/AU-7900 system. Thus, my favorite songs remain the same.

Now, my current (garage) system consists of a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM302, driven by Rotel RB-985, and controlled by Yamaha RX-V663 (Pure Direct stereo mode). Basically, the Yamaha AVR is nothing but a glorified stereo volume control, since I have yet to build the required mini home theater room for my retro gaming computer systems. As such, all those components are used as stereo, with three other B&W DM302s remain unused.

songs_that_sound_best_on_your_system.jpg

The B&W DM302s, driven by Rotel RB-985 and controlled by Yamaha RX-V663.

The most recent system sounds noticeably different than my previous JBL-titaniums-driven-by-Sansui systems. The B&Ws sound warm, sweet, and organic, although they probably sound "fake" --in a sense that they made everything sound organic, including songs produced by DJs from synthesized samples. Especially when driven by the Yamaha RX-V663's own internal amps: everything sounds sweet and chocolatey --not enough punch, which makes the warmth and sweetness sound out of place with songs like Mick Jagger's Throwaway. Using Rotel RB-985 improved the punchiness quite a lot, but the warmth and sweetness are still there.

That's not saying it's not a good thing, though.

Since using the system above, my most favorite song is Flyin' Away by Mo' Horizons. Yes, the band is actually a duo of DJs from Hanover, Germany, who made their music using synthesized samples. But when played on B&W DM302s, Flyin' Away sounds very sweet, very organic, especially the percussion despite they're all digital samples. The hand claps that start from the minute 2:48? They too, sound really sweet, organic.

How about songs that are fully acoustics to begin with? Take Miriam Makeba's Pata Pata for example; not only the titular song, but the entire album sounds sweeter and more organic than when played on the JBL L20Ts/Sansui A-40 combo. Songs that sound really nice on the said system also include Siempre Di Domenica by Daniele Silvestri, Jitterbug by Angelo Badalamenti, La Isla Bonita by Madonna, Streets of New York (Unplugged) by Alicia Keys, and Snake Eater by Cynthia Harrell. The DM302s' LF bump also help to enhance punchiness, but still sound organic nonetheless.

So, how about yours?
The record I'm currently listening to.
 
Not just any vinyl - 12” 45 RPM dance singles that run only about five minutes are incredibly dynamic. Much more so than the CD versions. Have about half a dozen Madonna titles.

Groove spacing is wide enough to be able to count them. :)

12" singles really cut the mustard,mine are all UK pressings,I haven't heard any US pressings but I believe the UK singles are mastered hot which would suit the medium.
 
Another vote for Telegraph Road, Dire Straits. I also like Odyssey, Dixie Dregs, from What If. Both songs have a lot going on sometimes, a little going on at other times, and a lot of detail and coherence that can be masked by inferior playback. I'm sure I'm not hearing all that is there, but I enjoy hearing way more than I used to hear, and for me, that is the point of the exercise....
 
Another vote for Telegraph Road, Dire Straits. I also like Odyssey, Dixie Dregs, from What If. Both songs have a lot going on sometimes, a little going on at other times, and a lot of detail and coherence that can be masked by inferior playback. I'm sure I'm not hearing all that is there, but I enjoy hearing way more than I used to hear, and for me, that is the point of the exercise....
Interesting. I really wonder how would they sound on B&W DM302s/Rotel RB-985 combo.
 
All songs sound best on my system, classical and jazz too. And by best, I mean that in the Panglossian sense - mine is The Reference System, acoustically the finest system in this most optimal of possible multiverses.

The Lord like to drop in on Thursday nights for an Alvin and the Chipmunks marathon and beer pong.

/S

Geezer pop is what I like to listen to most on my system - well recorded stuff with many but not necessarily a multitude of instruments. I listen to quite a bit of Richard Thompson, greatly enjoy the Knopfler/Harris collaboration, and often use the Cooder and Toure Talking Timbuktu album as a reference. It does well with most well-recorded music, though, and poor recordings often sound pretty lifeless.

The main system is a server with primarily flac rips sent via DLNA to an oppo 103 that feeds a Korsun integrated driving Thiel 2.2s. there are bass traps under the couch, an elevated number that turns out to have a disappointingly resonant space between the bench and floor, and pedestals under the speakers both to elevate them away from that under-couch abyss and to get the mids pitched to ear level.

I think that if I were a serious classical listener the walls would get some fabric treatment and I'd need to bring the subwoofer back in and place it carefully as well. As it stands there are several favorite pieces I listen to now and again that sound great but I know could sound even better with this setup - Gilels Emperor Concerto with Szell, for instance.
 
The Flying Lizards - Money


Note that my system consists of two vintage 1970s Sony transistor radios duct-taped to a slab of drywall in the bathroom. The left one's starting to distort more than usual -- time to change the 9v battery.
 
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