Prog: excellent speaker testing music

[DPM]

On Thursday, I drove to Yorba Linda to check out a used pair of speakers I was considering for purchase. Needing some proper tunes to put the woofers, mids and tweets through their paces, I perused my shelves and came up with some excellent choices (IMHO).

The first two tunes to hit the seller's CD spinner were Isildurs Bane/The Flight Onward and Jethro Tull/The Foot Of Our Stairs. The reason I chose these two to be played first?

The Isildurs Bane tune features many different instruments, has great drum tracks, and is a (very) well engineered multitrack recording.

The Tull song was played mainly for Ian Anderson's voice. If his voice sounds too tubbby or overly warm, then I know the speaker isn't for me. (His vocals on A Passion Play are the best he ever laid down.)

Anyway, the speakers passed the Anderson test, the Kraftwerk test and every other test I threw at them.

SOLD! Kaching!

I also played Al DiMeola/The Embrace, Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble/Mahle Jchi, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones/West County, and Holst/Mars:The Bringer Of War (Mofi SACD).

I would have played some Yokeshire and Joe Satriani, but I had to close the deal to beat the southern California rush hour (which starts awful early).

Has anyone else here used the prog or fusion genres to check out some new gear?

DM

[unleasHell]

cool DM, what kind of Speakers and where do you live?

I'm in Garden Grove and have NHT's...

[ForeverAutumn]

I would have played some Yokeshire...
DM

Wow, that's a band that I haven't heard mentioned since Demetrio used to grace these pages. Thanks for the reminder of some great music. I think that I have a Yokeshire disk that D sent me, around here somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.

[DPM]

cool DM, what kind of Speakers and where do you live?

I'm in Garden Grove and have NHT's...

The speakers are Hales Transcendence 8's. Hales went out of business around 2001. The Transcendence series was the last he (Paul Hales) designed, and the 8's were the top model. They are a sealed three-way system featuring magnesium drivers (1" tweeter, 4" midrange, and two 8" woofers).

If you're ever in the market for some speakers and you see a used pair of Hales for sale, go hear them. The Revelation 3's (which I also own) are particularly noteworthy--especially at the used prices I've seen on audiogon.

As far as were I live, I'm a Las Vegas newbie. I moved out of the northeast (PA.) to get away from the weather and high taxes. I also have family in New Mexico.

[DPM]

Wow, that's a band that I haven't heard mentioned since Demetrio used to grace these pages. Thanks for the reminder of some great music. I think that I have a Yokeshire disk that D sent me, around here somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.

Oh Demetrio, where are you man?

Yep. I have a whole bunch of prog comps courtesy of Mr. D. He single-handedly turned me onto the new prog scene--and to Yokeshire in particular. (God, I wish they'd hurry up and finish their next release.)

Forever Autumn, are you the girl to whom I sent a CDR copy of my Mobile Fidelity vinyl of Tull's Aqualung? Or was that Snowbunny? I used to post on this site fairly often three or so years ago.

DM