Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
I think you need to focus on the type of music that you will likely play at home. Just make sure that you bring recordings that you know (or at least think) are recorded well. Some will suggest that you need to use acoustic music sources, and while those recordings are often the most revealing ones, it won't help you much if 1) you don't listen to any of that music to begin with and have no reference in mind on how those instruments sound in person; and 2) a lot of the systems that sound best with amplified sources will not necessarily sound optimal wth acoustic sources because of how different music genres are typically recorded, mixed, and monitored. If you have any good acoustic recordings in your CD collection, definitely bring them. But, if you don't, I wouldn't bother with trying to buy one for audition purposes. You won't be familiar enough with the material, nor engaged enough in the music for that kind of listening to be helpful.

There are no fixed guidelines that tell you the quality of a speaker. Often, the stated goal of a speaker is to convey a source signal as accurately as possible, but some people very well might prefer a sound that emphasizes certain aspects more than others. And since no speaker is 100% accurate or even close to that, everybody will have a different opinion of what sounds real, or accurate, or just good. The bottom line is that you should do as much listening and comparing as possible, and if you go to a high end store, try to get a listen to their high end rigs. That should give you a good starting reference at each location.
This is really good advice. Thanks woochifer.

I listen to mostly pop and hip-hop music. IMO, it is rather hard to use those two genres to judge speakers. Let me know what you guys think.

What about movies? Any movies that you guys know are particularly sound-demanding?