I thought it might be fun to list some of the items that we personally use when setting up or calibrating our gear, especially when you get new gear and need some reference material that you are familiar with. Here is what I use...

CD's

One of the first things that I love to test out is the balance of voice, band, bass, and it's good to have something that has a great vocal mix, but with some subtle instrumentation to really help isolate everything. JEWEL: SPIRIT HDCD is the perfect mix for that, especially track 6 "Innocence Maintained", which starts off with strong vocals, but then about :37 there is a huge low end presence that sweeps the low freqency range quite nicely.

Another great disc to really get your hands on is the soundtrack for HEAVEN'S GATE, which is David Mansfield and is available on RYKO disc. The soundtrack is phenomeninal, mostly acoustic-like instruments with a load of simplicity to it that really helps adjust the mid-range and really hear new levels of detail from things like new speakers or CD players.

When it comes to lower end stuff I usually whip out two discs...the first is MADONNA: Greatest Hits, which has the song "Power of Goodbye' and for being a basic CD, wow talk about a great recording!!!! She certainly invests in having a good mastering! The low end presence is staggering along with some really strong vocals coming through the stereo mix. The other disc is the gold HISTORY CD by Michael Jackson with songs like BILLIE JEAN that has a strong beat and also that bassline that enables you to get a quick sense of imaging.

SACD's

I usually only have a few of these that I need to use in order to set things up. The first is probably one of the many Elton John SACD's available, all of which are quite good. I also like to use THE STRANGER by Billy Joel. Classical music is important to use here as well, usually the winner here is the Mobile Fidelity SACD of RAVEL'S BOLERO. Great dynamics and mix.