What are the absolute best sounding CD's you own?

[zepherman]

Because my my Martin Logan speakers are very revealing, and show up any flaws in poor mastered recordings, I have been on a quest for the best sounding CD's. Which CD's do you all own that you consider to be of reference quality? Here is a list of CD's that sound simply amazing on my Logans:

Acappella

The House Jacks- Drive
The Nylons- Fabric of Life
The Nylons- Play On
The Nylons- Hits of the 60's Acappella Style

Big Band/Vocal

The Manhattan Transfer- The Anthology: Down In Birdland
The Manhattan Transfer- Tonin'
Michael Buble'- Michael Buble'
Michael Buble'- It's Time
Westlife- Allow Us to Be Frank

Blues

BB King- Blues on the Bayou
Eric Clapton- One More Car One More Rider
Hamilton Loomis- Ain't Just Temporary
Jeff Healey Band- Get Me Some
Jeff Healey- Mess of Blues
Jimmy Rogers- All Stars
John Mayall and Friends- Along for the Ride
Kid Jonny Lang and the Big Bang- Smokin'
Tommy Castro- Right as Rain

Crossover Classical

Bond- Born
Bond- Shine
Hooked on Classics 3

Electronica

Yello- Baby
Yello- Zebra

Jazz

Peter White- Confidential
Spyro Gyra- In Modern Times

New Age

Jan Hammer- Beyond the Mind's Eye

New Flamenco

Esteban- All My Love
Govi- Havana Sunset
Jesse Cook- Gravity
Jesse Cook- Vertigo
Johannes Linstead- Cafe' Tropical
Johannes Linstead- Mediterranea
Steve Stevens- Flamenco A Go Go
Strunz & Farah- Heat of the Sun
Strunz & Farah- Stringweave

R&B/Soul

Human Nature- Reach Out The Motown Record
Human Nature- Dancing in the Street/The Songs of Motown 2
James Hunter- People Gonna' Talk

Reggae

UB40- The Very Best of UB40

Rock/Pop

Cesar Rosas- Soul Diguise
Chris Issak- Baja Sessions
Christopher Cross- The Very Best of Christopher Cross
Richard Marx- Flesh and Bone
Eagles- Hell Freezes Over
Eagles- Long Road Out of Eden
John Fogerty- Blue Moon Swamp
Toto- Mindfields
Toto- Through the Looking Glass

[SilentBob]

I got to start listening to more of my music on my system. I do stream some music form my computer to my XBox for some play time. Persoanlly i just love playing the following CDs when i get a chance too.

Clint Mansell - The Fountain Soundtrack
The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over/Long Road out of Eden
Dave Matthews Band - Live at Folsom Field Boulder Colorado
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Live at Radio City Music Hall
Matt Good - Hospital Music (Champions of Nothing = missing Pink Floyd song from The Wall)
The Last Samurai Soundtrack


. . . and i will add more when i think of some/listen to them

[zepherman]

Originally Posted by SilentBob

I got to start listening to more of my music on my system. I do stream some music form my computer to my XBox for some play time. Persoanlly i just love playing the following CDs when i get a chance too.

Clint Mansell - The Fountain Soundtrack
The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over/Long Road out of Eden
Dave Matthews Band - Live at Folsom Field Boulder Colorado
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Live at Radio City Music Hall
Matt Good - Hospital Music (Champions of Nothing = missing Pink Floyd song from The Wall)
The Last Samurai Soundtrack


. . . and i will add more when i think of some/listen to them

Very cool, I am going to check out some of these. Thanks for chiming in and sharing some of your picks. And yes please do add more when you get a chance. I think this thread will be a good reference for people looking to buy some high quality CD's.


Seth

[zepplongfellow]

Allison Krauss and Union Station : Live
Dave Matthew's Band : Stand Up
Anything by the Verve Record Label such as Diana Krall, Herbie Hancock and others.
Damien Rice : O and 9 Crimes
Pink Floyd : Dark Side of the Moon.

[zepherman]

zepplongfellow,

Thanks for sharing.

C'mon you all, keep them coming.

[firestorm]

I haven't done much in the way of critical listening, especially recently. Tunes are usually on when I'm doing Sudoku puzzles or playing with our son. Stuff like that.

But...
I can say that Eagles: Hell Freezes Over sounds fantastic and give me chills. I've had good luck with Telarc discs, particularly The Great Fantasy Adventure Album. I also really enjoy Miles Davis: King of Blue. I want to say that Dave Matthews Band in general sounds good, but, recently, I've only listened to Stand Up. Likewise with Pink Floyd, with The Division Bell being what I've listened to more recently.

One that surprised me was NIN, in that NIN seemed to greatly benefit from a better system. Far more so than I expected. It's not something I've revisited, so take that with a grain of salt. Things I excused for nonsense or effects in a car audio system (where i typically would've listened to NIN in the day, and still to this day) were surprisingly identifiable on a reasonable system. But, that's quite a contrast in equipment.

I may take some titles from this thread as recommendations. Our music acquisitions slowed considerably in the early college days. Too much of our collection is from the 80's and 90's, and it heavily weighted towards rock and alternative. I've always had broad interests, but our collection doesn't reflect that too well.

[zepherman]

firestorm,

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you very much for your contribution. I will look into the albums you recommended.

[Maximum Jonah]

Just been playing the SACD version of Peter Gabriel's "UP" over the last day, and the sound gives me goosebumps. Very enveloping, yet punchy when it needs to be.

Also, the SACD of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "The War of The Worlds" is really an exciting listen on a dark October night.

[zepherman]

Originally Posted by Maximum Jonah

Just been playing the SACD version of Peter Gabriel's "UP" over the last day, and the sound gives me goosebumps. Very enveloping, yet punchy when it needs to be.

Also, the SACD of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "The War of The Worlds" is really an exciting listen on a dark October night.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.