New speakers? Maurice Ravel, "Bolero". No better music to test an audio system.
this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2025
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Rage Against the Machine?
Bear with me on this one.
I like to use the maestoso from Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, often called the Organ Symphony, for testing speakers. Turn it way up and blast that organ sound. Also reminds me of the movie Babe since they used the theme from this movement for that movie. 😁
(Links below are YouTube Music, but I’m confident you can find the same recordings on Spotify.)
Here’s a good recording, listen to at least the first 1:45, though the full movement isn’t very long (a bit over seven minutes). Again, volume is your friend for this movement. It’s MAJESTIC, and on a good set of speakers it’s incredible.
Another good orchestral work for this type of showing off is Holst’s Jupiter, or the fourth movement of Dvořák’s New World Symphony
(There are many more but these are some relatively well-known-without-people-knowing-they-know-them ones.)
Jazzmataz vol. 1 by Guru
"Frank's Wild Years"
Florence + the Machine - June
Just to open it gently
Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
10.8 by Deadmau5 and Mr. Bill
Pure ear candy
Electronic is not my genre.
This song is good. It has a feel good vibe.
A lot of different “instruments” make it good for testing new speakers, I guess. Soft, subtle and loud, harsh, the whole range.
Voodoo by Godsmack
Overture 1928 - Dream Theater
AC/DC - "Back in Black"
Dire Straits - Walk of Life.
For testing speakers, Infected Mushroom, Tame Impala and 20syl/AllttA are always good choices. Maybe Tool as well (10000 days). Song depends on what I'm most familiar with atm.
For a new library, I'd probably just choose whatever I listen to the most. Which would be The Fearless Flyers and Aesop Rock rn.
Fellow IM enjoyer in the wild! 🍄
Mindful Solutionism is probably my favorite track from Aesop even after black hole superette came out, such a banger
One of the THX Deep Notes
„Rumors“ by Fleetwood Mac.
The Chain
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
Then listen to the whole Head Hunters album tbh
Probably A Night at the Opera by Queen, which was the first album I ever bought with my own money. A ton of classic tracks, lots of tonal range, weirdass spatial effects from early-era screwing around with stereophonic production, and a hell of a good time any day of the week.
Led Zeppelin II in its entirety
But Damone said side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV should be played “whenever possible!” /s
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
Or
The Black Keys - Brothers
Sound and Fury - Sturgill Simpson.
Never gonna give you up
Guitar mass but infected mushroom.
If the speakers have no problem with that they'll play anything else I listen to
Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine
Hotel California by Eagles
Dark Side of the Moon and now I feel old.
I was surprised how much I had to scroll for this. I thought a lot of people still test with it. E.g. I was born 10-ish years after DSotM was released, listened to it first in my teens, but it has been my go-to album for every audio upgrade ever since that.
Opeth - Blackwater Park
“A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” by Panic! At the Disco. It’s been my favorite album since it came out. I never get tired of it. Specifically “Camisado” is my favorite track on it.
Fever Days by Snowmine. It's what I did when I got my first good set of headphones, and it was pretty magical.
Cat Stevens - Wild World
Welcome to The Black Parade.
After restoring a vintage reciever, it was the first song thst made me feel, unprompted, that I had gotten it right.
Heartbeat - childish gambino
It has a good beat and it is catchy. I like it.
It's so cliche in the speaker world, but the live recording of Hotel California by The Eagles. On solid speakers, it is like you're there in the audience.
Hells Bells by AC/DC.
"6:00" by Dream Theater. It begins with a sick drum fill that pans across stereo speakers and then builds up with drums, then keyboards, then guitar/bass. It sounds fantastic cranked up on a good set of speakers!
Steely Dan - Aja
It's a perfectly mastered album from start to finish.
Max Cooper - Spike (The best benchmark I've ever heard)
If I want to impress people I play Mountains (Interstellar) by Hans Zimmer.
I'll find a few new songs to be the first in my new library. I love finding new music, and transitioning from one library to another helps me take some time away from songs that might be getting stale to focus on new stuff. It also gives me the opportunity to rediscover songs from previous libraries after some time, and fall in love with them again. Just today I added a song to my library that I used to have on my old iPod, and I'm listening to it a bunch now that it's been several years since I've last heard it.
Electric Ladyland
T.Rex - 20th Century Boy.
Polygamous by Breaking Benjamin. Followed by the rest of the Saturate album.
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