I'm trying to get some ideas on what people think are some top music CD or DVD's. Almost any kind will do, but if I had to lean, maybe in jazz or slow jazz, classical, and easy listening artists. Something to really show off your speakers and system(or to test what it's worth).

Thanks.

Hell Freezes Over - The Eagles

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

Eye in the Sky - Alan Parson's Project

The Joshua Tree - U2

Unplugged - Eric Clapton

Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis

Word of Mouth Revisited - Jaco Pastorius Big Band

At Fillmore East - Allman Brothers

Led Zeppelin 4 - Led Zeppelin

Babylon by Bus - Bob Marley

Just a few off the top of my head.

Get the Blue Man Group:Audio DVD Audio disc.

It is probably the most amazing...AMAZING surround music I have ever listened to.

An extremely good DTS sound tracked DVD to me is the Cream 'Royal Albert Hall' DVD. Makes me feel as if I'm right in the front row watching the fellows play.

In the jazz, slow jazz vein, if you have the ability to play SACDs and DVD-As, I recommend any Diana Krall SACD, but When I Look In Your Eyes is my absolute favorite.

If you like acoustic guitar, Laurence Juber's Guitar Noir DVD-A is well worth the expensive price. He was lead guitarist with Paul McCartney's Wings. If you have Windows Media Player on your computer, click on this link and you'll hear a sample of one of the better cuts on the DVD-A. (if this doesn't work, click on "Mosiac" in the song list at the web page.)

If you don't have a Hi Rez player, any Diana Krall CD will be well mixed and mastered, and will sound good on any system. Live in Paris, the aforementioned When I Look In Your Eyes, and The Girl In The Other Room all sound excellent.

You can get her Live In Paris concert on DVD with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. I love it.

Any of these will show off your system well, but the Hi Rez stuff REALLY shines.

I'll second Jack's recommendation of Dianna Krall. I only have one of her Cd's as well as her 'Love Scenes' DVD-A and the sound is very good...she is certainly one sexy lady who sings as sexy as she looks.

ditto, I have Live in Paris and Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Not only does she sound good with my Axioms, but she looks awesome on the big screen.

Those are DVDs that Sirquack is mentioning. It really IS fun to have the great sound AND the picture as well.

After mentioning Laurence Juber, I had to go put him on. It's 11:30 PM here. People are sleeping, and I have neighbors. Guitar Noir is PERFECT for this time of night, and a laid back mood. My Lord! Music is one of the great joys of life!

Ok, you've done good in the past Jack with your recommendations so therefore you have piqued my curiosity and I have to check out Laurence Juber.

It's really neat to get a chock full of different ideas from all of the folks here, such as yourself Jack...thanks!

You're welcome, Rick. I hesitate to recommend music, because everybody has different tastes. This is a simple disc; just acoustic guitar, percussion, and stand up bass. That's it.

Be sure to check out the link in my post which should lead to a section of the song "Mosaic." Or go to the Laurence Juber web page I linked to, and click on "Mosaic" in the song list. If you like what you hear, you'll probably enjoy the entire disc. If you don't then save yourself $30.

Remember this is a DVD-A, but it does have a regular DVD side with video and 5.1 surround sound which should be playable on all players.

Jack I did take a listen a couple of minutes ago, very good and very relaxing. That's the type of music I want to get more of, my wife would really love it also.

David, many classical compositions are quite complex internally and involve wide dynamic contrasts that put audio equipment to the test, but are highly rewarding when the test is passed. Some CDs that I've previously mentioned which involve compositions of that sort are The Planets , Swan Lake and Roman Festivals, etc. . These are all colorful pieces, very well performed and recorded, and available at low cost.

Good, Rick. I hope you both enjoy it.

Reading all this makes me believe I need to buy the interconnects and purchase some Hi-Rez music. I started checking yesterday and it looks like online is the only way to buy around here.

On the "bottlehead" site they are selling a CD by Jacqui Naylor -- basic 4-piece Jazz combo recorded live but seems to be an extremely good recording, sort of like the old "direct to disk" LPs from the old days.

The older Genesis albums (around "Selling England by the Pound" timeframe) seem to be extremely well recorded.