Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo The best sounding CD you have?

Something a little different - All kinds of instruments & voices - Very well recorded - Will show off the air & detail in your system

Cirque Du Soleil - Alegria - CD

Here's just a few in the current rotation. All have moments that will transport you to a place where music lives:
Neil Finn - One All:: a masterpiece from the consumate singer-songwriter
Alison Krause - New Favorite: great musicianship and fabulous recording.
David Gray - White Ladder: Just doesn't get old. He caught lightning in a bottle on this one
Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Ruth: As eclectic as anything recorded. Moves brilliantly from genre to genre
Beck - Sea Change: As depressing as all get out, but I think an important piece of work. Also, it will showcase your system very well.
KD Lang - Ingenue: If you don't have this album you are cheating yourself.
and since Mark Knopfler runs through this thread - The Soundtrack to Local Hero: the remastered version
Enjoy!

Nice tip on the KD Lang, Tinfoilhat, the wife is downstairs listening to it now. Not a CD we would have normally selected. Bought 10 CDs just now, 6 or 7 from y'alls lists.

2x6: Didn't see that girl's recording of Getz material, but picked up something else by her. Turned out to be some odd exploration of her Celtic roots or something. Oh well, I can afford to waste some $ on CDs with all the money I saved on speaker wire.

John K: Gonna pick up on Tuesday those two classical CDs you recommended. Store about 30 miles away has a huge classical section. I'm not extremely knowledgeable about classical - about 20 CDs (Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Ravel, Wagner) in my collection. I would also like to pick up a nice recording of the Carmina Burana. Any particular recording come to mind?

Thanks people.

I use Loreena McKennett's "Elemental" especially the 3rd and 6th cuts to compare systems. Beautifully recorded, beautiful music, of course it's all in the ear of the beholder. All of her music explores her Celtic roots.

Mark, as you might guess, I have several Carmina Buranas and have listened to probably about 20. Possibly the performance I like best is Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra(Sony 87735)which can be found around $7. For the best sound I like Dutoit, Montreal Symphony Orchestra(London 455 290, full-price).

Incidentally, often even stores with a good selection don't have an item in stock. For example, I ordered the Naxos Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances CD online from Borders and picked it up about 10 days later when they notified me.

Hey BigWill, I'm the one who suggested the Knopfler. It's one of my current favorites. I've got another one for you all, if you're open to some choral music written in the mid 1630s. kcarlile knows the one I'm talking about -- I played it for him when he experienced my M22s for the first time.

This one's classical, but with a new-age slant. It's called "Sacred Treasures II: Choral Masterworks from the Sistine Chapel" from Hearts of Space Records (www.hos.com). What can I say about this CD? How about imaging and soundstage. The acoustics of the church are fully captured in the recording and my Axioms recreate the space very well. It sounded so amazing it actually brought tears to my eyes the first few times.

I've actually had this CD for a couple years, but I didn't listen to it much when I had those "other" Canadian speakers (hint: starts with P, but is longer than three letters). Now with the Axioms, I pop it in every once in a while to remind myself just how good my speakers are.

My favorite demo CD is Shirley Horn 'You won't forget me'

I concur with tinfoilhat on KD Lang 'Engenue' album. I do not particulary like her yet return to this cd constantly, so there must be a reason. On another topic, I have also found that although my cd source is HDCD compatible I cannot distinguish between HDCD encoded discs and non-HDCD discs. Maybe it is a psychological thing here. Comments on HDCD? As an audiophile wannabee, I can't help but share my cd audio system(it is a sickness I know):

Mark Levinson #39 CD Player 'run direct'in balanced mode
Classe CA-100 power amplifier
Nordost red dawn bi wire speaker cable
Harmonic Technologies Pro-Silway Interconnect and 2 Pro ac power cords.
Tripp Lite Isobar Surge Protector
and of course AXIOM M60ti.
ALso have Behringer Ultramatch (converts XLR to toslink) with Sharp MT-877 minidisc for music on the go.

Only new purchase was the Axiom speakers. Rest of stuff from Audiogon. Price of system which was built over last 6 months $7700 CDN, retail would have been $14,000 (ouch). Best deal or 'investment'(that's what you tell your spouse it is) I ever made was the Levinson #39 at $3800 CDN.

Enjoy the music !

I agree about K D Lang. All of her music is wonderfully recorded.

I too can't tell the difference between HDCD and regular cds.

I have to say I'm a bit of a punk music fan. I might love pretty much any of it, but I have a hard time believing many other people would classify any of them as "high-quality wonderful sounding cds"!?! haha But then that's not really the idea of punk music either. The worse, the better as far as I'm concerned