I always enjoyed classical music when attending a live symphony. However, it always sounded dull and 'well just dull' on my previous sound systems. Therefore I actually own next to nothing in this genre. Now that I am enjoying music to entirely new levels with my Axioms, I have realized that classical can actually be exiting at home.

I have read of ton of posts here by JohnK as to recommendations on great CDs for both composition and sound quality but my searches only came up with links to a distributer that don't work anymore.

I would never ask you, John, to redo them all as there seemed to be hundreds but could I maybe ask you to some up a top 5 or top 10 list?

Before you slap me, they don't have to be links and I'll narrow down the criteria a bit for you as well. Basically a Top 5-10 'must haves' for the classically uneducated. I enjoy all the traditional composers but I especially enjoy when there works are exceptionally full of emotional energy.

Of course, anyone is invited to respond. I mention JohnK because he seems to have an endless library and an endless knowledge base.

It is very hard to provide a list without having initial reactions to some specific work, but here's a list, on the top of my head as I am typing, of a few works that would fit your criteria while being diverse enough that you can later "dig deeper" in the genre (I will try to be very wide):

1) Zoltan Kodaly's sonata pour solo cello opus 8 (if you have the M80, this is a must to impress visitors!)
2) Middle or late period string quartets by Beethoven (ideally played by Quartetto Italiano)
3) Highlights from any of Mozart's greater operas (Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflote...)
4) French suites by Bach (played on cemballo, ideally with Gustav Leonhardt or Tom Koopman)
5) Concerti by Vivaldi
6) La Mer and other orchestral work by Debussy
7) Shostakovitch symphonies
8) Pulcinella or Rite of Spring from Stravinsky (if the latter, try to get it with Pierre Boulez as conductor)
9) El Amor Brujo from Manual de Falla (ideally the 1915 version, but they are all good)
10) Schubert's Impromptus for piano or his Moments Musicaux

There it is. Not very scientific, but an actual "must have" list, would take me more time than I can steel from the company!
But I think you would get a good sense of what you like and don't like with these.

Andrew, most of the(millions?)of classical links I gave prior to last July were to the old Tower Records site and now just lead to the new site. When Tower went bankrupt the stores were closed, but the online operation was sold separately and continues to operate under new management. The site has less detail than before and no samples(see Amazon or CD Universe for samples), but the prices are significantly better than before, especially for U.S orders over $20 which get free shipping(longer than before, maybe 9-10 days).

I'll give you a little selection of colorful, often emotional stuff which should appeal to you and most others: Holst Planets(Mehta) ; Rachmaninoff Symphonies, etc. (Ashkenazy) ; Brahms Hungarian Dances(Bogar); Stravinsky Rite of Spring(Ozawa); Orff Carmina Burana(Muti) ; Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique(Munch); Prokofiev Cinderella(Ashkenazy) ; Dvorak Slavonic Dances(Kubelik); Tchaikovsky Symphonies, etc.(Muti); Ravel Daphnis et Chloe(Dutoit); Respighi Roman Festivals(Batiz) ; Smetana Ma Vlast(Berglund); Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade (Batiz) ; Beethoven Symphony No. 9(Wand); Tchaikovsky Swan Lake(Lanchbery); Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 2(Bakels).

Just to name a few.

Murph,

This is from the "stunning recordings" thread. You must absolutely run to the closest library in PEI and pick these up:

Now here's two more: The Quicksilva Collection: Volume 2 Vivaldi, Purcell, Handell, Bach and Canadian Brass: Sacred Brass. Absolutely amazing. It would be great if these were offered in DTS.

Now for these selections, I didn't listen at a half watt per channel. I find for classical I have to turn it right up to about 20W nominal so I had very little headroom. They sounded great with no clipping...at least none that I could hear. If I had a few hundred watts I'd definitely turn it up more although I'm not sure how that would sound in my room. They also sounded great in PLIIx with the fronts turned down about 5dB to give a greater sense of depth.

Must be time for that SN-872.

Even better, a couple of A1400s.

Thanks guys. I know exactly how hard it is to give advice against broad criteria. Looks like a very diverse list that should keep me very busy for a while and I can actually maybe ask more educated questions next time.

Thanks again!!!

16 channels and 2800 watts!! 2799.5 more watts than you need.

You now can buy churches for less than a condo. That could be worth it just to justify multiple A-1400 powering up an array of M80s in a super-gigantic HT!