So what CD or DVD do you use to show off your system?

Cafe Society
1

One of the joys of having neat toys is being able to share them and show them off. So when you have friends over what do you use to show off that Home theater or spiffy stereo equipment?

For CD’s the 1812 Overture (with live cannon fire and warning on the CD about your poor speakers heh heh heh) or Van Halen’s 1984 are always fun. William Tell Overture is fun too. Any other good ones you use- do share!

Ok, home theater addicts- what DVD do you break out to show off your system? I have tried most of the “big guns” of the DVD show off movies I think (Terminator 2, Matrix ect. . . ) but by far the clearest, loudest, subwoofer making the neighbors dogs howl and local seismograph quiver-est is the opening battle scene between the roman army and the germanic tribes in Gladiator, in the DTS-ES 6.0 audio setting. Holy Crap on a Stick! I was tested my Klipsch subwoofer as it did not seem like it was working- heh heh heh- it was working just fine. When the roman’s “unleash hell” the sound is simply amazing. I heard the Normandy invasion scene in Saving Private Ryan in DTS is stunning too- but I have not tried it yet.

So spill the beans please- what are your not so secret weapons?

2

Saving Private Ryan is, in fact, the DVD I use–the explosions at the low end, and the ricocheting gunfire at the high end, demonstrate the dynamic range and frequency response pretty well, and the scene makes good use of the full 5.1 system in locating sounds. (My receiver decodes 5.1 only; I don’t have a DTS decoder. Dammit.)

The podrace scene in Episode I is another good one to use.

3

My system sucks, but I have a friend that has an excellent set. He uses the DVD for Independence Day, which has a feature of each alien laser explosion in sequence. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BA BOOM! Things tend to fall off the shelves.

4

This goes back to the early days of CD’s but, Ein Straussfest. Subwoofer required.

5

For a full workout I use The Phantom Menace. crappy film but th esound on the disc is amazing. The scene where all the animals flee past Liam Neson gives you a full sense of 3D sound. The Explosions are also deep and powerful. My system is not great by any stretch but I swear you wouldn’t know in those scenes.

6

I had been using Independence Day, but Lord of Illusions uses the rear speakers for directional audio effects really well.

For power blasting sound, I like to crank up Hedwig and the Angry Inch’s DTS track.

7

For CD’s my new favorite is Lateralus by tool It’s an extremely dynamic album filled woth whisper-quiet passeges interrupted abruptly by plaster-peeling explosions of guitar, bass, and drums. One of the best mixing/mastering jobs I’ve heard on a rock CD.

For DVD’s, I second most of the above scenes, but my personal demo is the 5+ minute long bank robbery scene in Heat. There’s something very unsettling about a gunfight on that large of a scale happening in the middle of the day in a busy downtown area. The camerawork and sound effects make you feel like you’re there.

8

I use my laserdisc of The Empire Strikes Back.

Yes, I have laserdiscs. I do not, however, have Beta or 8-track tapes.

9

for both sound and video I used the Takling Heads movie, Stop Making Sense… its not surroundy superdeluxe or special effects heavy, but it is strikingly shot (by Johnathan Demme), and a great audio recording to boot.

It was the first DVD i bought when I got my system, and people are always impressed by it, even if they aren’t into the Heads…

actually i don’t think i know anybody who isn’t into the Heads…

cj

10

For Cds I use whatever Eurythmics CD is closest.

For DVDs, I use either Interview With The Vampire or Bring It On in DTS.

11

For DVD’s, both sound and picture, I use my Superbit version of The 5th element. Others for excellent sound include Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan. For picture, anything from a digital source is great, including Shrek, the Toy Story Movies, A Bug’s Life, and Final Fantasy. Shrek recently played on HDHBO, and a friend watching it (in 1080i) commented that it looked and sounded better than in the theater.

For showing off surround sound immersion, my best disc is Unforgiven, using the rainstorm scene. You actually feel like you’re in the midst of a thunderstorm.

12

I don’t have any special system to show off, but my cousin recently used a large inheritance to revamp her basement into a home theater (giant new widescreen TV, digital everything, speakers everywhere) and her showcase DVD is the opening scenes of Twister. (I think we can all agree that that much is enough and there’s no reason to continue watching.) Pretty freaking amazing. It looked and sounded better than when I actually saw it in a theater, if memory serves.