Discover the Best Tracks to Test Your 2-Channel Audio System

November 11, 2024

Learning What to Look for in High-Fidelity Speakers

Music lovers who have or are looking to set up their surround sound or 2-channel audio system often ask our team at HiFi Buys in Atlanta, GA, about the music that will really test their system. What tracks will blow them and their family away? It’s a question we love answering and one that gets people excited about the possibilities and the experience that awaits them with hi-fi audio.

So, Chris Doughty, General Manager, took it upon himself to create a YouTube video laying out the essential tracks that will show off and test your hi-fi system. In this video, he featured Rockport Technologies Orion, an ultra-high-performance loudspeaker known for its dynamic and pure expression, delivering the full range essential to the ultimate listening experience.

Let’s explore the tracks that our friends at Rockport shared.

Why These Tracks Were Chosen

Songs that you know very well and that were also recorded well are essential when testing out your system. While Chris’s favorite music stems from his early days in the 90s and early 2000s, it wasn’t a period when music was recorded at the highest level. Yet, he has such a deep emotional connection to this music that he still plays it after a system is set up. He knows that if the sound brings him back to the time he spent in high school, it’s doing a lot of things right.

That said, when demonstrating and evaluating equipment, well-recorded music and a good variety of music are two of the most important elements to look for in song tracks. So, in this Spotify playlist, you’ll find live and studio recordings, as well as great vocalists and instrumentals.

Another clear indicator that the speaker’s cabinet and drivers are getting out of the way and just reproducing the true recording is when you get a sense of the scale the music was recorded in, whether a studio, small concert venue, or concert hall. In these tracks, you’ll hear one that sounds like it’s coming from a small, intimate club and another that sounds like you’re in a symphony hall.

Here are some of Chris’s favorites, tracks that hit the sweet spot:

Dream of Arrakis by Hans Zimmer

This song from Dune’s original motion soundtrack can connect with you on a personal level because it was such an amazing movie. It’s also well-recorded with such great ambiance that it transports you back to the desert planet without even seeing the movie again.

Come Around Soon by Sara Bareilles

Recorded live at the Variety Playhouse, a very intimate venue in Atlanta, GA, this song almost makes you feel like you’re sitting with the audience. The depth and width of the soundstage are truly apparent with Sara’s vocals central and elevated, as if watching her on stage.

Any Place by Bahamas

This track was chosen as a contrast to Sara Bareilles’ song. It was recorded in a studio, giving it a very different sense of space and highlighting specific instruments.

Fandango: I. Folia Tropical

Recorded live in the Walt Disney Symphony Hall, you get a sense of their unique acoustic signature. With a full orchestra, you discover the system’s ability to separate all those instruments and their physical locations while still experiencing the room-filling, cohesive sound.

Ratchets by Hedegaard

This electronic dance track has an outrageous amount of bass that will demonstrate exactly what your system can do.

Other songs to make the list include Lord Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace, Driving Like Maniacs, Silent Rebel Pt. 2, 30hz, and Keep the Wolves Away. With the right system, this last song, by Uncle Lucius, drags you in and tells a story that sticks with you.

Now that you’ve listened to some of the best tunes at home, come down to HiFi Buys and relax in the Beatles Room, listening to the same songs from Rockport’s Orion speakers. To learn more about what to listen for when testing your audio system, contact HiFi Buys today.