Martin Logan's - Shazam, Sparkle and Dazzle...

[Robin]

Quick Need Help guys...

My little sister and brother in-law are coming to my house for the Fourth of July celebration, for four days and nights. For films my sis & bro likes; Thrillers, Murder Mysteries, Action and Inspirational Drama's... For music they seem to like; Easy Listening, Soft Rock, Alternative, 70's Rock... I really want to Wow them with my Martin Logan's, which they have never seen. I'm panicking... What would you guys recommend as far as DVD movies and CD's? I really want to show them what my ML's can do... I need some great examples of both HT - DVD's as well as stereo music listening - CD's...

Help

 

[TomDac]

Good flick for HT is The Matrix.

 

[astundzia]

For a amazing stereo CD, if you are a Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan, nothing comes close to Amused to Death by Roger Waters. Recorded in QSound, it sounds just plain nuts.

A good alternative dvd-audio would be the 5.1 mix of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips.

As far as the movies go, I dont know.

 

[Scumurculum]

For Home Theater - the opening of Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers where Gandalf and the Balrog are falling is an amazing scene.

Its what I always use to show off my HT.

 

[SteveInNC]

As per my review, the concert DVD of Eagles - Hell Freezes Over is phenomenal.

Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing is a test CD for me. Also Roxy Music - Avalon, which is probably one of the best-recorded Red Book CDs I have.

 

[mapmustang]

For the thriller fans, Se7en is a great flick and the DTS-ES track on the special edition is pretty good. Also for action, Saving Private Ryan beach scene can't be beaten, or Terminator 2, both of which are available in DTS. Easy listening, the City of Angels OST has some nice stuff on it. Alternative - any Incubus cd is done well, they did A Crow Left of the Murder on SACD which Best Buy carries. Good luck.

 

[Joey_V]

Robin,

I sincerely doubt that they wont be impressed by your MLs. Every single person who has seen and heard my Summits have been more than impressed and I'm sure they will be with yours likewise. My favorite scene is the Matrix Original when Neo and Trinity try to break Morpheus out of the building.... it leads up to that helicopter gun fight and finishes off with the helicopter going down with the blades rumbling the room.

Joey

 

[Genesis]

I show off my HT and ML's with the movie Ronin....the car chases through the streets of Paris are not only fascinating scenically, but the digital sound moves in step with the direction of the cars....the gunshots and explosions just add to the fun

I'll second the recommendation for Eagles Hell Freezes Over...one of the best soundtracks on DVD and really makes the ML's shine.

 

[Taz]

For DD The Incredibles is hard to beat. Just insure everything is secured well to the walls.

 

[Craig]

Above are all good recommendations. I'd like to add "The House of Flying Daggers" to that list. It has very colorful video along with great surround sound. The Echo Game scene about 10 minutes into the movie is incredible. I was glad to see this film was one of the first 10 to be made into a Blu-Ray movie by Sony.

If you want "Shazam" just about any Gomer Pyle episode with provide that!

 

[JonFo]

I second the Incredibles recommendation.

For music, I would recommend Craig Chaquico for sheer sparkle. He uses a 12 string guitar and processes the output with an Aphex aural expander that when palyed on the ML's is absolutley amazing soundstage. Almost too bright, but very impressive. Nice tunes for people with tastes as you desribe.

 

[jfm]

When I'm in show-off mode, I usually start with appetizers in the form of the DTS demo discs. In a short time you can show a wide variety of great demo material.

Then I usually segue to concert dvds. In the categories you mention, Robin, Sting's All This Time is a winner and, if I'm reading the categories correctly, Toto Live in Amsterdam, Steely Dan's Two Against Nature are easy recos. So is the new Cream reunion concert, which has amazing sound. For easy listening, Barbra Streisand Timeless is a crowd pleaser. Am studiously avoiding my usual jazz recos, but you know those all too well already.

Robin, might you be able to home-demo a Blu-Ray machine and rent some titles? Craig's reco of HOFD would be super in BR.

Happy demo day!

 

[mrmike]

Just picked up Jack Johnson's latest CD In Between Dreams. Absolutely stunning. It is an improvement over On and On wich is also outstanding except for some anoying overcompressed drums on some of its tracks. Vocal recording is one of the best I have heard.

Eric Claptons CD Back Home is also quite impressive. Especially the opening track.

Or..... any Nickel Creek, Bonnie Rait Souls Alike, EC Reptile, Ben Harper Dimonds on the Inside, Niel Young Prarie Wind.....hmmmm. All after 2000.

 

[Robin]

The First Night Acid Test...

Everything is going marvelously... My company first insisted on Queen's - "Night At The Opera" DTS 5.1... Which was powerfully impressive.
My bro wanted - "Master And Commander" - The first battle scene... He was just blown away by the sound.
I did have my system pumped-up to reference level volumes, then we squeezed six people into my small HT to watch, Steven Spielberg's - "War of the Worlds" their choice... They had their mouths open the entire time in complete and total rapped amazement / awe... The Anthem P5 was soooo fantastic and more than showed the range of all of my ML's. I've suggested most of your CD's and DVD's to my sis and bro, most of which I already own and which have been wonderful by-the-way, Thank You all very much one-and-all. I really appreciate all of your responses.

I'll keep you all informed how it's going...

 

[amey01]

Put on Nils Lofgren "Acoustic Live", track 5 "Keith Don't go".

 

[tsd2005]

For a amazing stereo CD, if you are a Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan, nothing comes close to Amused to Death by Roger Waters. Recorded in QSound, it sounds just plain nuts.

A good alternative dvd-audio would be the 5.1 mix of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips.

As far as the movies go, I dont know.

This CD has to have more examples of what a good sound stage is on it than any I own. I don't know why but its the most 3D sounding CD you can own. It is way past phenomenal.

 

[Genesis]

QSound...I recall the technology being developed in the 80's by a couple of Canadian geeks and eventually adopted by artists such as Madonna. Where does it stand now?

Edit: Please note that my use of the term "geeks" is only to personify the substantial technical abilities of the people involved in developing QSound

 

[Genesis]

Oh btw...I watched War of the Worlds tonight and in the chapter near the beginning where the machine first comes out of the ground, I thought my Depth was going to explode it was so low frequency intensive...fantastic

 

[tsd2005]

QSound...I recall the technology being developed in the 80's by a couple of Canadian geeks and eventually adopted by artists such as Madonna. Where does it stand now?

Madonna was the first to use the technology, however it wasn't recorded in Qsound, but the technology was added later. To my knowledge only Sting and Roger Waters ever made music CDs from the ground up with QSound.

QSound was used primarily in the arcade industry. Just about every arcade machine uses it. QSound was also used for the TV Series: X-Files. So if you ever wondered how a show not using surround sound was able to be so eery with sounds coming from all kinds of places... it was QSound.

I know a lot about QSound because I own stock in it.

 

[Robin]

Thanks to everyone...

I meant to post a responce sooner but better late than never. I just wanted to recognize all of your wonderful suggestions for CD's and DVD's to Wow my family...

My sister was very impressed with my system.

A Big Thank You - to everyone...