When building and designing loudspeakers measurements and technical analysis only get us so far. While striving for a flat SPL and a smooth bass extension and eliminating distortion and issues with group and phase delays is all very well, at some point it´s time to sit down and use the ultimate instrument we have: our ears and hearts and skin.
After all we are not in it for the bits and bites and pretty graphs but rather the visceral experience of music that sounds just like it did when it first happened.
So here it is: For all those using Soptify: Our audiophile reference list. Each piece of music has some or various attributes that we use to compare one design iteration to another. Be it precision of sound stage and stereoimaging, bass extension, tightness of bass, congruence of phase, attenuation of overtones, neutrality of the sound, these are the tools we ultimately use to accept or discard whatever we do.
No on a side note, we at Kvart & Bolge don´t like music we don´t like, so this part of our work is actually quite pleasureable.
For those not using spotify, here is our list in human readable format.
Keith Don't Go – Nils Lofgren The Unforgiven Ones – Crash Test Dummies High Water Everywhere - Live From The Royal Albert Hall – Joe Bonamassa Cargo Cult – Kaki King Framed By Funk – Spoonbill Whenever There Is You – Koop Suntoucher – Groove Armada Tricky Two – Röyksopp Don't ever let nobody drag your spirit down – C. Höglund A Case Of You – Maria Pia De Vito, Danilo Rea, Enzo Pietropaoli, Joni Mitchell These Bones – The Fairfield Four I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Cross & Cory – Jean Frye Sidwell Yellow Ledbetter – Pearl Jam Train Song – Holly Cole My Heart Belongs To Daddy – Solveig Slettahjell Wabash Blues – John Previti Quartet Joe Slam and The Spaceship – Harry Connick, Jr. Day Dream – Paulien Van Schaik & Hein van de Geyn, Hein Van De Geyn It's Probably Me – Sting, Eric Clapton Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble Glory Box – John Martyn Eleanor Rigby – Ferruccio Spinettii, Petra Magoni All Your Love (Turned To Passion) – Sara K. Time After Time – Tuck & Patti Goldfinger – Bohuslän Big Band Grandma's Hands – Friend 'N Fellow Welcome to My World – Depeche Mode Lonely Bed – Albert Cummings, Tommy Shannon Walkin' Blues Again – Eric Bibb Voodoo Chile – Stefano Barbati Fever – Petra Magoni, Ferruccio Spinetti Almost Transparent Blue – David Toop Temptation – Diana Krall Danielsphere – Franco Ambrosetti J'Attendrai / Au Revoir – Tina May These Bones – The Fairfield Four Mitt lille land – Ole Paus J.S. Bach: Suite for Cello Solo No.1 in G, BWV 1007 - 1. Prélude – Johann Sebastian Bach, Mischa Maisky Bass Head Jazz – Cee Lo Green Fever - with Natalie Cole – Ray Charles, Natalie Cole Cold Duck – Al Jarreau Sultans Of Swing – Dire Straits Let It Rain [Vamp] – Patricia Barber Light My Fire – Patricia Barber Constantinople – Patricia Barber Postmodern Blues – Patricia Barber Nicole – Josh Perkins Night After Sidewalk – Kaki King Streetlight in the Egg – Kaki King Cargo Cult – Kaki King Kelvinator, Kelvinator – Kaki King From Gagarin's Point Of View – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Detroit – Marcus Miller Revelation – Marcus Miller When I'm 64 – The London Double Bass Sound A notion – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Sam Jones Falling in love with love – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Sam Jones French Folk – Anne Drummond, Vic Juris, Benny Green, Dave Eggar, Brandi Disterheft, Keita Ogawa Early – Anne Drummond, Vic Juris, Brandi Disterheft, Kassa Overall Slang – Brian Bromberg A Common Disaster – Cowboy Junkies Tin Pan Alley (AKA Roughest Place in Town) – Stevie Ray Vaughan Heart Is A Drum – Beck Creep - Acoustic – Radiohead The Blue Whale – David Binney, Craig Taborn, Eivind Opsvik, Tyshawn Sorey Dating – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Picnic – Esbjörn Svensson Trio The Chapel – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Dodge the Dodo – Esbjörn Svensson Trio The Return of Mohammed – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Cornette – Esbjörn Svensson Trio In the Face of Day – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Subway – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Definition of a Dog – Esbjörn Svensson Trio Southwest Loner – Esbjörn Svensson Trio