Rostropovich on Teldec with a chamber ensemble (I'm too lazy to go to my basement and tell you the exact details) playing a Vivaldi piece. Always start with that. A couple of bars into it the music drops a couple of octaves, and that moment is when amplifiers get their soul exposed for the world to see. Dynamics, microdynamics, ability to raise current as speaker impedance drops, attack and decay, all tested at once. Also Roger Waters' Amused to Death for soundstaging, Vienna Teng for vocal naturality, Massive Attack or Thievery Corporation for bass, Nils Peter Molvaer for range and detail, etc.
CD's you bring for auditioning
Do you also have some CD's which you use to audition equipment and which will reveal immediately shortcomings, eg I use
Buddy Guy - Sweet Tea (first couple of tracks can be unbelievable hard to listen to on some equipment
Pink Floyd - DSOTM, checkout the bass, the clocks can sound 'washed' up on some over-tubed systems
Pink Floyd - The Wall , played at loud volume will immediately reveal shortcomings on loudspeakers
and yours...
Buddy Guy - Sweet Tea (first couple of tracks can be unbelievable hard to listen to on some equipment
Pink Floyd - DSOTM, checkout the bass, the clocks can sound 'washed' up on some over-tubed systems
Pink Floyd - The Wall , played at loud volume will immediately reveal shortcomings on loudspeakers
and yours...