Great story, SD! I have the old Stakatto! disc, which has recordings of a number of instruments and other things (the breaking glass cut was enough to have my wife come running into the living room to stop me from throwing our crystal into the fireplace!), including a Boeing 737 taking off at an airport. One day I was playing this at a very high volume when the whole system went silent. Turns out that the amplifiers (at that time a pair of ARC M300s) had a tube saver circuit that prevents the amps from blowing up when too much low frequency signal appears at the input, thereby shutting them down. So that one beat my system, I guess. Musically, any DG digital CD from the early 80s will also trounce my system, in that it'll get me running to the preamp to turn the thing off before my ears start to bleed.
Recordings that trounce your system?
Ever come across a recording, be it a particular track, passage, entire CD, LP, etc., that makes mincemeat out of your otherwise beloved system(s)? Mine have met their match in the form of Hans Zimmer's "Gladiator." Wondering if any of you would care to share any such experiences?