Speaker punishing bass


I was wondering if anybody had suggestions for quality recordings with frightening bass. I use several discs for auditioning speakers to see if they can stand up without distorting. My favorites are: Vic Wooten with the Flecktones, Marcus Miller, Copland's "Fanfare for a Common Man", Edgar Meyer's "Uncommon Ritual" and "Passage" by the Empire Brass Quintet. While bass isn't the last word it has made short work of some speaker choices. As always I look forward to any suggestions.
wirehead
Telarc's CD of "1812 Overture" of course. The cannon shots have bass down to 6hz!! That's s-i-x. Maybe too punishing; more like speaker abuse...
Another Telarc Holst Suites 1&2, Mercury re-issue 1812 Overture, etc more for dynamics than low Hz with the bronze cannon and Riverside Chapel Carillon going at it. Watch out when you start a listening session with the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams, the opening bass is baaad, especially in your car.
Messiaen: Pentecost Mass(DE 3147), it is an organ (stop laughing) that plays to as low as 20Hz which is not as good as 6Hz but we can't hear that low any way. Also check out Techmaster P.E.B.: Bass Computer Limited Gold Disk, LOTS of bass.
You might try Stanley Clarke & Friends live at the greek. This also has Billy Cobham on drums, Larry Carlton on guitar, Najee on sax, and Deron Johnson on keyboards. This disc will seperate the men from the boys.
my most punishing bass test track on cd is "poem of chinese drums" (naxos), also available on burmester's vorfuhrungs-cd III. on lp "dafos" (reference recordings) is the clear choice.
Vaughan Williams, Sym No. 7 "Sinfonia antartica" Naxos, Track 3. Killer organ chord.
Anyone familiar with the Dorian Recordings "sampler". There are several organ tracks on this disc, and one track in particular "Gnomus" (Not sure of the spelling) goes quite deep. Not sure how low these notes go, but suffice to say DEEP. Another album with serious Deep bass (of a funky variety) is Erykah Badu's "Baduizm" give the opening of "Rim shot" a listen. Most speakers won't handle it. Lastly, Shefield Labs "Heart beat drummers of Japan" can put out some bass with serious size to it. This bass isn't so much deep as it is increadbily large - also a good test.
Hers's a few to try:
1) MC 900 Ft. Jesus, One Step Ahead of the Spider, tracks 2 and 3,
2) Erich Kunzel, Best of on Telarc, track 20, Jurassic Lunch,
3) Blue Man Group, Audio (on HDCD), any track with the Big Drum, esp. #4,
4) Yello, Pocket Universe, tracks 5 and 10,
5) Don Dorsey, Beethoven or Bust, track 13 and Bachbusters, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, both on Telarc; track 13 on Beethoven or Bust has one of the most vicious hits I've heard.
not mentioned: "Pictures at an exhibition" Dorian DOR-90117
That's one BIG organ. And although not really speaker "punishing" per se, on lyle Lovett's I love everybody, "pengiuns" starts with a really low male vocal and bass that I have rarely heard done well
Track # 2 from Sarah Mc Laughlan's "Surfacing". It is strictly very deep bass. If this CD doesn't rattle your floors and windows, your system is not producing bass below 40hz.
1. tangerine dream--barryl blue. From the box set compilation. this has 2 twin lead bass guitars, plus their synthesizers at this frequency operating close by.
2. german pressing of spotlight kid by captain beefheart. "i'm gonna booglarize you" . You'll see how good your speakers do w/ this cranked up.
3. 12" import single "radioactivity" by kraftwerk. the 2 drummers and the synthesizers are low on this.
4. If you want to pay, those harry partch albums on gate 5 records feature the catharsis he built--it extends 2 octaves below the low c on a cello.
5. 12" single from 82 of "blue monday" by new order is a good one w/ that percussion and bass.
6. the 12" single from england of relax, by frankie goes to hollywood is good--make sure you have the 9 minute version.
7. 12" single from germany; "lucifer" by alan parsons project.
8. "peon" by captain beefheart from the lick my decals off baby album--you always have to get imports on the beefheart stuff.
9. 12" single from germany of van halen--running with the devil.
The Rhythm Devils "The Apocalypse Now Sessions" forces me to keep a subwoofer with my speakers.
go to www.anomalousrecords.com and get any of the following: helmir bjorgulfsson "the opposite" (3" cd) or "discreet journey" (same artist) or toshio tsunoda's "field recordings". Mind you, this is strange, experimental, electronic music (in the 1st 2) and oddball recordings of standing waves - but the stuff goes down to the bottom of subwoofer territory. My whole house shakes when I play it!
If you are able to find a vinyl version of the "1812" recording that Estrnad mentions in the first post, you will also have the opportunity to punish your tonearm and cartridge at the same time you punish your woofers. Good Luck, Doug
nusrat fateh ali khan & michael brook's "night song" - amazing low-frequency information on that cd... there's also amazing bass-response on kraftwerks' "electric cafe" as a matter of fact, i had this album several years & dint realize yust how much bass there *was* on that album until i took it to audition a pair of vmps tower III's a few years back. that experience is what made me buy a pair of their larger subwoofers, which is basically the bottom end of the tower III's ...

doug s.

Eurobass's Hypnotic bass CD, 6 th track has frequencies going to 5hz that you can feel like chills. All the tracks have low frequency enough for you to watch out your volume setting. Yes the Elecric cafe has great bass too, like Sedond pointed out. Other Cd I just got two days ago is ASANTE from Mapleshade.This guys plays african drums that goes really deep from track 2 and on.I have not listened in my car yet but I think it should be as low as 15 hz.
Sedond what was your opinion on the VMPS speakers. I forget which model but these are some of the finest speakers I have heard
snook, this was over 10 years ago, the tower lll is not a representation of vmps' current line-up. my opinion of them was excellent dynamics, detail & tonal accuracy, w/mediocre imaging/soundstaging. however, it seems that vmps has come a long way since then, w/their use of ribbon technology & better driver layout. i have not had the chance to audition their latest, but i'd like to, & i'd be surprised if the imaging & soundstaging isn't now on par w/their other strengths.
If rock'n'roll is to your liking try Heart's "The Road Home". Live recording of Heart's greatest, with some novel renditions of their classics. Well recorded. Lots of kick drum and electric bass.
I'll second Doug28450's recommend. Telarc 1812 on vinyl. Don't know the hz. reading on this vinyl version, but if you don't have a good tonearm-cartridge combo... good luck tracking this LP.
Joysjane, Your post made me curious. I pulled my copy of the "1812" to see if there was any clue as to the frequencies. The jacket notes state "The initial "crack" of the cannon upon ignition of the powder charge (which variously lies in the 2,000 to 3,000 KHz region) and the follow-up boom (going all the way down to as low as 6 cycles) represents a phenomenal challenge fo recording engineers....". Also of interest to vinyl junkies is that this record was mastered by Stan Ricker. Thanks, Doug
I was just listening to Rusted Root. The track Drum Trip is a pretty good workout for the woofers. I also recommend Planet Drum by Mickey Hart. Those above who mentioned Billy Cobham's Warning cd are absolutely correct, it's been one of my favorite cd's for over 10 years.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" movie soundtrack...though listen to it on the DVD for 24/96 quality....I don't know if it is available on DVA yet (?)
Here are three recommendations from Mapleshade:

Midnite "Ras Mek Peace" (for electric bass)
Blue Rider Trio "Harp, Steel and Guts" (for acoustic bass)
Big Joe Maher "Mojo" (for bass drum)
Enya's 1st (Atlantic)- go to track 14 "Dany Dwr" for some low information - pleasant listening too! Recently I attended the movie Crouching T - HD and the sustained drums - I even think it was listed in the credits as "Poems from a Chinese Dream" (mentioned earlier)- are a speaker's delight (or fear). I purchased the CD but it is pale in comparison to the theatre (same problem with "Gladiator" , though not as bad). It is fairly easy to find momentary examples like the Enya item above; however, the real test of a speaker's ability lies in keeping up with the pace, not withering after minutes of onslaught, etc. Tripping the fuse on my Quad 606 told me I was pushing it! Wall mounting your vinly rig is often the only way to isolate it from those LOW vibrations!