Thanks for the responses here - more music for me to check out :-) I do agree that letting them choose makes a lot of sense - however, sometetimes they chose poorly recorded CDs. For example, the Moby Play CD (great stuff) has so much background noise on the CD, one would think it was introduced on purpose - one of my friends was surprised this background noise was still there - he thought my system would miraculously eliminate it. I wish....
Which track do you demo to your friends?
You know when a friend arrives at your house, sees your stereo and says "how much did all this cost". You tell him/her the $$$ and they say "are you mad?" Of course, the next step is to justify it by playing something that will make their jaw hit the floor. Which track do you play? Me, I play a track called "Spanish Harlem" by Rebecca Pidgeon off an album called "The Raven". Works every time :-) Their jaw hits the floor, and no-one speaks till the song is over. Then they something along the lines of "Oh, I see what you mean". Follow up/alternate demo tracks for me would include "Fire and Roses" by Mimi Goese and "Ordinary Life" by Christen Barry. What track do you play in this most demanding of moments?