What are your go to LP's for evaluating new gear or new tubes?

Inna

I'll have to check Oregon out. Not familiar to me.

Wondering why you choose some that you say were not good recordings but use them as references. Seems an odd choice. 

As to brass, I have no jazz music in my collection. I have a lot of orchestra, a couple Canadian brass D2D that are really good and Fresh Aire uses a fair amount of brass as well. 

dmuso

I have many of what you list. I also have some very old RCA recordings that are pretty good. Van Cliburn and V Horowitz piano stuff. They can be surprisingly good right back into the 50's. I have a couple that are still sealed too. Kind of fun, don't know whether to break them out or not. 

As to DSOTM, I don't care for it as much as Meddle or Wish You Were Here, which I have both on Island. I think I have at least 4 or 5 copies of DSOTM but I kind of burned out on it back in the old days. 

bdgregory

Supertramp recordings are very good. I have several of them.

Last night, I rolled in some old tubes that I'd never tried before, some Webcor 12AU7A's. They were OK, not great. I listened to Pat Benatar Tropico on Chrysalis. It is a damn fine recording with some really great dynamics. It's quite a demonstration of a beautiful voice, some very deep bass and some of the most dynamic drumming and percussion that you will hear on a pop album.

Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

Queensryche - The Warning

Billy Joel - Turnstiles

Pink Floyd - Animals

Just a few but be sure to give tubes at least one hundred hours or so to burn-n and open up in order to appreciate the sq. 

Try Camille Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (wide frequency range including a 16 hz bass fundamental that only whales can hear but people can feel :)

As mentioned previously Steely Dan-Aja-great musicians in a tight band

Verdi-Requiem-allows your rig to show it ability to show it vocal chops from basso profondo to soprano along with transients from full orchestral passages.

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue- trumpet,tenor sax,bass,drums-piano, transients travel the full range.  One of the great assemblages of jazz musicians, Adderley, Chambers,Cobb,Coltrane,Evans and Kelly ever.

Bruckner Symphony #4-Zibin Mehta conducting ((Romantic version II)

Enjoy the music