What to try on your new KEF audio....?

[NicolasB]

The system in a Tesla Model Y sounds quite good, considering they only offer the one stereo. The S and X cars have incredible systems, plenty of power. 340w is on the low-end for a modern "high-end" stereo system.

 

[Speedluvver]

The system in a Tesla Model Y sounds quite good, considering they only offer the one stereo. The S and X cars have incredible systems, plenty of power. 340w is on the low-end for a modern "high-end" stereo system.

Tom did say they are making some updates to the production cars… so maybe that isn’t final spec

 

[Mctaff]

Best driving song for me, and sorts out an amp that can handle complexity…

ace of spades

 

[SmallerBaller]

Aren't we all?!

Well, I'm 25, but I may be middle-aged by the time the car's go out for delivery, so I better start listening to these recommendations I guess!

 

[Mctaff]

Well, I'm 25, but I may be middle-aged by the time the car's go out for delivery, so I better start listening to these recommendations I guess!

I guess your musical education has to start some time

 

[eclat2emira]

Best driving song for me, and sorts out an amp that can handle complexity…

ace of spades

Now that's what I call "driving" music, utterly relentless, uniquely unhinged, brilliant.

 

[eclat2emira]

Well, I'm 25, but I may be middle-aged by the time the car's go out for delivery, so I better start listening to these recommendations I guess!

There's plenty that spans generations and great music is great music. Recently rediscovered High Flying Birds - just awesome!

 

[Honeywell]

I like a bit of hi fi. I have a pair of £2000 speakers at home Etc.

For testing I find George Michael always had immaculate studio settings and my default track is Fastlove. It has high trebles, low basses and notably open soundstage.


AC/DC also has impressively remastered output like You ShooK Me All Night Long which is a real workout for a speaker setup with crisp drums, a wall of guitars and a visceral vocal.



If a hifi can make both those tracks pop then it is a good setup.

 

[Porter]

Some great suggestions by the group, nice to know there are some real music fans on here.

Here's something a bit different... for those who enjoy unusual electronic and rock music that defies genre, the album Neon Golden by The Notwist is a masterpiece and deserves to be experienced in full. So many fascinating auditory things converge in this one album, and yet all of the pieces are given their own space to breathe. A fantastic album for settling in to learn the nuances of a stereo system, as well.

On the acoustic side anything by guitar genius Antonio Forcione. His early recordings were made by Naim, who know a thing or two about good Hi Fi

If you dig Antonio Forcione, check out the artists on a label called Candyrat. They specialize in virtuoso-level fingerstyle guitar and other string instrumentalists. Some absolutely unbelievable talents releasing music with these folks. A hypnotic example is Ebon Coast by Andy McKee. If you like that sort of thing, there is a LOT more where that came from on Candyrat, and a huge variety of styles and sounds. Some really fascinating covers of more mainstream works too, like Antoine Dufour's single-guitar fingerstyle cover of Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 where he plays all the band's parts at once (including percussion) without any looping, or Mike Dawes' similarly single-guitar approach to Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know. Or even Luca Stricagnoli's multi-neck cover of Gorillaz' Feel Good Inc, which is insane. The whole damn record label is a rabbit hole of insane world class strings players.


For something to really challenge the KEF's ability to keep things clean and clear when the mix gets heavier but there's actual harmonic content in there as well, Color Wheel by Arch Echo is worth a try. Great example of modern prog metal by a crew of insanely talented young guys.

Along the same lines (but more challenging to the coherence of the timing) is Polyphia's G.O.A.T., which has a ton of really exposed, extremely tight percussive detail passages that turn into a mess on systems with poor phase coherence.


For those with more jazzy sensibilities, the incomparable modern jazz supergroup Snarky Puppy is a great go-to. Super workout for an audio system, particularly when it really gets rolling. Superb mixing on this too, almost hard to believe it's a live recording (no overdubs). And a crazy intense keys solo by Cory Henry, with percussion counterpoint by Larnell Lewis.


For a challenging female vocal, here's My Mind by Yebba. I challenge you not to feel things. Her track Boomerang is also worth a listen, her vocal gymnastics on it are insane - that's not autotune.


And a completely different female vocal, here's Diana Krall covering Joni Mitchell's A Case of You as an encore on her 2001 Paris concert series. It's a late-at-night track that plays well in the dark and goes well with a nightcap drink.


River by Leon Bridges - I love this song. Lots of different levels in the mix, environmental sound, vocals mic'd both close and at a distance... really beautiful track as well.


That's probably enough for now, lol.

 

[Honeywell]

My goodness Antoine Dufour playing 1979 is simply extraordinary. What an incredible talent. Humans are so often disappointing but occasionally they make you just stop and stare in amazement.

 

[Eagle7]

It's always interesting to see what people like to listen to. I think it reveals what's going on behind the mask of the flesh, which you often would never suspect is there.

The Candyrat link has some incredible talents there. The Andy McKee piece is exceptional.

If you like that kind of artistry, you would probably like Alip Ba Ta if you haven't already discovered him.



As for a female vocalist, this kid is like nothing I've ever heard. She won Norway's Got Talent when she was 7, and now can produce sound and emotion that's almost surreal it's so good. Her name is Angelina Jordan. This was her at I believe age 13. Listen to the vocal tone she already has at that age:



Here's her latest she just released, her cover of Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds. She always does her own versions of every cover she does, and did so right from the beginning when she was little.



Her covers of just about any Adele song almost make Adele sound like a karaoke singer by comparison. She's just keeps getting better and better.

There's some incredible talent out there. A Kazakhstan singer named Dimash Kudaibergen has a 7 octave vocal range, and full control of it from top to bottom. Never seen or heard anyone who can do what he does. This is the first song I heard from him. It's called S.O.S. and it's a French song, quite difficult and demanding. He sings it here as the first song in a Chinese competition show in 2017. It's all professional, established Chinese singers, and he was brought in at the last minute as a ringer. The only reason he didn't win was because it was against the law for an outsider to win. They changed that law after this show.



With all the advanced computerized equipment and gear that's available today, it's interesting to see how much phenomenal stuff is still being done by someone with an acoustic guitar, or a person just singing without any special effects.

 

[Scruff111S]

Isn't it middle aged folks predominantly buying the Emira

Hey, less of the middle aged bit. Im 58 going on 20.

 

[eclat2emira]

Hey, less of the middle aged bit. Im 58 going on 20.

Exact same here, must be the sweetspot!