thanks bugbitten. my list is compiled as a result of years of listening to music and movies and it is specifically tailored to me. not everyone will agree with my list, but it is not an issue of agreeing or disagreeing with it. others will come along and say that their list is "better" than mine. again, it is not a question of one being better than another. it is a question of personal taste, and my list reflects my own personal taste. i have specific things that i listen for when i audition audio components and using the recordings i have listed, i will always have a good idea of whether a component will work in my system or not. probably my most important criteria is reproduction of human voice. it is easier for an audio system to reproduce explosions and cars screeching and crashing into each other across the sound field than it is to reproduce human voice. if a system gets human voice right, i am confident it will handle everything else.