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Good movie scenes for testing new speakers

J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Got the Polk Monitor 50 towers and the center from newegg and will be arriving today. I'm not expecting to be blown away but should be a lot better than the current ones. What are some good scenes to give them a little workout?

I'm already going to try these:

Lobby scene from The Matrix
Opening scene from SPR
Bank shootout from Heat
...
???
 
There's not a lot that really showcase fronts with the same impact as showing off a sub IMHO. There's certainly some level of performance gains upgrading the front stage but it's not a revolutionary experience.

I've also been a bit spoiled by going to Blu-Ray from DVD so the soundtracks gain some improvement from that aspect.

But from recent viewings, I thought that the new Hulk movie, Cloverfield, and Hit Man really had high energy soundtracks that will push your sound system. But I'm a bit of a bass head and recommend from that aspect. These are movies that had very powerful and dynamic LFE tracks.
 
I don't know what you're trying to "test" with fronts. Clarity? Staging?

The best thing to test your fronts would be music, preferably classical.

If you want to really hear how well your receiver processes sound, play the scene from Master and Commander (I believe it's scene 3) where the ship first attacks. I listened to the complete line of Denon receivers with that scene, and with each step up you can hear more detail, until you eventually can hear every ping and split in the wood that you couldn't hear with the lower line receivers.

But for the speakers themselves, I would test them with music. You want various ranges in the sound spectrum, and you rarely get that at the same time with a movie scene.
 
For the OP (none for you, hijacker!), my first instinct would be to grab a well produced concert DVD like Diana Krall's "Live in Paris". If it had to be a movie, I'd something with a strong soundtrack or dialogue/monologue scenes (forgive my nick, but anything produced at Skywalker Sound should be good).
 
Kill Bill Vol 1. The whole film is a good test of the ability for the dialogue to be audible clearly, for actions scenes, for surround, etc.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Apollo 13 is supposed to be good for testing subwoofers.
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Traffic score shook the windows of my house through my Klipsch sub. Just the right frequency; it was definitely unexpected.

I always liked the rooftop duel in the Matrix when Neo's dodging bullets. Really plays out nice on a surround sound system.
 
Watch The Incredibles, pretty much any of the action scenes have tons of surround work in them. Not a whole lot of bass, but get three dimensional sound stage.
 
Nice suggestions, guys. I'm saving up for a monster subwoofer (eD A7S-450, with the 1300W upgrade), so I'll probably be hunting for some good "subwoofer test" movies, too.

I agree with Rio that a good classical CD (SACD?) is probably the best test you can give to your front L/R. I'm actually in the hunt for some "neutral" multi-channel classical music on SACD that can be used at parties (but still display the quality of the sound system) - if anyone has any ideas, let me know.
 
Originally posted by: erwos
Nice suggestions, guys. I'm saving up for a monster subwoofer (eD A7S-450, with the 1300W upgrade), so I'll probably be hunting for some good "subwoofer test" movies, too.

I agree with Rio that a good classical CD (SACD?) is probably the best test you can give to your front L/R. I'm actually in the hunt for some "neutral" multi-channel classical music on SACD that can be used at parties (but still display the quality of the sound system) - if anyone has any ideas, let me know.
Click to expand...

Woah. Careful with that eD. That's a foundation destroyer.

Cloverfield had one of the most devistating LFE tracks I've heard. And that was just the DVD. I'm scared to know what the Blu-Ray version would do to a subwoofer. The Incredible Hulk also was a recent movie with a lit up LFE track.

It's a horrible movie, but by most accounts "The Haunting" has the most intense LFE track of just about any movie out. So that's worth at least a run through for demo purposes.

 
Originally posted by: vi edit
Woah. Careful with that eD. That's a foundation destroyer.
Click to expand...
The room is relatively large (12x30?), so I wanted something that could deliver some oomph throughout the viewing area. It's probably a fair bit of overkill, but subs are the one place in sound where tossing a couple hundred bucks more at the problem can result in a difference _anyone_ can hear. I've kept my eyes open for lower-cost alternatives, but nothing even comes close to what I would like (a problem with having good fronts!).

It sounds like both of the "Hulk" movies on BR-D have pretty good LFE from the highdefdigest.com reviews, so I might go with those - the wife likes a good comic book movie. Thanks for the recommendation. (She is less enamored of subwoofers weighing 150 pounds.)
 
Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Depth Charges in U-571
Click to expand...

This, and the battle scenes in Master & Commander are probably the 2 single greatest discs to really test the range of your speakers.
 
Originally posted by: erwos
Originally posted by: vi edit
Woah. Careful with that eD. That's a foundation destroyer.
Click to expand...
The room is relatively large (12x30?), so I wanted something that could deliver some oomph throughout the viewing area. It's probably a fair bit of overkill, but subs are the one place in sound where tossing a couple hundred bucks more at the problem can result in a difference _anyone_ can hear. I've kept my eyes open for lower-cost alternatives, but nothing even comes close to what I would like (a problem with having good fronts!).

It sounds like both of the "Hulk" movies on BR-D have pretty good LFE from the highdefdigest.com reviews, so I might go with those - the wife likes a good comic book movie. Thanks for the recommendation. (She is less enamored of subwoofers weighing 150 pounds.)
Click to expand...

Personally I would maybe look at the one right below the A7S. It's the 15" ported design. It'll dig a little lower than the 18" sealed and won't be as picky about needing EQ'd as the sealed one.

I've got a 12" DIY with a dirt cheap 200w plate amp in a 4.3CF ported enclosure in a room almost the same as yours. It energizes the room more than the wife likes. 🙂 A 15" ported would probably be a better fit. The 18" sealed will be louder at the cost of extension. For movies I'll go a little smaller with more reach over shear SPL. Plus the 15" is cheaper too.
 
Originally posted by: vi edit
Personally I would maybe look at the one right below the A7S. It's the 15" ported design. It'll dig a little lower than the 18" sealed and won't be as picky about needing EQ'd as the sealed one.
Click to expand...
That's the other one I'm considering - if the wife, um, objects to spending a grand on a sub. 🙂

I've got a 12" DIY with a dirt cheap 200w plate amp in a 4.3CF ported enclosure in a room almost the same as yours. It energizes the room more than the wife likes. 🙂 A 15" ported would probably be a better fit. The 18" sealed will be louder at the cost of extension. For movies I'll go a little smaller with more reach over shear SPL. Plus the 15" is cheaper too.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've been wrestling with that, too. I tend to go with sound quality over extension- if I ever need to go crazy with feeling the rumbles, I'd probably be better off with a set of buttkickers. We'll see how I feel when it comes to buying time, though. Too bad I'm not insane enough to just go full out with an A7-450. Now _that_ is a sub. 🙂
 
for the "Surround sound" effect, the opening scene in Swordfish can create a pretty cool effect. It can at least show if youre speakers are doing their job (youll feel surrounded, hey!).
 
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