The hackneyed 

As I made my way around a recent audio show, I was disappointed but not surprised to find that many exhibitors still rely on worn out music tracks to demo their gear. Even if you only occasionally attend the shows, you know what I mean. Examples include “Keith Don’t Go,” from Nils Lofgren’s Keith Don’t Go: Live at T&C, Diana Krall’s version of “A Case of You,” from her Live in Paris album,” and London Grammar’s “Hey Now,” from its album If You Wait.  

Also included among the most overused demo tracks is Francine Thirteen’s single “Queen Mary,” the multi-artist Jazz at the Pawnshop album, and Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar soundtrack. With its dramatic left-to-right panning effects and substantial low-frequency content, “Queen Mary” is undoubtedly the newest contender to drive all non-lobotomized show-attending humans out of an exhibitor room.  

The practice of using these tired demo tracks at audio shows is likely almost as old as the shows themselves. And of course, audiophiles have long complained about this practice. Still, I wonder why many exhibitors persist in using these tracks. Perhaps they want to play it safe rather than taking a risk on an “untried” recording. Certainly, exhibiting at a show and sending gear and people there is not cheap. But surely, an audiophile can recognize good sound even if he or she has not previously heard a recording.  

Or perhaps exhibitors feel that by using music that the attendees are familiar with, the attendees can more easily compare the demo gear to what they have at home. While this may be true, I submit that audio shows are not the place to conduct a formal equipment review. Rather, they should expose attendees to new gear, new people, and—yes—new music.  

How much confidence can an exhibitor have in its products if it can’t risk playing something unfamiliar? Perhaps it’s a force of habit or even mere laziness. In any event, sticking with the same old tracks only plays into the stereotype (made only somewhat less compelling by music streaming) that audiophiles sit in their basements listening to the same twelve tracks on hideously expensive gear. 

The unpredictable 

That’s not to say that exhibitors should not carefully select the music used in their show demos. For example, history dictates that unless a room is completely empty, exhibitors should rarely if ever allow an attendee to select such music. This includes music that an attendee has brought to the show on physical media. Too often, those tracks are longer than an insurance defensive driving course and as relaxing as a generic alarm clock tone.  

Indeed, we have all seen instances when a terribly recorded attendee-selected track quickly empties a room. I recall when at an attendee's request, the exhibitor loudly played the eponymous track from the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s 1999 Californication album. The distorted, dynamically compressed nature of that album, a perfect testament to the loudness wars of the late 1990s and early 2000s, had folks suddenly realizing that they had an urgent appointment with a mountain goat. 

The fresh 

Since I have criticized the overused, I feel obliged to suggest some less worn racks that show exhibitors may want to consider. So, I reached out to several people who conduct excellent show demos. Of course, few would be surprised to learn that there is an almost unlimited amount of excellent, well-recorded music out there that is off the audiophile show circuit’s beaten path. 

First, I spoke to Harry Weisfeld, founder of New Jersey-based VPI Industries. Harry has probably forgotten more great music than I will ever know. His demos constitute the definitive vinyl experience for rock and roll, rhythm and blues, pop, country, and easy listening music from the 1950s through the 1980s. According to Weisfeld, music went downhill after that. 

Weisfeld likes to play demo music that features wide dynamic range, a lot of ambient soundstaging cues, and a human sounding voice. He suggested that I check out any of the tracks from Marty Robbins’ 1959 Gunfire Ballards and Trail Songs album, though he particularly recommended the tracks "Big Iron” and “El Paso.” Weisfeld stated that while all of the album’s pressings were good, the one from Columbia’s Six Eye label boasts the best sound quality. My research found widespread praise for the pressing, with one commentator stating that it is the “single most influential album of Western songs in post-World War II American music” with “stunning [n]early [t]riple [p]lus (A++ to A+++)” sound.   

Speaking of sound quality, Harry stated that Henry Mancini’s 1963 album, Our Man in Hollywood on RCA Victor’s Living Stereo, sounds “phenomenal.” “Too Litle Time (Love Theme)” from the Glenn Miller Story) from that album is said by many to be one of the most beautifully crafted songs of the 20^th century. It’s been covered many times, but perhaps none are so well done as is Mancini’s version. 

Turning my attention to music streaming, I secondly spoke with Duncan Taylor, the Head of Marketing at YG Acoustics in Colorado. Luckily, he favors off-the-beaten path music. Taylor suggested that I check out Jacob Collier’s rendition of “Norwegian Wood” from his album Light for Days. A producer and master of multiple instruments, Collier is known for his unique and complex arrangements, perfect pitch, and innovative use of technology. On this album, Collier uses his acoustic guitar to produce an open and resonant sound that can be beautifully captured on a good stereo rig.   

In addition to Collier's “Norwegian Wood,” Taylor also recommends checking out “Wedding Death March” from the Fred Thomas’ Trio album Dick Wag: A tribute to Richard Wagner. Worth checking out for its creativeness alone, the track is a dramatic, jazzed-up reinterpretation of composer Richard Wagner’s bridal chorus from the opera Lohengrin. 

Third, I spoke to Martin Bell, the founder and CEO of Auckland, New Zealand’s JAVA HiFi. In addition to calling out several of the tired tracks, Bell mentioned his fatigue of Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” from that band’s 1985 Brothers in Arms album.  

Suggesting two demo tracks, Bell first offered Laura Marling’s "Soothing" from her Sempa Femina album. This album, which is about Marling’s understanding of femininity, is an interesting choice for a male dominated hobby. The topic must be deeply personal to her as she had the name of the album tattooed to her thigh. 

According to Bell, "Soothing” draws the listener in on “a bed of finger picked acoustic guitar [notes], a rolling, propulsive bassline, light percussive touches and Marling's intimate vocal delivery.” As the song unfolds, he stated, pianissimo “piano chords and ambient room sounds sit low in the mix against a background of drifting strings. On a good system, Bell stated, the track is both “spacious and claustrophobic, delivering vulnerability and tension in equal measure--a songwriting and production masterclass.” 

The other demo track suggested by Bell was Massive Attack’s "Black Milk" from the Mezzanine album. Released in 1998 to critical acclaim, the album was the band’s most commercially successful album.  Bell stated, tht it"unfolds over a slow, subterranean groove and a keyboard sample from Manfred Mann's Earth Band." He also stated that "[d]eep sub-bass stabs and samples pulse like distant signals, creating a sense of foreboding and weight, while woozy, wobbly synthesizer lines and heavily processed guitars hover like distant echoes.” Over this, Bell remarked, Elizabeth Fraser’s ethereal voice floats like a spectral presence. On lesser systems, the track can “easily congeal into a smeared mess.”

Finally, I would add the closely-mic'd Bassroom by jazz bassist Nenad Vasilic. The album has admittedly been discovered by a few audiophiles, but it’s still virtually unknown in the show demo world. Since I found this recording, I have been heavily pushing it to anyone who will listen, including the members of The Listening Chair’s Facebook group. Here, Vasilic’s solo work on the double and fretless bass guitars create an expanse of string textures, instrumental body taps, and fingering detail that are tailor made for a good stereo system. As a bonus, on the Deep Purple inspired “Burning,” Vasilic places a device at strategic places on his bass guitar so that the sound mimics an overdrive effect. 

The cure 

I hope that this article has unearthed a few fresh show demo tracks for use by exhibitors in 2026. Though, if an exhibitor persists in playing “Queen Mary” or any other tired track, I likely won’t go on a disruptive rant. I will, however, privately advise the exhibitor that if he or she wants me to stay in the room, he or she will have to do better.  

And yes, I’ll send them a link to this article. I invite you to do the same.  

Happy New Year.