You've just spent anywhere from a few thousand to "I'm not telling my partner the actual figure" dollars on a proper hi-fi system. The speakers are positioned. The amplifier is warming up. The cables are connected with the kind of obsessive care usually reserved for defusing explosives. And now comes the question that's somehow both trivial and profound: what do you play first?

This isn't just about testing your new equipment. It's about justifying the expense, validating your choices, and - let's be honest - experiencing that moment of "oh, so this is what I've been missing" that makes spending serious money on audio equipment seem reasonable rather than completely insane.

The wrong choice here is genuinely consequential. Play something poorly recorded and you'll spend the next hour wondering if you've made a terrible mistake. Play something overly familiar and you won't notice the improvement. Play something too obscure and you'll be too busy concentrating on the music to appreciate what your speakers are doing with it.

So here's the definitive guide to first tracks, organised by what you're actually trying to achieve. This isn't audiophile gatekeeping or pretentious nonsense about "sound staging" - it's just pragmatic advice about what actually works.

The Classics: What Audiophiles Have Been Playing Since Your Parents Were Young

There's a reason certain tracks appear on every "audiophile test disc" ever compiled. They're exceptionally well recorded, most people know them well enough to have opinions, and they reveal exactly what your system can do. Whether that's reassuring or terrifying depends entirely on how much you spent.

Steely Dan - "Aja" (from Aja, 1977)

If you play one track to test a new system, make it this. The title track from Aja is seven minutes of immaculate studio production, recorded with unlimited budget and unlimited time by people who genuinely cared whether every snare hit sounded perfect. The drum break alone - Steve Gadd's legendary solo around the four-minute mark - has probably sold more high-end speakers than any marketing campaign in history.

On proper speakers, you'll hear every brush stroke, every cymbal shimmer, every layer of the keyboard parts that sit underneath the mix. On mediocre speakers, it'll sound fine but flat. On terrible speakers, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. It's the great separator.

Pink Floyd - "Time" (from The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)

The opening alarm clocks. The ticking. The way the bass enters. The way the vocals sit in the mix. This track has been demo'd in hi-fi shops for fifty years because it does everything: dynamics, stereo imaging, bass extension, vocal clarity, and that intangible quality of "space" that good speakers reproduce and bad ones collapse into mush.

Alan Parsons engineered this album like he was trying to win an argument about whether audio engineering mattered. He won. If your system can't reproduce the depth and dimension in this track, your system isn't good enough, regardless of what you paid.

Fleetwood Mac - "Dreams" (from Rumours, 1977)

Less flashy than the other classics but perhaps more revealing. Stevie Nicks' vocal floats above a deceptively simple arrangement that's actually layered with dozens of studio decisions about placement, reverb, and balance. Proper speakers make this track sound intimate despite being recorded in professional studios with expensive equipment. Bad speakers make it sound like every other 70s soft rock track.

It's also a useful test of whether your system adds brightness or harshness to female vocals - if Nicks sounds shrill or fatiguing, something's wrong with either your speakers or your room acoustics.

The Modern Classics: When You Want to Prove Your System Handles Contemporary Production

Daft Punk - "Touch" (from Random Access Memories, 2013)

Daft Punk spent millions recording this album entirely analogue with live orchestras and session musicians, then mastered it to sound pristine on modern equipment. "Touch" specifically moves through multiple sections, styles, and dynamics - from intimate piano to full orchestral swells to electronic beats. It's a comprehensive test disguised as an emotional journey about... well, touch.

If your system can handle the transitions without compressing the quiet parts or distorting the loud parts, you've bought well. If Paul Williams' vocal sounds like it's in the room with you rather than on a recording, you've bought very well indeed.

Massive Attack - "Teardrop" (from Mezzanine, 1998)

That bassline. You know the one. It's the reason people buy subwoofers or floorstanding speakers with proper bass extension. Elizabeth Fraser's ethereal vocals floating over trip-hop production that's simultaneously sparse and dense - there's nowhere for mediocre equipment to hide.

Proper speakers reproduce the texture and weight of the bass without it overwhelming everything else. They let you hear the space between the elements. They make Fraser's voice sound ghostly rather than just quiet. It's a masterclass in production, and your system either reveals that or obscures it.

The Soul Test: When You Want to Hear What Emotion Sounds Like

Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On" (1971)

The opening party ambience. Eli Fountain's saxophone. Then Marvin's multi-tracked vocals entering like a revelation. On mediocre equipment, this sounds pleasant. On proper equipment, it sounds present - like Marvin Gaye is actually performing in your room, with all the warmth and soul intact.

This is the track I'd play first if I'd just bought Bowers & Wilkins 801 speakers. Not because it's the best-recorded track ever (though it's exceptional), but because it makes you understand why anyone would spend that kind of money on speakers. The emotion translates. The humanity comes through. That's the point of all this expensive equipment - to remove the barriers between the recording and your ears.

Aretha Franklin - "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968)

If your system can reproduce Aretha's voice without adding harshness, sibilance, or that weird digital edge that ruins so many vocals, you've chosen well. This track is warm, immediate, and full of dynamic range - whisper-quiet moments and full-throated belt sections. Speakers that flatten dynamics or add colouration reveal themselves instantly.

The Rock Test: When You Want to Know If Your System Can Actually Rock

The Black Keys - "Weight of Love" (from Turn Blue, 2014)

Seven minutes that starts intimate and builds into one of the most intense guitar solos recorded in the last decade. This track tests everything: can your system handle sustained loud passages without compressing or fatiguing? Can it maintain separation when guitars are absolutely wailing? Can it preserve Dan Auerbach's vocals while everything else is trying to destroy your speakers?

Most importantly: does that guitar solo around the four-minute mark make you want to turn it up or down? If up, your system is working. If down, something's wrong - either the speakers are adding harshness or they're not handling the power demands properly.

Dire Straits - "Money for Nothing" (from Brothers in Arms, 1985)

One of the first major albums recorded entirely digitally, and it still sounds pristine forty years later. That opening guitar riff should sound crystalline and articulated, not harsh or brittle. Mark Knopfler's vocal should sit exactly where it belongs in the mix. The drums should have impact without muddiness.

This has been a demo track in every hi-fi shop since 1985 for good reason - it works. It reveals what your system can do without requiring you to be a studio engineer to understand what you're hearing.

The Australian Exception: When You Want to Support Local but Actually Want Quality

Let's be honest: most classic Australian rock was recorded to sound energetic and immediate rather than pristine and detailed. The Easybeats, Cold Chisel, The Angels - it's all brilliant music with deliberately raw production. You don't play "Friday on My Mind" to test $15,000 speakers; you play it because it's a great song.

But there are exceptions.

Tame Impala - "Let It Happen" (from Currents, 2015)

Kevin Parker is possibly the first Australian artist to consistently deliver recordings that compete with international audiophile standards. "Let It Happen" is nearly eight minutes of layered, detailed, meticulously produced psychedelic pop that reveals new elements every time you listen.

On proper speakers, you'll hear the depth of the production - the layers of synths, the space around the drums, the way Parker's vocal sits in the mix. It's the rare Australian recording you could legitimately use to demo high-end equipment without anyone questioning your choices.

Crowded House - "Weather With You" (from Woodface, 1991)

Mitchell Froom's production is immaculate - warm, detailed, balanced. This track specifically has gorgeous vocal harmonies that good speakers separate and poor speakers smush together. It's less flashy than Steely Dan, less intense than The Black Keys, but it's beautifully recorded and genuinely moving.

If you're setting up a system in front of someone who doesn't care about audiophile reference tracks but does have opinions about actual music, this works. Everyone knows it, most people like it, and it sounds demonstrably better on good equipment.

What Not to Play: The Tracks That Will Lie to You

Some tracks seem like good test material but will actually mislead you about your system's capabilities.

Anything heavily compressed or brickwall-mastered. A lot of modern pop and rock is mastered so loudly and with so little dynamic range that you can't tell whether your system is good or terrible. It'll sound the same on Bose and on Bowers & Wilkins because there's no information in the recording for good speakers to reveal.

Songs you've heard a million times on terrible speakers. Your brain has already decided what they should sound like. You won't notice the improvement because you're comparing the new version to a memory rather than to reality.

Tracks with genuine recording flaws. Some classic albums have audible tape hiss, microphone placement issues, or mixing decisions that seemed good in 1967 but sound wrong now. Your speakers will reproduce these flaws accurately, and you'll wonder if you've wasted your money.

YouTube or heavily compressed streaming. For the love of everything audio-related, use proper quality sources. Lossless streaming at minimum. Vinyl or CD if you have them. Your expensive speakers can't make compressed audio sound uncompressed - they'll just make the compression more obvious.

The Controversial Opinion: Genre Matters Less Than Recording Quality

Audiophile forums will argue endlessly about whether jazz or classical or acoustic music is "better" for testing systems. This is mostly nonsense. What matters is recording quality and dynamic range, not genre.

A well-recorded metal album will reveal more about your system than a poorly-recorded jazz album. A pristine electronic track will tell you more than a muddy blues recording. The genre is irrelevant if the production is competent and the mastering isn't destructive.

That said: orchestral music, jazz with acoustic instruments, and well-recorded vocals tend to be exceptionally revealing because they're texturally complex and dynamically varied. If your system can handle a full orchestra without collapsing into mush, it can handle anything. If it can reproduce an upright bass with proper weight and texture, drums with realistic transient response, and vocals that sound human rather than processed, you've bought well.

The Practical Approach: Play Multiple Tracks

Don't judge your entire system based on one song. Play several tracks that test different aspects:

Dynamic range: Something that moves from whisper-quiet to explosively loud. Pink Floyd's "Time," anything from The Dark Side of the Moon, orchestral music.

Bass extension and control: Massive Attack, well-recorded electronic music, James Jamerson bass lines from classic Motown.

Vocal reproduction: Aretha Franklin, Eva Cassidy, any singer where emotion and technical ability intersect.

Imaging and soundstage: Steely Dan, Donald Fagen's The Nightfly, anything recorded with meticulous attention to stereo placement.

Complex arrangements: Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, Steely Dan's Aja, anything with dozens of instrumental layers that need to remain distinct.

If your system handles all of these competently, you've bought well. If it excels at some and struggles with others, you've learned what compromises your particular setup makes. Every system has trade-offs unless you've spent truly obscene money, and even then you're mostly paying for diminishing returns.

The Equipment That Actually Matters

Your test tracks are only as revealing as your equipment allows them to be. If you're testing new speakers with a mediocre amplifier, you're testing the amplifier's limitations more than the speakers' capabilities. If you're streaming compressed audio, you're testing the compression algorithm rather than your system.

The hierarchy of importance:

1. Speakers. This is where most of the sound quality lives. A great speaker with a mediocre amplifier will sound significantly better than a mediocre speaker with a great amplifier. If you're going to spend serious money anywhere, spend it here. Our Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series and 800 Series represent what's actually possible when you stop making compromises.

2. Source quality. Lossless streaming minimum. Vinyl if you have a decent turntable and cartridge. CD if you're not a barbarian who threw them all away in 2008.

3. Amplification. Needs enough clean power for your speakers and room size. More power than you think you need is generally good. Our Marantz and Denon ranges cover everything from "sufficient" to "why would you need this much power" depending on your requirements and budget tolerance.

4. Room acoustics. The most overlooked and possibly most important factor. Hard surfaces reflect sound. Soft surfaces absorb it. Bass builds up in corners. Your listening position matters. None of this is complicated, but ignoring it means your expensive equipment is fighting your room instead of working with it.

The Moment of Truth

So you've chosen your track. Your system is set up properly - speakers positioned well, amplifier working correctly, source material actually good quality. You press play.

What you're listening for:

Does it sound effortless? Good equipment doesn't strain. Vocals don't sound forced. Instruments don't sound compressed. Loud passages don't become harsh. It should sound like the music is just happening rather than being reproduced.

Can you hear individual elements clearly? Not just "there are drums and guitars" but actual separation - you can follow the bass line while the guitars are doing something else, hear the individual voices in harmony sections, distinguish between different instruments playing simultaneously.

Does it sound natural? Cymbals sound like metal being struck, not like white noise. Voices sound human. Pianos sound wooden. If you've heard live acoustic instruments, your brain knows what they should sound like. Good speakers don't lie about this.

Do you want to keep listening? This is the most important test. Good equipment makes you want to listen to more music. It's engaging without being fatiguing. You can listen for hours without your ears getting tired or your brain checking out.

If the answer to these questions is mostly yes, congratulations - you've spent your money well. If the answer is mostly no, something's wrong with either the equipment, the setup, the source material, or your expectations.

The Uncomfortable Reality About First Impressions

Here's what nobody tells you: the first track you play on new equipment often sounds wrong. Not because the equipment is bad, but because your brain is calibrated to whatever you've been listening to previously. Good speakers reveal details you've never heard before, which can initially sound like something's different rather than something's better.

Give it time. Play several tracks. Let your ears adjust. Come back the next day and listen again. If it still sounds wrong after a week of listening, then worry. But that initial "this sounds weird" response is often just your brain recalibrating to actually accurate reproduction after years of hearing whatever lies your previous speakers were telling you.

What I Actually Play First

When I set up new Bowers & Wilkins speakers for demo purposes, I start with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Not because it's the best-recorded track ever, but because it's emotionally immediate enough that people connect with it regardless of whether they care about audio quality, and well-recorded enough that proper speakers reveal everything that's there.

Then I play Steely Dan's "Aja" because it's the comprehensive test - if speakers can handle this, they can handle anything. Then I play whatever the customer actually listens to, because the point isn't to impress them with audiophile reference tracks, it's to make their music sound better.

For my own listening? Depends on the day. Sometimes it's Tame Impala because I'm Australian and it's genuinely well-recorded. Sometimes it's The Black Keys because "Weight of Love" remains one of the most satisfying builds in modern rock. Sometimes it's just whatever I feel like hearing, because the point of good equipment is that it makes everything sound better, not just the test tracks.

The Conclusion You're Probably Not Expecting

The first song you play on new hi-fi equipment matters less than you think and more than you'd expect. It matters less because ultimately you'll listen to thousands of tracks on your system, and one track isn't going to tell you everything. It matters more because that first impression creates either confidence or doubt, and doubt will haunt your listening for months.

Choose something well-recorded that you actually care about. Not just a test track that audiophiles approve of, but music that matters to you personally. Because the point of expensive audio equipment isn't to win arguments on forums or impress visitors - it's to bring you closer to the music you love.

If Marvin Gaye does that for you, play Marvin Gaye. If it's Tame Impala or Steely Dan or even Crowded House, play that. If it's something completely different that happens to be beautifully recorded and emotionally significant, play that instead.

The first track you play should answer one simple question: was this worth it? If the answer is yes - if you hear something you've never heard before, if the music sounds more real, if you understand why anyone would spend this much money on speakers - then you've chosen correctly.

And if the answer is no? Well, you've still got thirteen days left of our return policy.

Now press play and find out.