Mark Knophler; recommended music??


Hi. I have been listening to music, mostly rock, for the past 35 years, but I'm fairly new to the high-end audio hobby. I have put together a very satisfying system consisting of an Arcam CD player; Cambridge Audio 840 upsampling CD player; Odyssey Audio Stratus Extreme amp; Parasound Line-Drive preamplifier, Meadowlark Shearwater "Hotrod" loudspeakers, and an RBH passive sub with outboard RBH crossover/amplifier. Audioquest solid core speaker cables and interconnects all around. Sound = phenominal. Now I need to discover additional artists and genres to better appreciate all this fine equipment. Thus far my favorite is Dire Straits, and surprisingly, Mark Knophler's solo work even more so. "Sailing to Philidelphia" and "Golden Heart" may be my two most-enjoyed discs now. Are there other artists out there with similar sound? I have discovered Diana Krall, and love her piano. Basically, I like jazz/rock/blues that emphasize percussion, acoustic guitar, and clean electric guitar (much like Knophler/Straits). Any suggestions?? Many thanks.
klipschking
04-17-09: Rwwear
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Warner Brothers in the mid 1970s had an acclaimed promotional arm, The Warner Record Show, that put out a series of live albums by up and coming artists, including Dire Straits and Talking Heads. This is the best sounding Dire Straits I have heard and culls out material from the first two albums. In a word, essential listening.
You must get Dire Straits- On Every Street. Every cut on this LP or CD is excellent. You will hear depth of soundstage, Soundstage width and height and most of all you will hear a presence of Mark Knopflers' singing that is so lifelike. Love over gold Private Investigations is another one that is great. The cut Private Investigations has a glass breaking near the last 4th of the cut. The glass will be to the left of the left speaker and it will sound like it's about 10 to 20 feet or more behind the left speaker. You will also hear Mark turning his head while he is singing. Don't be surprised if you actually hear him patting his feet on the floor. There is an organ that sits near the rear of the soundstage (near the center)that's there on both LP's. Both have wonderful soundstages and if you find "On Every Street" on vinyl you are lucky.

You must also have James Taylor Greatest Hits 1 and 2.
My first choice is vinyl. Don't be afraid to pick up some of your favorite acoustic guitar players. I would visit the Thrift shops and Fleamarkets and take a look around. You never know what treasures are there. Don't forget local record shows and record stores.