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Test Record question.

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Posted on January 22, 2016 at 18:55:31
MannyE
Audiophile

Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001
Of the two records I know, thanks to searching here, the Denon seems to be made out of unobtanium, and I just purchased a sealed NOS CBS Laboratories Technical Series Professional Test Record STR 112 Broadcast Test Record for 35 bucks.

Now that stereo seems to be making a small comeback, anyone know of any new test records that may be better than the STR 112?

I can't find the STR 151 anywhere either.

 

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RE: Test Record question., posted on January 23, 2016 at 00:27:21
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23874
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
January 29, 2004
The only Broadcast Test Records that I know of are the STR 150 and STR 151. The STR 112 is part of the CBS Laboratories Technical Series and contains square waves, tracking and intermodulation tests. Only the square wave tests are offered in individual left and right channels as well as mono vertical and lateral modulation. The level and intermodulation tests are mono only. Of course, STR 112 is not designed for frequency response tests. If you're looking for frequency response tests, the STR 100, STR 120, STR 130, STR 150 & 151, and STR 170 are the test records you need.

Most test records are designed to be used without RIAA equalization, but I prefer RIAA test records because my RIAA phono stage is part of my vinyl reproduction system and I never play a record without an RIAA phono stage. The STR 130 is an RIAA frequency response test record and the STR 140 is an RIAA pink noise test record.

The most accurate and reliable test records I've found are the Denon XG-7000 series. Unfortunately, as you have discovered, they are very hard to find. However, they are the best IMO, so if you find one be sure to buy it. I use the XG-7005, which is an RIAA frequency response and crosstalk test record. When I had Sound Forge software, I used its spectrum analyzer function to evaluate frequency response and crosstalk for all my cartridges. Then I plotted the results in an Excel spreadsheet. Here are some examples.



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Very cool, John!, posted on January 23, 2016 at 15:50:05
CometCKO
Audiophile

Posts: 873
Joined: August 9, 2002
How was your testing set up? What did you use to capture the plots?

I'm still in the old-school oscilloscope & signal generator technology era (test equipment from the 1960's/70s). Trying to get a bit more modern...

Thanks!



"Knowing what you don't know is, in a sense, omniscience"

 

RE: Very cool, John!, posted on January 23, 2016 at 16:22:39
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23874
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
January 29, 2004
Test records are few and far between. Therefore, I discovered that I could copy them with a high-resolution digital recorder and use the recording for making measurements thereby saving wear and tear on the test records. Moreover, I discovered I could load the digital files into my computer and make all the measurements without actually playing the files. I could open the files in Sound Forge and simply highlight a section for analysis with Sound Forge's Spectrum Analyzer plug-in. It is much quicker than playing a section over and over while observing an oscilloscope to make a measurement. Then I used a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet for graphing.

On the other hand, I still have all the basic "old school" test equipment.


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RE: Very cool, John!, posted on January 23, 2016 at 19:51:54
Rockethead26
Audiophile

Posts: 2065
Location: Arizona
Joined: March 21, 2011
John,

Does all of this equipment and testing actually allow you to enjoy the music more? I find that I do just fine without all of the fuss, as I don't know if knowing that one piece of equipment performs, on paper, 1% better on 10% of the frequencies than another piece of equipment would be of any use to my ears and add to the pure enjoyment of the music.

I don't begrudge anyone who loves to play with testing, but does it really tell you anything? I am seriously curious.

 

RE: Very cool, John!, posted on January 23, 2016 at 21:19:57
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23874
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
January 29, 2004
> Does all of this equipment and testing actually allow you to enjoy the music more?

It allows me to evaluate the performance of my audio system so that I can improve its sound quality. If you use a protractor to align your phono cartridge and a scale to set VTF, does that allow you to enjoy the music more?

I actually got started testing my audio system when I bought a Revox A77 tape recorder and it didn't perform adequately. I took it to a high-end repair shop and spent a lot of money to have it aligned and adjusted for optimum performance and it still didn't perform properly. I returned it to the repair shop and they told me they had replaced a bad technician so they would reaccomplish the work on my tape deck. When I picked it up the second time it still didn't perform properly so I decided to learn what I needed to learn to do the job myself. I read books, bought test tapes and test equipment and attacked the tape deck myself. When I was finished, it performed perfectly. When I copied a vinyl record, the tape sounded like a vinyl record. That had never happened before. Because of this experience, I decided I wanted to become an electronic technician. I was only 23 years old at the time.

I went on to become an electronic technician and I worked in a Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL) where I calibrated and repaired electronic test equipment. I went on to study mechanical engineering and I became an aircraft/nuclear weapons development engineer. As a result, testing my audio system has always been an integral part of my audio hobby. It is what I enjoy doing and it allows me to optimize the fidelity of my system to enjoy the music more.

Best regards,
John Elison

 

RE: Very cool, John!, posted on January 24, 2016 at 07:49:57
Rockethead26
Audiophile

Posts: 2065
Location: Arizona
Joined: March 21, 2011
Excellent, John. It's nice to have a little background on why you do what you do.

 

And now we know..., posted on January 24, 2016 at 12:51:21
tketcham
Audiophile

Posts: 6700
Location: East of the 100th meridian USofA
Joined: March 21, 2005
Contributor
  Since:
October 1, 2005
And now we know the rest of the story. Explains a lot about your posts. ;-)

Thanks for the synopsis, John.

Kind regards,
Tom

 

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