The results of 'How to give yourself a stereo check-out'

Posted by: garyi on 08 June 2002

snigger, picked up this Decca test record from a charity store today from 1967

Had some bloke speaking 'posh' and his apparently pretty young assistant, (although she could of course be a moose.)

some startling problems identified though, the bias I have discovered is very sensitive and was a mile out. Rumble is baaadddd. and cross talk is particuarly poor.

Am hoping the linn will address some of these issues.

However with the recent purchase of a skoda and now stereo test records, I feel old before my time and may just give up now.

Wheres me cardigan gone....
Posted on: 08 June 2002 by Rico
Skoda?

Nowt wrong with skoda. There was a V8 Skoda 110 run in this years race to the sky in Queenstown, New Zealand.

I looked around hoping to post a pic of the monster, but no luck. confused

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

...so here's a pic of expat Kiwi Rod Millen giving it some kiwi style for your viewing pleasure.

Posted on: 10 June 2002 by JohanR
they just makes one dissatisfied.

I have one from Ortofon, ca. 1980. All test tracks makes my LP12 seem like crap. And probably every other turntable in existence.

There is a very nice sounding (looking?) danish girl talking on that one. And on the other side there's at least some music...

JohanR
Posted on: 10 June 2002 by Tony L
quote:
Am hoping the linn will address some of these issues.


You just need the correct record for the job...

Posted on: 11 June 2002 by Tim Jones
Chortle - I too am a proud owner of this Decca masterpiece. Particularly fetching is the "live versus recorded sound" test on side 2:

"To carry out this test, the following objects should be to hand. Matches, a bunch of keys, a newspaper, carving knife and steel, a paper bag, an unopened bottle of wine and glass, balloons, a pair of scissors and paper, feathers.

"One of the problems with even the best equipment is to determine how natural the reproduced sound is. For this purpose a series of sounds using objects which can be found in most homes have been recorded. Each sound is followed by a few seconds of silent groove. The listener, by using similar objectscan then compare the live version versus the recorded sound. For an accurate comparison the listener should ensure that the volume of the recorded sound is the same as the sound he makes."

From memory, one of the sounds involves dropping a feather. Blimey. Quite a useful anti-skate band though....

Tim J
Posted on: 21 June 2002 by Rob Doorack
What a wonderful record. My favorite part is a bit of horribly out of tune piano followed by a typical BBC announcer type saying "That's awful! There's only one thing you can do with a piano like that: throw it out the window. What ho! They're doing it!". There's a pause, then a horrendous loud crash that sounds convincingly like a defenestrated piano hitting the street.