How does one determine if their stereo sounds good? Test Records!

April 10, 2018

#247

Gentle reader,

Way back in June of 2010, I wrote about downloading the test CDs created by the French speaker manufacturer, FOCAL. That was the ONLY time I ever downloaded music. No MP3s for this guy. Here is the link to that article:

Adventures in music downloading. OR: It all started with a CD given to me.  

Long before there was digital anything, yes, there were computers, but they were huge things that took up whole rooms and used vacuum tubes. And I'm not even sure IF they were digital. Anyway, before CDs, there were of course, records. 

If one wanted to dazzle their buddies when they came over to hear tunes, one put on a test record, one created by someone who gathered the best sounding music and put them all on one LP and sold them as such. Later on, manufacturers, most often speaker makers, got into the act by putting out LPs for salesmen to play to best demonstrate how wonderful THEIR speakers sounded compared to all the rest, less superior, speakers. Over the years, I have come across several and collected them.

Another type of test record is for properly setting up one's turntable cartridge and making sure it works properly. Several of the LPs you will see below are for that purpose.

ALTEC-LANSING is a company known worldwide and is famous for it’s professional loudspeakers that are to this day, used in sports arenas and theaters around the globe. They branched into home speakers as well, many years ago. The smallest of their commercial speakers were named “Voice-of-the-Theater” and they are shown in the colorful drawing on the back cover. I helped my buddy build a pair of them. The woofer is in a large horn-loaded enclosure and the rear bass waves come out of the port at the bottom-front of the speaker box. Mounted on top is their famous horn-loaded tweeter.

ALTEC speakers, like Klipsch and other brands that came out in the 1950's and early 1960's were extremely efficient. Just a few watts could drive them very loudly with little distortion. There are several models shown inside the gatefold cover. The back cover shows the LP covers and information for each artist’s music that comprises the record’s music.

AUDIOTEX Audiotester LP is next. I believe this is my oldest one. It has monophonic on one side and stereophonic on the other. No date is found, but it must be late 1950's. The various tests on each side are listed on the back and what they test for.

That $4.98 cost for this tester would run you around $43.98 today. So, one would have to commit a big amount of money to buy this one.

 "NOT FOR SALE" (above)

BOSE, a speaker company famous for their home and auto speakers, (my 2002 Subaru WRX had BOSE speakers in it) is best known for their unconventional 901 model speakers as shown on the front cover of the LP above. They invented “Direct-Reflected” sound which premiered in their model 901s. As you can see, they have a small grille on the front and the backs are angled. There are nine 4" full-range drivers (speakers) in each cabinet. One on the front (behind that grille) and four in a square pattern on each rear panel. To achieve the best sound, one needs their equalizer which boosts the treble and bass to compensate for the small (for bass) and large (for treble) speakers. Properly set-up, though, they produce an amazing sound. They made many iterations of the 901s over several decades. Out of production for some years now, they are sought after by music lovers and have been "dream" speakers for many. The model 301, of which my wife bought me a pair, replaced the 901 as their top-of-the-line. The same method is achieved with a front-facing 8" woofer, and a tweeter that is angled towards the center of the room. On the back at the opposite corner is a second tweeter and the bass ports for the woofer. These point to the corners of the room. “Direct-Reflected” music is achieved as a result, since the rear firing tweeter and bass port's sound bounces off the wall behind and to the sides of each speaker. I set mine up as instructed and they sound AMAZING! Some poo-poo BOSE speakers as cheap or gimmicky, but they have probably never heard them set-up properly.

MERCURY RECORDS produced this test LP and dealers used it to demonstrate the 901 speakers. Like Promotional records and CDs that are not supposed to be sold, this was also not to have been sold. Apparently there was also a popular music one too. There is a long article on the back cover explaining the virtues of BOSE 901speakers.

DECCA RECORDS is a British record label. They are sold in the USA with either LONDON RECORDS or RICHMOND RECORDS as their label. The latter selling for less money than the former. This one is from 1967. Many different test grooves on each side with only one piece of music at the end of side two.

The record below is what started all this business with test records. I'd seen other Dynaco lovers proudly showing off this or another earlier Dynaco test record.

My impressions of this LP listened to with the QD-2 and my Dynaco A25XLs speakers now providing for the rear channels can be read in the previous article:

Quadraphonic Adventures: 1990's Dynaco QD-2 Passive Surround Sound Device Tested.

AUDIO FIDELITY RECORDS put out this FIRST COMPONENT SERIES STEREO TEST RECORD in 1959. They claim to have created the first stereo test record ever made in 1957. They claim frequencies from 16 Hertz (sub-sonic) to 25,000 Hertz (ultra-sonic) are recorded on this LP. The cover explains what can be found in each test. Without an oscilloscope to see the waves, one must take their word for it.

 Dig that crazy 'cat' on the cover?

The FISHER RADIO COMPANY was once known for high quality electronics. “FISHER STUDIO STANDARD” could be found on the front of many of their components. Avery Fisher was the founder of the company and he produced this record in 1972. Popular music is on side one and classical on side two. It really does sound wonderful. Both sides are also encoded with the SQ matrix, so I will be trying this one to see how the Panor-era Dynaco QD-2 sounds with it. 

JBL stands for the name of the inventor of their loudspeakers: James B. Lansing. This 1973 demonstration LP was produced by his company in 1973 to showcase the sounds of their speakers to potential buyers. The music on the two LP records was written, played and recorded specifically for this double LP set. There are eight pages of liner notes that show the musicians, instruments, studio equipment, cutting lathe and other things associated with making the records. SESSIONS is the title of the album.

KLH, a vaunted name in loudspeakers back in the last Century. My dad had KLH model 17s. To me speakers had to be that size and have off-white grille cloth. This record produced by KLH, but mastered by Everest Records is my most recent find (July, 2018). Cover, sleeve and LP are in amazing shape. No date that I could find, but I suspect 1960's.

RADIO SHACK, a name and a company that stood for more than half a century in the US, sadly is now no more. In it’s heyday, there was one or more in most towns and cities of America. This STEREO TEST RECORD is actually the one STEREO REVIEW magazine created and produced. The back cover shows what the various passages do to test your equipment. It is from 1963. 

SHURE, is a name made famous by their microphones and record cartridges. I’ve had some of each over the years. AN AUDIO OBSTACLE COURSE is a  "trackability" test record came out in 1967. The liner notes are featured in the second and third photos after the cover photo.  I have used this LP repeatedly setting up new cartridges over many years.

Lastly, (above) in a “FOR PROMOTION ONLY” cover is THE record put out by STEREO REVIEW magazine. I do not recall what happened to it’s original cover. Copyright 1973 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, which makes it ten years later than the Radio Shack version. It IS the same LP, however. I compared them.

I admit I have not listened to all of these. But perhaps will in the future. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott

April 10, 2018