Clearaudio Azimuth Trackability Optimizer Test Record

An Azimuth Test LP — and It Needs a Fozgometer to Read It

The Clearaudio Azimuth Optimizer is a test record for setting tonearm azimuth, pressed on heavy audiophile-grade vinyl. Read this part first: it is designed to be used with the Musical Surroundings Fozgometer Azimuth Range Meter, which is sold separately and is not included.

Azimuth is the side-to-side tilt of the cartridge in the headshell. Get it wrong and one channel leaks into the other, which is a measurable quantity rather than a matter of taste — and measuring it is precisely what this disc and a Fozgometer do together.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What Is On the Disc and What It Needs

The disc carries the test signals a Fozgometer reads to report crosstalk between the channels in decibels. You adjust the cartridge's tilt, play the signal again and watch the figure, until the two channels are as close to balanced as the cartridge will allow.

The pairing is the point, and so is the caveat. Without a Fozgometer or an equivalent crosstalk meter, the disc has no readout — the signals are there but nothing is interpreting them for you. Budget for both or you will have bought half a tool.

It is pressed on heavy audiophile-grade vinyl, which on a test disc keeps the pressing itself out of the measurement. It suits any pivoted tonearm whose headshell or arm allows azimuth to be adjusted at all — some do not.

Who Is the Azimuth Optimizer Best For?

• You own a Fozgometer, or are buying one — the disc is designed around it
• Your tonearm allows azimuth adjustment — some headshells and arms do, and those are the ones this helps
• You have set force and alignment already — azimuth is the refinement that comes after those two
• You want a measured result — channel crosstalk is a number, not an impression
• You do not have a crosstalk meter — the disc cannot be read without one, so start with a general setup LP from test records

How Do You Set Up and Use It?

Set tracking force and alignment first — azimuth is the last of the three. Connect the Fozgometer, play the test signals and note the crosstalk figures for each channel. Adjust the cartridge's tilt by a small amount, replay, and read again. Work in small increments and stop when the two channels are as close as the cartridge will bring them.

Pairs Well With

What most test-record owners shop next.

• Stylus force gauges — a test record shows the problem; a gauge is how you fix half of it
• Cartridge alignment tools — the other half, and the one a test disc will expose
• Record cleaning solutions — test signals are only as clean as the groove carrying them
• Stylus cleaning — do this before you trust anything a test record tells you

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is it?

The disc supplies the reference signals; the accuracy comes from the meter you pair it with. Together they turn azimuth from an eyeballed tilt into a crosstalk figure in decibels that you can write down and repeat.

Is the Fozgometer included?

It is sold separately. The Musical Surroundings Fozgometer Azimuth Range Meter is what reads the disc, and the two are bought as a pair.

Can I use the disc on its own?

Only with a crosstalk meter of some kind. The signals are cut into the record, but something has to measure the channel separation they produce.

Does my tonearm support azimuth adjustment?

Many do and some do not. Check whether your headshell or arm allows the cartridge to be tilted side to side before buying either the disc or the meter.

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