Clearaudio Speed Strobe Test LP

A Grooved Strobe Disc for 33 1/3 and 45, With a Scale on the Back

The Clearaudio Speed Strobe Test Record is a stroboscopic disc that measures platter speed in real time. It carries bands for 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Unlike a printed card, it is a grooved record, so the platter is loaded and driven exactly as it is in use.

Speed is one of the few turntable faults that changes everything at once. A platter running fast raises pitch across the whole record, and it drifts in slowly enough — a stretching belt, an aging motor — that nobody notices until something measures it.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What It Reads and What It Needs

The disc has separate bands for 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Set it spinning and watch the lines: stationary means the platter is at speed, creeping forward means fast and creeping backward means slow, which tells you the direction as well as the fact.

The back of the disc carries a scale for use with Clearaudio's Speed Strobe Light, which is an optional purchase and not included. The front works under ordinary room lighting; the reverse scale is the finer measurement and needs the lamp.

Because it is a grooved record rather than a card, it puts the same load on the bearing and the belt as a record does. A platter can read true unloaded and fall behind once it is driving an actual disc, and this catches that.

What Reviewers Are Saying

The Absolute Sound gave the Clearaudio Speed Strobe Test Disc an Editors' Choice Award, noting the grooves that create the additional stylus drag a real record imposes — the difference between measuring a platter and measuring a platter at work.

Who Is the Speed Strobe Test LP Best For?

• Your turntable has adjustable speed — this is how you set it accurately rather than by ear
• You want the platter measured under load — a grooved disc drags on the bearing the way a record does
• You play 45s as well as LPs — bands for both are on the one disc
• Your belt has some years on it — speed error is the first symptom of a stretched belt
• You want the finest reading the disc can give — the reverse scale needs Clearaudio's Speed Strobe Light, an optional purchase from electronic turntable speed controllers

How Do You Use It?

Place the disc on the platter and start the turntable at the speed you want to check. Watch the band for that speed under normal room lighting. If the lines drift, adjust the deck's speed control and look again. For the reverse scale, turn the disc over and use it with the Speed Strobe Light.

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?

Accurate enough to catch the drift that matters — a stretched belt or an aging motor. The front bands read under room light; the scale on the reverse, used with Clearaudio's Speed Strobe Light, is the finer of the two.

Is the Speed Strobe Light included?

It is an optional purchase, sold separately. The disc's front bands work without it under ordinary room lighting; the reverse scale is what needs the lamp.

Which speeds does it cover?

33 1/3 and 45 RPM, with a separate band of lines for each.

Why a grooved record rather than a printed card?

A groove gives the stylus something to drag on, so the platter is loaded as it would be playing music. A deck can hold speed unloaded and lose a little once it is actually driving a record.

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