Ortofon Test Record

Ortofon's Test Record, for Checking a System in the Room It Lives In

The Ortofon Test Record is a test LP for verifying a stereo system at home rather than on a bench. Ortofon's stated intention is that you check the system in its natural surroundings — the room, the rack and the speakers you actually listen through.

A system measured in isolation and a system measured in a room are two different things. Room boundaries, speaker placement and the rack all leave their mark, and a test disc played through the whole chain reports what you are actually hearing.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What It Is For and What It Needs

The disc carries reference signals cut by Ortofon, a company whose main business is cartridges and which therefore has reason to cut them accurately. It is designed for checking a complete playback system rather than for one specific adjustment.

It plays at 33 1/3 RPM on any turntable and needs no meter to be useful — most of what a test record tells you at home arrives through the speakers. A meter sharpens some of the tests but is not a condition of using the disc.

Ortofon publishes little detail about the track list, so if you need a specific test — azimuth crosstalk, say, or a strobe pattern for platter speed — check that the disc covers it before ordering, or choose a disc built around that one measurement.

Who Is the Ortofon Test Record Best For?

• You want to check the system, not one component — the disc is aimed at the whole chain in its own room
• You have just changed something — a new cartridge, new speakers or a new position, and want a reference to judge it against
• You prefer to work by ear — most of what it reports arrives through the speakers rather than on a meter
• You trust a cartridge maker to cut test signals — Ortofon has been making both since long before most of its competitors existed
• You need one specific measurement — for azimuth crosstalk or platter speed, a disc built for that job is the better buy; those are in test records

How Do You Use It?

Clean the record and the stylus first. Play the disc through your system at a normal listening level and work through the signals in order, changing one thing at a time. Write down what you had before you alter anything, so you can put it back if the change was not an improvement.

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?

Ortofon cuts the reference signals itself, and cartridges are its main business. Treat the disc as a system check rather than a laboratory instrument — it is designed for use at home, at 33 1/3 RPM, through your own speakers.

Will it work with my turntable?

Any turntable and any cartridge. Nothing on the disc is specific to Ortofon equipment.

Do I need test equipment?

Most of the checks are audible through the system. A meter makes some of them more precise but is not required to get value from the record.

Does it cover platter speed?

Speed is checked with a strobe disc under a light rather than with test tones. This record is aimed at the signal path.

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