Where to buy a HFN test record in London?

[anubisgrau]

Apologies for forum cross posting... however it's pretty urgent, I would need to have this info by tomorrow half-day...

I urgently need a good test record- I have 3 cartridges waiting to be tested and even with my current 103 I'm not 101% sure if it's correctly aligned (a bit of side end distortion is present...). I would normally have this posted however I don't live in the UK and I don't want to find this record folded by a silly postman in my box as it has happenned in past.

A friend will be in London tomorrow and day after in the morning so she can buy it for me

Anyone knows if there's a shop in London wherea HFN test recordcan be purchased? I'm afraid there's not enough time to organize a delivery...



Thanks!

[SergeAuckland]

anubisgrau wrote:

Apologies for forum cross posting... however it's pretty urgent, I would need to have this info by tomorrow half-day...

I urgently need a good test record- I have 3 cartridges waiting to be tested and even with my current 103 I'm not 101% sure if it's correctly aligned (a bit of side end distortion is present...). I would normally have this posted however I don't live in the UK and I don't want to find this record folded by a silly postman in my box as it has happenned in past.

A friend will be in London tomorrow and day after in the morning so she can buy it for me

Anyone knows if there's a shop in London wherea HFN test recordcan be purchased? I'm afraid there's not enough time to organize a delivery...



Thanks!

I understand what you say about urgency, but I suggest you don't buy the HFN test record, it's not that good, or accurate. His excuse was that it wasn't designed to be used to make measurements, so the fact that the white noise is a dirty brown, and the pink noise has a yellow tinge, he thinks is acceptable. I don't. It is no more difficult to get the tones and noise right than to get it wrong.

I bought the Ultimate Analogue Test LP from Stamford Audio, http://www.stamfordaudio.co.uk/cgi-b...p;id=stamaudioif you call them tomorrow (Monday) you could have a delivery on Tuesday to your Friend's London address. Alternatively, it's available from Amazon or on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Analogue-Produ...31125001r18195

They could ship direct to Belgrade. As them to package it to withstand the postie.

Sadly, I don't know of any record store that would stock this, but it's possible that one of the high-end stores like Walrus Audio or KJWestOne in London may have it.

Good luck.

S.

[michaelb]

I bought mine from http://www.walrus.co.uk/main/main.htm

Best to phone them first to check.

[anubisgrau]

Thanks - really didn't know that the HFN record has bugs. I've had the impression it's the right one.

I've dealt with Stamoford in the past. A really great service.

[Cable Monkey]

Accuracy requires accurate test equipment to make measurements. Voltmeters, distortion testers, VU programme meters, oscilloscopes? As a bit of pro gear it looks great, but just how much use is it to your average punter who might just stretch to an AC voltmeter calibrated at 50-60 Hz? Is it more versatile?

(I ask as a potential purchaser).

[SergeAuckland]

Cable Monkey wrote:

Accuracy requires accurate test equipment to make measurements. Voltmeters, distortion testers, VU programme meters, oscilloscopes? As a bit of pro gear it looks great, but just how much use is it to your average punter who might just stretch to an AC voltmeter calibrated at 50-60 Hz? Is it more versatile?

(I ask as a potential purchaser).

Not sure if you're referring to being a prospective purchaser of accurate test equipment or the HFN test record.

If the latter, the problem with the HFN test record is that as you can't trust the accuracy of the white or pink noise bands, can you trust the accuracy of the level bands, or anything else? As a rough and ready guide, it'll do, but that's all. The Ultimate Analogue Test LP, on the other hand, can be just as easily used without test equipment, but also appears to be sufficiently accurate to make measurements with if you have the appropriate test equipment. So, why buy something that's clearly flawed, when you can buy something that works.

S.

[Cable Monkey]

SergeAuckland wrote:

Cable Monkey wrote:

Accuracy requires accurate test equipment to make measurements. Voltmeters, distortion testers, VU programme meters, oscilloscopes? As a bit of pro gear it looks great, but just how much use is it to your average punter who might just stretch to an AC voltmeter calibrated at 50-60 Hz? Is it more versatile?

(I ask as a potential purchaser).

Not sure if you're referring to being a prospective purchaser of accurate test equipment or the HFN test record.

If the latter, the problem with the HFN test record is that as you can't trust the accuracy of the white or pink noise bands, can you trust the accuracy of the level bands, or anything else? As a rough and ready guide, it'll do, but that's all. The Ultimate Analogue Test LP, on the other hand, can be just as easily used without test equipment, but also appears to be sufficiently accurate to make measurements with if you have the appropriate test equipment. So, why buy something that's clearly flawed, when you can buy something that works.

S.

I was referring to the UA Test LP. I have never been tempted to buy the HFN record and I already have access to all but the distortion tester. I was just wondering if the record was still useful to someone who adjusts by ear.

[jonjin]

I'd be very impressed if one could tell if the pink noise is yellowy by ear!

[SergeAuckland]

jonjin wrote:

I'd be very impressed if one could tell if the pink noise is yellowy by ear!

I certainly can't, but when you play it with a cartridge who's response you know, and you don't get the same response back, you can tell it isn't right. The pink noise response should be a straight line decling at 6dB/octave with the wiggles of the cartridge's own response superimposed. It was nothing like that. Ditto the white noise. That should produce a flat response, and it rolled off alarmingly above a few kHz.

S.

[SergeAuckland]

Cable Monkey wrote:

SergeAuckland wrote:

Cable Monkey wrote:

Accuracy requires accurate test equipment to make measurements. Voltmeters, distortion testers, VU programme meters, oscilloscopes? As a bit of pro gear it looks great, but just how much use is it to your average punter who might just stretch to an AC voltmeter calibrated at 50-60 Hz? Is it more versatile?

(I ask as a potential purchaser).

Not sure if you're referring to being a prospective purchaser of accurate test equipment or the HFN test record.

If the latter, the problem with the HFN test record is that as you can't trust the accuracy of the white or pink noise bands, can you trust the accuracy of the level bands, or anything else? As a rough and ready guide, it'll do, but that's all. The Ultimate Analogue Test LP, on the other hand, can be just as easily used without test equipment, but also appears to be sufficiently accurate to make measurements with if you have the appropriate test equipment. So, why buy something that's clearly flawed, when you can buy something that works.

S.

I was referring to the UA Test LP. I have never been tempted to buy the HFN record and I already have access to all but the distortion tester. I was just wondering if the record was still useful to someone who adjusts by ear.

Certainly, as setting up tracking force and bias can be done by ear. Checkingrumble and W&F can be done by ear to tell you if you have a problem, on the basis that if you can't hear any, then it's probably good enough. The noise bands are probably the least useful by ear, as you're listening through loudspeakers that will colour what you're hearing as much or more than the cartridge, but nevertheless, it is useful. I use it for checking by ear, as I don't always want or need to know what the value actually is, just that it's good enough, and hasn't noticeably changed from last time.

S.