Playing so many records every day means that we wear out our Dynavector 17DX cartridges much more often than most consumers would. They last us about three or four months.
This requires us to regularly mount a new cartridge in our Triplanar arm.
Once a new cartridge is broken in (50 hours minimum), we then proceed to carry out the fine setup work required to get it sounding its best. We do that by adjusting the VTA, azimuth and tracking weight for maximum fidelity using recordings we have been playing for decades and that we think know well.
For the longest time our favorite test discs for this purpose have been these three:
(I was the only guy on the listening panel using Bob and Ray, by the way. I have easily played that record 500 or more times. Our listening guys prefer numbers two and three and of course those work fine too.)
We are in the process of making some lists (more lists!) for records we’ve found to be good for testing, tweaking and tuning your system, your room and your front end setup, among other things. You may want to check them out.
- Favorite jazz test discs
- Favorite orchestral test discs
- Favorite rock and pop test discs
- More of our favorite test discs
These are the records that challenged me and helped me to achieve more progress in audio. If you want to improve your stereo, these are some of the best records we know of to help get you to the next level.
Further Reading
Let the games begin!