Sold Date: May 8, 2018
Start Date: February 24, 2018
Final Price: $114.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 104
Buyer Feedback: 84

This is the extremely rare 2-LP box set of Telarc's Demo and Test LPs.  The LPs have been professionally cleaned using a VPI 16.5 record cleaner and dedicated cleaning fluid, then vacuumed dry and de-static'd.  There are some tics but these do not interfere with the tests nor the musical demonstrations.  The 12-page instruction booklet is replete with tonearm/cartridge mechanical alignment aids, 44 bands of test signals, five bands of tracking tests and two bands of imaging and music.  I have about ten different kinds of LP test records and this is by far the most comprehensive.  I never knew that my Clearaudio Concerto Cartridge fitted to my Graham 2.2 tonearm wouldn't track the two most difficult (of four) levels of the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture or the two most difficult levels of the Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring OR the Telarc version of the Beach Boys: Good Vibrations.  I'd make a bet that your cartridge/tonearm combination will be humbled by certain of the select bands as well.  Extremely useful set-up guides/bands include:  Pink Noise, In-Phase/Out-of-Phase, Left to Right panned Pink Noise, 1,000 Hertz Mixed Tones(to help set tracking pressure and antiskating compensation, full-band pink noise(to assess system and room frequency response), 31 bands of selected frequency 1/3 octave pink noise, the tracking tests referred to above and the two imaging and music selections, AND MORE.  I thought my system was pretty good but I learned some very valuable lessons.  Also, I got a much better way to set the antiskating compensation which was set too high before.  Again, these LPs can be an educational as well as a humbling experience; And, they helped me improve my cartridge and tonearm adjustments.  I truly believe my system sounded more natural and relaxed after the "amendments" I made.  I do not have any LPs in my 2500 LP library that were nearly as hard to cope with as these two LPs.