how to set speed with strobe and speed controller

Put the strobe disc on the turntable, as though it is a record with the spindle of the turntable going through the hole in the strobe disc. There are usally four bands of bars on the disc, one each marked 60HZ and 50HZ and 33.33 and 45RPM. If you are in North America start with the 60HZ 33.33 rpm band, turn on your turntable and set it to 33.33. Hold the light directly over the disc with all other lights out. Adjust the speed control until the bars on the 60HZ 33.33 rpm band appear to stop moving. Repeat the process for 45rpm and you are home free. If you have other questions, please feel free to contact me directly, off board.
Marty

Marty-

Thank you very much.

-Ryan

Where would one find a strobe light?

at any store that sells hardware, its a flourescent light

Do you really need a strobe light? I just use regular lighting (USA), and I can see the bars pretty well. I have to kind of un-focus my eyes a bit, though. Am I getting an accurate reading doing it this way?
-Bob

a strobe light isn't actually required. You can do this with ANY incandescent lamp powered by a 60hz wall outlet. It works!

I prefer the bars where the light is very low. Sorry, couldn't resist. It is easier to see them with a flourescent light. Radio Shack has one in a little housing that is used as a panel lamp, all you have to do is hook it up with some lamp cord and throw a plug on the other end. It has a colored jewel, which just unscrews on the top. It is compact, cheap and convenient. I think the whole affair will cost about $3.00 to rig up if you are handy. If not, usual disclaimer, I am not responsible for you burning down the house and killing yourself and I will not send flowers to the funeral.
Marty

If possible, you can follow my setup.

I have the same album for vinyl and cd. The cd plays on my headphones. The vinyl plays on the speakers.

I play the vinyl a split second earlier than the cd then I slow down the platter down by dragging my fingers on the platter. I do this until both are synced. You know this when you have the headphones on and the speakers seems to disappear completly in the background. It's a zen-like experience in itself.

So both are synced right now. If the drums are still locked synced after one minute. You are more accurate than the KAB speed strobe.

The KAB has a .03% error rate. A .03% error rate between the CD and the vinyl has a slight "reverb" sound. It's very obvious.

---technical-----
My profession is in the visual effects industry for tv/film. I did a test on Adobe After Effects on how a .03% error would sound. I did this by slipping an audio track one frame ahead of it's duplicate. Video is 30 frames per second. 1 frame error is .03%. Now I know how 'bad' a .03% error sounds like and use that as a baseline.
----------------

On my vinyl speed test. My vinyl was able to hold up to 6 mins. before it sounds like it has a .03% error, (or .03 seconds time shift between the cd and the vinyl)
6 mins = 360 secs.
.03 / 360 = .00008333

conclusion:
It takes several times to make the vinyl lock in with the cd before you can start timing how long it is synced. But after such, you can brag your turntable is accurate to ten thousandth of a second. :)

Would like to see how long you guys can keep both sources synced. Would make a great contest.

Whatever disc and light you use, you should think about finding a record in your collection that has a dynamic track and play that while setting the speed. This will account for stylus drag.