stylus force gauge
- Thread starter puroagave
- Start date
I bought one a couple of years ago on EBay from someone in Singapore. It's worked well, only issue is that it eats batteries. If you leave it off for a month or so, the battery goes dead. So either take the battery out between uses or get new batteries. You calibrate it once and that seems to hold for a long time.
I especially like it because it allows me to take full advantage of the sound smith counter intuitive and adjust to 1.700 GM.
use one of these myself for years , not cheap but best i have ever tried
http://www.thecartridgeman.com/digital_stylus_force_guage.htm
http://www.thecartridgeman.com/digital_stylus_force_guage.htm
I had one of those too. Nice unit, but I buggered it up trying to replace the soldered-in rechargeable battery. The US rep (I forget his name now) was very rude to me 18 months ago or so when I enquired about getting a new one, so I bought one similar to the one pictured in the OP. Much cheaper, and user-replaceable batteries!
How freagin' timely is this. Just today I received one I ordered from Deals Extreme for $12.99 CA, no tax, free shipping. It was shipped from Hong Kong and took about 2 weeks to get here. I see they just upped the price though to $14.30CA. It included 2 batteries and a 5g Calibration weight. The page says it includes 4 batteries, but not the 5g calibration wieght, so I ordered 2, which will arrive any time I suppose.
DealExtreme
DealExtreme
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
They are made in China, and there are quite a number that look almost exactly the same. Some are awful, others are pretty good. Unfortunately, I have not been able to tell the good ones from the bad ones. I had one that seems to be magnetic, and just hovering the cartridge over the target changes the reading.
Another eats batteries, and that's the one I leave in the office. I travel with one that seems to last forever. I don't think I've changed batteries for at least a couple of years. I've had it so long that the printing on the buttons are gone. I haven't seen one with etched buttons like in the OP.
Another eats batteries, and that's the one I leave in the office. I travel with one that seems to last forever. I don't think I've changed batteries for at least a couple of years. I've had it so long that the printing on the buttons are gone. I haven't seen one with etched buttons like in the OP.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Yes Gary, that is the one I bought. When Jazzdoc was telling me I needed to be able to setup my XV-1s to three places, I bought it. I guess I never thought it was that heavy, but then I'm using the Technics SP-10 MKII table.
FWIW, I received the device a few days ago. It looks essentially identical to the gauge pictured earlier in the thread, and it came with a 5g calibration weight. Gatta tell you guys, I'm pretty jazzed about it; I like it a lot more than the Shure gauge. For ~$13 shipped ...
Sweet! I'll be trying out next week when my Ortofon 2M Black arrives! Let me know how you like it if you get a chance to use before I do.
IMHO, one should be looking for two features outside of accuracy.
First: The scale’s weighing surface should be at record height. Raising or lowering the styli’s actual tracking position will result in a slightly off reading.
Second: The scale’s weighing surface should be non magnetic. A ferrous surface will attract the cartridges magnets. This will give you a false reading.
First: The scale’s weighing surface should be at record height. Raising or lowering the styli’s actual tracking position will result in a slightly off reading.
Second: The scale’s weighing surface should be non magnetic. A ferrous surface will attract the cartridges magnets. This will give you a false reading.
The important thing to remember is that the tonearm VTA must be set for the scale which is usually thicker than a 200 gram lp. If this is not done, the tracking weight will be different than intended. Nothing beats a graham arm for this task as the bubble level gets you level for the scale in seconds and when you adjust for the same level for whatever record thickness, the tracking weight will be spot on.
I have found the Expressimo Audio gauge (Micro-Tech) to be reliable. Although it's only accurate to .1g, it does measure the pressure at record height, and the stylus pad is non-magnetic. I usually fine tune the VTF by ear by adding/subtracting .01g balls of blue-tac to/from the head-shell. It's low tech, but easier than moving the counterweight.
Especially funny micro because with DJ decks, the SL-1200 series to be specific there is a surefire method to get accurate VTF without needing a scale at all. 
Some call it the hover method. Set the weight so the arm hovers. Set the counter so it reads 0. From there turn the counterweight to the desired tracking weight as the counter indicates. I've tried this vs a scale and it is pretty much spot on!
Some call it the hover method. Set the weight so the arm hovers. Set the counter so it reads 0. From there turn the counterweight to the desired tracking weight as the counter indicates. I've tried this vs a scale and it is pretty much spot on!
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