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Which stylus gauge?

peter_964rs

peter_964rs

That's no moon!
Cheap but precise stylus gauge required. What would you recommend?

I'd rather not go ultra-cheap and spring-loaded but have something digital. With Amazon there are plenty of options from companies I have never heard of such as Neotek and Husdow and they're about a tenner, which is nice.

Thanks
 
I have a fairly wide variety; a Shure SFG-2, a couple of little plastic Ortofons, a very cheap Chinese digital one like this (eBay) and a vintage Garrard that could probably weigh a potatoe. They all disagree with each other to some minor degree, but the little Chinese digital one seems on the same page as my trusty Shure SFG-2 so I tend to use that one as it is by far the easiest. FWIW not counting the agricultural Garrard the two seemingly identical plastic Ortofons are at the extremes, one under-reads, the other over.

PS My arm is a '60s vintage SME 3009 and it amazes me just how accurate the SME calibration is. To be honest I don't need a guage at all with this arm as if I balance it correctly and set it to say 1.5g the little Chinese gauge reads something like 1.49 to 1.51.
 
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peter_964rs said:
With Amazon there are plenty of options from companies I have never heard of such as Neotek and Husdow and they're about a tenner, which is nice.
Click to expand...

They're all the same. And also the same as some "branded" ones that sell for 5-times the price or more. And they are fine.

Tony L said:
the two seemingly identical plastic Ortofons are at the extremes, one under-reads, the other over.
Click to expand...

I also have the plastic Ortofon, actually it's plastic "Roksan" - came with the tonearm, but it's the same as Ortofons - and it's off by quite a lot.
 
I agree with Tony - the cheap Chinese ones are fine. Like Tony's old SME, the tracking force calibration of my old FR64S arm is unerringly accurate so with that I can do without a separate gauge.
 
Accuracy is not required, you just need something to be able to compare force after adjustments. You could have a simple balance, like the Shure, marked in millimetres, or eighth inches, it would not matter.
 
Midlandaudiox said:
Wait for the new Rega one to be released
Click to expand...

...temptation
I do, however, have faith in the cheap electronic ones. Most of which look very similar to one another, and usually come with a calibration weight, to further inspire confidence in their accuracy.
I have the Shure model but believe that it is less accurate than these cheaper electronic ones.
 
Peter,

It depends a bit on how accurate you need the stylus gauge to be. The cheap chinese digital scales (rebadged by lots of other companies) are accurate, BUT the weighing table is significantly thicker than an LP. This can lead to over-estimation of the VTF compared to measuring at the exact height of an LP. This is significantly worse with unipivots and low slung counterweights.

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/in_balance_e.html

Hence, if you dial in 2g on an elevated weighing table, the actual tracking force is less that than at LP level. Maybe not a problem with some cartridges, but certainly an issue with very fussy MCs, like my Allaerts.

Charlie
 
topoxforddoc said:
It depends a bit on how accurate you need the stylus gauge to be. The cheap chinese digital scales (rebadged by lots of other companies) are accurate, BUT the weighing table is significantly thicker than an LP. This can lead to over-estimation of the VTF compared to measuring at the exact height of an LP. This is significantly worse with unipivots and low slung counterweights.
Click to expand...

That is an excellent point and one I forgot to mention. It is easily addressed on a TD-124 by removing the top platter so I always measure at the exact height of a typical record (which is even more necessary on a 124 given the ferrous sub-platter that can attract some carts). The classic Shure SFG is the lowest-profile gauge I have and gets fairly close to the record height. The aim should certainly always be to measure at the playing height.

PS Be wary of some vintage SFG-2s as a few are ferrous and stick strongly to an MC, Decca or whatever, always check first with a magnet!
 
Tony L said:
You do need to know you are within the specified weight range!
Click to expand...

Absolutely any gauge will do that - I don't know of one not marked with weights - they just do not have to be accurate - you should be listening to get it right and so long as you use only one gauge you will be fine.

Ronaudio said:
...temptation
I do, however, have faith in the cheap electronic ones. Most of which look very similar to one another, and usually come with a calibration weight, to further inspire confidence in their accuracy.
Click to expand...

All you need then is a calibrated balance to check the calibration weight!! Having a scales that weighs to 0.01g up to 50g, and access to highly accurate balance, I can tell you that cheap calibration weights are not so very accurate, and should never be touched with bare hands, and kept scrupulously clean.
 
Vinny said:
you should be listening to get it right and so long as you use only one gauge you will be fine.
Click to expand...

For many budget, mid-fi and high end cartridges, that may be true. However, the very top end of the cartridge tree can be very fussy in set up. My mid range (by high end standards) £3k Allaerts MC1B tracks at 2.0g +/- 0.1. The top end MC2 Finish and Formula 1 have a 0.05 g tolerance for best performance. I suspect that some other high end carts get similarly fussy about VTF.

Hence, if you have a true high end cartridge, then you have to compensate for a bog standard digital gauge, which has an elevated weighing table.
 
I bought an Ortofon DS3 last time I was in Japan. It seems well-made, accurate, and has a lip to measure the stylus force close to the record. I know the gauge is available in the UK and the US, but likely at higher prices than in Japan.
 
You would have to pay many £100's for a scale to accurately measure, repeatably, 0.001g, and it would need regular calibration. (If the tolerance is 0.005g, you would need a resolution and accuracy of not more than 0.001g and conventionally, that would be too high by a factor of 10.)
 
I purchased one of the Neoteck units of Amazon a few weeks back out of curiosity & didn't really have much to loose for the cost. We have a NIST traceable deadweight tester at work that also has NIST traceable trim weights that range from .01g & up. In all honesty I was a little shocked how good this scale was. I checked a number of masses from 1.5-2.5g, specifically in the 1.7-1.8 range (Rega table & cartridge) & worst case it was off .01. In my case, removing the felt mat gets you pretty close to the actual level when a record is playing.
 
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