Most Accurate Stylus Force Gauge?

[Ron Resnick]

It turns out I have in inventory only that extremely rudimentary Shure tracking force balance device. This thing sure is not of re-assuring quality. That's for sure!

What is the best/most accurate tracking force gauge available today?

Thank you!

 

[Solypsa]

Based on my experience with tools: the plethora of digital gauges with three or more decimal points is not an indication of accuracy. Repeatable and calibrated results are costly to achieve.

Anyways I use the Ortofon as a guide but trust my ears in the end.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Oh, I agree! I assume that any inexpensive digital device displaying to three decimal places is providing a false sense of accuracy.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Anyways I use the Ortofon as a guide but trust my ears in the end.

Is the Ortofon one any better or worse than the Clearaudio one? (Or maybe they're both made in the same Chinese factory?)

 

[Mike Lavigne]

i've owned the Winds ALM-01 for 20 years. never let's me down. repeatable measurements to .01 of a gram. was $700 retail when i bought it.

Winds ALM-01 Arm Load Meter Rare Stylus Force Gauge Made In Japan

WINDS ALM-01 ARM LOAD METERRare Stylus Force GaugeMade In JapanLong considered to be the gold standard for stylus pressure gauges, the ALM-01 is no longer manufactured and rarely seen on the used market. These were hand built in Japan to exacting standards, with accuracy to within +/- .02...

www.usaudiomart.com

 

[Shuggie]

I nominate the Rega Atlas gauge - designed and manufactured in the UK, extremely accurate, sensitive, and great to use. Pricey, but all things considered fine value.

Rega | Atlas Tracking Force Gauge MK2

Reliable and accurate measurement of tracking force. MK2 version now offers a much wider weight range, improved stability and sensitivity to ensure total accuracy.

www.rega.co.uk

 

[KeithR]

i've owned the Winds ALM-01 for 20 years. never let's me down. repeatable measurements to .01 of a gram. was $700 retail when i bought it.

Winds ALM-01 Arm Load Meter Rare Stylus Force Gauge Made In Japan

WINDS ALM-01 ARM LOAD METERRare Stylus Force GaugeMade In JapanLong considered to be the gold standard for stylus pressure gauges, the ALM-01 is no longer manufactured and rarely seen on the used market. These were hand built in Japan to exacting standards, with accuracy to within +/- .02...

www.usaudiomart.com

$700 lol. I mean come on, Mike. Literally no way this is more accurate or worth a premium to the $100 versions.

 

[tima]

For years I've used the electric Ortofon DS-3. (There is another Ortofon gauge made of plastic, it's not that one.) Used to be you could only buy these out of Japan on ebay but they are now in the US via amazon. I wouldn't pay more than $115 usd.

I use a small 1 gram weight from Troemner, certified calibrated to ASTM E617-13 Class 7 tolerance standards (well la dee da) to test the Ortofon, which said it measured 1.01g.

I like the DS-3 because its measurement platform is closer to record height than most.

DS-3 Stylus Pressure Gauge

The DS-3 is a new lightweight compact digital stylus pressure gauge model. The DS-3 is a miniature ultra precision non-magnetic instrument that tunes your tonearm to the highest possible degree. The DS-3 scale is factory pre-calibrated for high accuracy measurements with the tolerance of +/-0.01 g.

www.ortofon.com

 

[morricab]

For years I've used the electric Ortofon DS-3. (There is another Ortofon gauge made of plastic, it's not that one.) Used to be you could only buy these out of Japan on ebay but they are now in the US via amazon. I wouldn't pay more than $115 usd.

I use a small 1 gram weight from Troemner, certified calibrated to ASTM E617-13 Class 7 tolerance standards (well la dee da) to test the Ortofon, which said it measured 1.01g.

I like the DS-3 because its measurement platform is closer to record height than most.

View attachment 112121

DS-3 Stylus Pressure Gauge

The DS-3 is a new lightweight compact digital stylus pressure gauge model. The DS-3 is a miniature ultra precision non-magnetic instrument that tunes your tonearm to the highest possible degree. The DS-3 scale is factory pre-calibrated for high accuracy measurements with the tolerance of +/-0.01 g.

www.ortofon.com

I use this one too...accurate enough I would say.

 

[XV-1]

For years I've used the electric Ortofon DS-3. (There is another Ortofon gauge made of plastic, it's not that one.) Used to be you could only buy these out of Japan on ebay but they are now in the US via amazon. I wouldn't pay more than $115 usd.

I use a small 1 gram weight from Troemner, certified calibrated to ASTM E617-13 Class 7 tolerance standards (well la dee da) to test the Ortofon, which said it measured 1.01g.

I like the DS-3 because its measurement platform is closer to record height than most.

View attachment 112121

DS-3 Stylus Pressure Gauge

The DS-3 is a new lightweight compact digital stylus pressure gauge model. The DS-3 is a miniature ultra precision non-magnetic instrument that tunes your tonearm to the highest possible degree. The DS-3 scale is factory pre-calibrated for high accuracy measurements with the tolerance of +/-0.01 g.

www.ortofon.com

X 3

 

[DasguteOhr]

you can actually use any scale.
go to your post office and ask politely if you can get 1 gram and 2 gram weights you want to test your scale. or you buy yourself which then you know if it is accurate. some scales have a calibration function.

Messinggewichte 10 g | günstig online kaufen bei BACKWINKEL

Messinggewichte 10 g - 2er-Set. ✔ Qualitätsprodukte ✔ Kurze Lieferzeit ➤ Jetzt einkaufen!

www.backwinkel.de

 

[Ron Resnick]

For years I've used the electric Ortofon DS-3. (There is another Ortofon gauge made of plastic, it's not that one.) Used to be you could only buy these out of Japan on ebay but they are now in the US via amazon. I wouldn't pay more than $115 usd.

I use a small 1 gram weight from Troemner, certified calibrated to ASTM E617-13 Class 7 tolerance standards (well la dee da) to test the Ortofon, which said it measured 1.01g.

I like the DS-3 because its measurement platform is closer to record height than most.

View attachment 112121

DS-3 Stylus Pressure Gauge

The DS-3 is a new lightweight compact digital stylus pressure gauge model. The DS-3 is a miniature ultra precision non-magnetic instrument that tunes your tonearm to the highest possible degree. The DS-3 scale is factory pre-calibrated for high accuracy measurements with the tolerance of +/-0.01 g.

www.ortofon.com

Thank you, Tim!

 

[Ron Resnick]

The Clearaudio is over twice the price of the DS-3.

Clearaudio Weight Watcher Digital Stylus Force Gauge

Elusive Disc, Inc., Features Only The Best In Audiophile Hardware, Accessories and Music. We Offer a Wide Variety Of Audiophile Turntables, Cartridges, Phono Stages, Record Cleaners, SACD Players, Speakers, Headphones, Pre-Amps, LP Cleaning Fluids, Cables, Vibration Control, Record Brushes &...

elusivedisc.com

 

[PeterA]

I use a cheap scale to confirm that the scale on my arm is more or less accurate. Once that is confirmed, I never use the digital scale again. I adjust everything by ear. The exact number on the scale doesn’t really matter unless you want precise repeatability.

 

[dminches]

I bought the Riverside gauge and have found it to be as accurate as the Ortofon DS-3 at a fraction of the cost.

RECORD-LEVEL STYLUS VTF PRESSURE GAUGE - GRAPHITE| Riverstone Audio

A Professional Grade tracking force gauge designed for vinyl record purist's interested in more precise measurement of vertical tracking force. For accurate VTF measurement, the stylus tip should be at the same vertical position as the record surface - that is, at "record level".

www.riverstoneaudio.com

 

[Ron Resnick]

I nominate the Rega Atlas gauge - designed and manufactured in the UK, extremely accurate, sensitive, and great to use. Pricey, but all things considered fine value.

Rega | Atlas Tracking Force Gauge MK2

Reliable and accurate measurement of tracking force. MK2 version now offers a much wider weight range, improved stability and sensitivity to ensure total accuracy.

www.rega.co.uk

Thank you, Shuggie! I ordered this one. It looks very thoughtfully designed.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

$700 lol. I mean come on, Mike. Literally no way this is more accurate or worth a premium to the $100 versions.

not trying to justify anything, that was a long time ago and that was what it cost. the choice for not going to the hundredth of a gram was much less. figured i would only need to buy it once. never had any reason to change.

the actual accuracy is not that significant. relative consistency is more valuable over time, since listening is the proof. once you dial a cartridge in, then change carts, and switch back, you need to depend of the measurement staying exactly constant. and i have had platters where the measurement changed in different spots based on the composition of the platter and the strength of the cartridge magnets. a dependable tool allows you to recognize that.

 

[PeterA]

not trying to justify anything, that was a long time ago and that was what it cost. the choice for not going to the hundredth of a gram was much less. figured i would only need to buy it once. never had any reason to change.

the actual accuracy is not that significant. relative consistency is more valuable over time, since listening is the proof. once you dial a cartridge in, then change carts, and switch back, you need to depend of the measurement staying exactly constant. and i have had platters where the measurement changed in different spots based on the composition of the platter and the strength of the cartridge magnets. a dependable tool allows you to recognize that.

Mike, the value changing because of platter/magnet interaction is pretty interesting. I understand that knowing that happens and to what extent it happens can be useful to know, but what can the user do about it once he has the turntable? I would consider that a major flaw in the design of the platter.

I agree with you that relative consistency is more important than actual accuracy with these scales. Repeatability is important when switch between cartridges. I find that the scale on my arm works well enough for this purpose. I am not familiar enough with enough arms to know whether or not most arms have reliable scales on them. My SME arms did, so once I confirmed that the cartridge and arm were balanced properly so that the arm scale was accurate, I no longer had a need for the stylus force gauge.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, the value changing because of platter/magnet interaction is pretty interesting. I understand that knowing that happens and to what extent it happens can be useful to know, but what can the user do about it once he has the turntable? I would consider that a major flaw in the design of the platter.

it's a cartridge<->platter issue. and has to do with the strength of the cartridge magnets and platter metallurgy being spotty (different in different platter locations). if your platter has the same effect everywhere you might still have the issue, but don't obviously know it. i'm sure someone here can provide us a way to measure platter magnetic attraction variance.

i know my CS Port LFT1 has a 40kg stainless steel platter which has this consistent effect, so they changed the newest version to nickel plated brass platter. your AS-2000 has a 100kg (or more) stainless platter. have no idea whether it has this effect.

my Etsuro Gold cartridge seems perfectly happy on my CS Port tt. so i don't worry about it (maybe i should? )

agree it's preferrable that you don't have any issue with it.

the user can use a different cartridge on that particular platter. but it's helpful to realize it to begin with to be able to avoid that effect on playback.

I agree with you that relative consistency is more important than actual accuracy with these scales. Repeatability is important when switch between cartridges. I find that the scale on my arm works well enough for this purpose. I am not familiar enough with enough arms to know whether or not most arms have reliable scales on them. My SME arms did, so once I confirmed that the cartridge and arm were balanced properly so that the arm scale was accurate, I no longer had a need for the stylus force gauge.

i don't have any arms with dynamic balance where you dial in the tracking force. i did briefly have the Ikeda which did work that way and measuring it did seem accurate.....if not exactly perfectly precise. again, precise is needed for repeatability.

 

[Solypsa]

. relative consistency is more valuable over time, since listening is the proof. once you dial a cartridge in, then change carts, and switch back, you need to depend of the measurement staying exactly constant.

Yes!