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Stylus pressure gauges

Hello fellow analog sufferers. If you are looking for a precision electronic stylus pressure gauge, there are very few choices. You can buy a used Technics for a couple of hundred $$, you can buy new Clearaudio for $400, or you can get a 50g jewler's scale on E-bay or elsewhere for a mere $60. It is basically the same scale that Clearaudio sells, including the 50g calibration weight. If anyone has info on other gauges out there, pls reply. I'm Mark, no turntable currently (thanks to a certain L-L), the rest of the system: Denon 103, Koetsu Onyx Sapphire, MFA Luminescence A-1 and B1-C, Sunfire amp, Infinity 4.5 and 2.5 speakers, CAL Tempest CD player, Eumig cass. deck, Eumig tuner.
markshvarts
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fishinfool
32 posts
 
Can you give me some more info on WHERE on Ebay to look for this scale? Thanks
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,927 posts
 
The problem Markshvarts, is that many of the jeweler scales are magnetic.

Using them near the highly magnetic field of a moving coil cartridge is nearly impossible. I know this because I tried about half a dozen jeweler scales, purchased both locally and on line.

The few that are non magnetic are the very thick types, right where the strain gauge measures. If you don't measure the stylus at "record play" height, it's not only inaccurate and difficult to position, you risk damage to the cantilever.

I wound up buying the Winds. The few hundred dollars I spent is a bargain considering all the work I did trying to save cash and going nowhere.
mikelavigne
1,274 posts
 
i'm with Albert. i purchased the ALM-01 Winds guage (the 01 reads in hundreths of a gram) and i can really be confident of a repeatable measurement. this is especially helpful if you own and use multiple cartridges. you are able to go back to your exact previous setup without the sometimes painstaking listening process of finding that sweet spot.

it is quite interesting how your VTA will affect tracking force.....which is easy to see with the ALM-01.

i also own the Shure guage which, for about $25, will get you in the ballpark. then you go from there by ear.
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