Digital stylus gauge

[Flanders]

Btw, Alistair's version looks to be the same one that Pro-ject sell for 90 quid!

[struth]

He must have used his selfie stick... arf arf!

aye, up his ass

[Marco]

Hi Jo,

I don't know so much about recommending a cheap one, but I can recommend a *really* good, and genuinely accurate one, which I'm sad to say (from experience) the cheapies aren't...

This is what I use:



Available from here: http://www.analogueseduction.net/cle...ure-gauge.html

Trust me, there's a BIG difference between the accuracy of the Clearaudio and the others mentioned. I found as much as 0.5g difference with some of them between what was the actual VTF (pressure at the stylus), and what was shown on the gauge!

You know me for trying to find a bargain, but sometimes in hi-fi, you do get what you pay for

Marco.

[Barry]

I also have one like that, but for considerably less than Clearaudio ask. Clearaudio also seem to confuse resolution with accuracy, and looks to be no more than the jeweller's scales that are readily available elsewhere.

[Marco]

Are you certain that it's identical to the Clearaudio one though, Barry?

Just because it looks the same, doesn't guarantee that it *is* the same, or just as accurate. I've tried many different digital scales over the years, and can say from experience that they can vary rather wildly, in terms of how accurate they are.

There are also a lot of 'fakes' around, purporting to be something they're not. The Clearaudio isn't the cheapest around (nor in any way the dearest), but it is a very accurate and quality item, as such you can be sure that the readout given is *exactly* what your cartridge is tracking at - and for me, access to such accuracy is invaluable.

I'm afraid that I'll only cut costs when spending more simply doesn't make an sense (when you're just being ripped off), and this isn't one of those occasions

Marco.

[helma]

Trust me, there's a BIG difference between the accuracy of the Clearaudio and the others mentioned. I found as much as 0.5g difference with some of them between what was the actual VTF (pressure at the stylus), and what was shown on the gauge!

That sounds crazy... how did you determine it was off?

I have one of the chinese cheapies that cost a few bucks and it's accurate within 0.01g or so - I have tested it repeatedly with coins. It does have a small glitch, where it doesn't always return to zero when doing repeated weightings - even then it stays accurate, if you account for the 'starting weight' - usually something like 0.05g. The problem as a stylus gauge for that one is it's too high, so the angle for the tonearm isn't the same as playing a record, unless you remove the mat before checking VTF. With a lot of arms that can have very large effect on VTF, but if you make sure the gauge is on same level as a record in play, it does the job just fine. EDIT: of course if you don't use a mat, then you're basically screwed or have to put the gauge beside the platter on some support to make sure it's on the same level as the record surface...

[struth]

Mine has been accurate when Ive tested it every time. I may be lucky, or yours was maybe a duffer marco... happens with mass produced crap like this, but at a tenner a go I can afford one to go phut occasionally.. its quite possibly the same mech in a different case ... like the look of that one though, very smart indeed

[Barry]

Well all I can say is that the one I have looks the same, and when tested with weights supplied with the Transcriptors stylus balance (and checked by me using a chemical balance against weights which themselves are calibrated against National Physical Laboratory standards) are correct and therefore accurate to 0.01g. That's more than good enough for me.

Anyway the £9 stylus scales cited is also more than sufficient. It comes with a 5g calibration weight - I have weighed this weight on other scales to confirm it is indeed 5g.

Believe me, there are numerous 'audiophile' stylus scales on the market which are essentially re-badged jeweller's scales.

[Marco]

That sounds crazy... how did you determine it was off?

Basically, by listening and measuring... When I had one of the 'Chinese cheapies', they were fine and seemed to work well, but then one day I thought that I'd treat myself to something 'better' (well to see if spending more actually resulted in obtaining something better), and so got the Clearaudio.

I was using a DL-103 at the time, which I was tracking at 2.5g, on the Chinese scales. Then I measured the VTF on the Clearaudio, and it showed as 2.01 (!)... I thought 'What the hell?' Anyway, I decided to reset VTF, using the Clearaudio's readout as a guide, and set it 2.5g, then had a listen...

Jeez - the difference wasn't subtle!

All of a sudden, the cartridge went from sounding merely good to simply amazing. Turns out that because of the inaccuracy of the Chinese scales I had inadvertently been running it with too low a downforce, due to a false readout on the scales I had been using. Not good!

Therefore, I'd rather spend a bit more, and have the peace of mind of knowing that the stylus gauge I'm using is genuinely accurate, and that I'm getting the best out of my cartridge, as a result of it playing at the optimum tracking weight.

Marco.

[Marco]

Believe me, there are numerous 'audiophile' stylus scales on the market which are essentially re-badged jeweller's scales.

Absolutely, and I've used some of them... However, I can attest to the fact that the Clearaudio isn't one of them, and as such, is money well spent

Marco.