How to properly set VTF??

Since the sound that you are getting is perfectly satisfactory, use either method. The next time that you 'calibrate' the VTF, just remember to use the same method. Again, this illustrates the futility of 'ultra' precision in VTF measurements.

Sirspeedy, unless you have a dynamic load cell at the stylus, you really don't know the 'true' VTF at any given place on the record. If you think that because you reset your VTF to 1.87 that you are getting 1.87 every time, then you are mistaken! The 0.01 variation or precision that you claim is an illusion, since other parameters involved vary more than that. +/- 0.1gm is all that is needed and also to set up with the AS de-activated. Activating the AS will falsify the VTF reading by more than 0.01g due to the horizontal vector force applied. Re-applying the AS after the VTF is set is only approximate anyway and is correct for only 2 spots on the record anyway.
Bob P.

Sirspeedy, sounds like you have a winning formula. I am sure that your formula for dialing in the vinyl playback would work just as well with a 0.1g resolution VTF measurement, however! Sometimes just adjusting the tone controls (ee gads, tone controls) on your preamp or adjusting the phono input parameters (capacitance, resistance etc.) will give you the same results as 'playing' with the VTF at 0.01g intervals AND is much more repeatable.
Salut, Bob P.

Dan_ed, 'All this being said, I think that we do all agree that getting it really close with the gauge and then adjusting by ear is the way to go.' Yes.
We are disagreeing on how close one needs to get before adjusting by ear.
BTW, have you ever you checked the repeatability of your gauge? Try measuring the VTF every day for the next twenty days without touching or adjusting any of the parameters on the arm. You might be surprised by the different readings you get every day.
With respect,
Bob P.

dan_ed, And I am sure that the Winds repeatability will not be much better than +/- 0.02g, ie. that it will vary easily every day by that amount. just not worth the money.
Stick with your Shure gauge and your ears.
Salut, Bob P.

Raul, I think that is what I have been trying to say - set the VTF (0.1g accuracy is enough) at any position on the record and then enjoy the music after doing a further adjustment by ear.
Your description of all of the other parameters that might affect the listening experience is also a reason not to go vinyl.
With respect, Bob P.

Sirspeedy, with all due respect, you sound like the accountant who wants to calculate average costs to +/- 0.5 cents because he/she (and the computer)can do division to 3 places after the decimal. One can't get more accuracy, nor need, than 1 cent out of 100 cents. So it is with VTF. Although the scale might show a figure to 0.01g, the measurement is not of that accuracy or reproducibility and thus not really more 'accurate' for the baseline start points to which you are referring than a simple 0.1g accurate gauge.
Having said that, there is no harm in continuing to use the 'higher' accuracy gauges, but much of the perceived 'finer' adjustments that you are making is simply 'chasing your tail' so to speak, that is making adjustments to compensate for the lack of repeatability of the 'finer' measurement.
respectfully, Bob P.
Bob P.

Sorry, Sirspeedy, even if I had those recordings, I don't need your level of 'accuracy' in doing my taxes and wouldn't part with them! Would Mercury Wing recordings qualify, however?
Salut, Bob P.

Sirspeedy, the reason that AS is not a good idea with uni-pivot arms is that the horizontal vector imposed at the stylus will cause a unipivot to twist and drive the stylus out of azymuth (and also lower the VTF, due to the upward vector imposed by the torque)since there is no bearing in that horizontal plan to counteract that force. My STAX UA7 was a unipivot arm, which had a very elaborate AS (variable across the disc), but I ended up using very little AS, as determined by listening with a test record.
Dan_ed, if every record were recorded at the same level (level and frequency affect the friction which causes the centripedial force, along with the VTF and the 'lack of tangency'), were of the same length and thickness, then yes I would say that extreme accuracy on the VTF would be worth it. However, as you have mentioned, one cannot get 0.01g repeatability reliably from the VTF mechanisms on todays arms. Even those that claim to dial in the 1.87g and play, will tell you that after they carefully and painstakingly set the VTF to 0.01 precision, they then reset the VTF according to ear.
Might as well set the VTF to 1.9g (with less fuss) and then tune the VTF. It is quicker and just as good, depending on your ears, of course.
Bob P.