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What about this stylus guage?

I've been looking around for a HIGH quality digital stylus force guage,accurate in 1/00's gm.I noticed in the analog,for sale, area of Audiogon,there is a guy "Mambo" who is selling a seemingly fabs scale for 75 bucks.The WINDS 1/100 scale is mega bucks(though my friend has one,and it IS fabulous).

I do notice that the scale sold by "Mambo" has a slightly elevated platform,meaning that one may have to lower the cartridge by hand,BOO! Also,I'm sceptical as to the quality of manufacture.I had a Cartridge Man Guage whose battery died,and though I got a new battery to put in,just feel that I no longer want to go through the motions of recharging,and finding the TINY sweet spot on the Cart.Man any longer!Although,you ultimately dial in by ear,it is important(to me) to know EXACTLY what weight my downforce is.Hundreths of a gram can really be audible on a High Res system.

Any thoughts would really be appreciated!!
sirspeedy70680e509

Showing 4 responses by nsgarch

nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
I bought the Audio One Digital STYLUS PRESSURE GA ( the .01 gm version) sold here on AgoN by 'Audioparts' (a member) at auction for $157. I don't recall the retail price. But it works great, and has a little drop-down ledge where you put the stylus so that it's very close to its actual position on the record. That's important when you have a tonearm like an SME where the actual force is applied with an internal spring. It comes with calibrating weight and seems to give consistent readings regardless of its position on the platter or the stylus' position on the gauge. It uses a couple of easily replaceable, longlasting hearing aid batteries.
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Speedy -- Stu Wein is the owner of Audioparts:

audioparts@adelphia.net or check out his website at:

http://www.audiopartsinc.com/

I should mention that the gauge I bought actually measures in increments of 0.05 gms. In other words, if you wanted to adjust a VTF in the range from say 1.8 gm to 2.0 gm, you would be able to set 1.8, 1.85, 1.90, 1.95, 2.0. I think that's plenty good enough for a Tranfiguration cartridge because the coil is so fully immersed in the magnetic field to begin with. Something like a Colibri, where the VTF is critical for the coil finding just the right "sweet spot" in the tiny magnetic field available, might need a finer sensitivity.

The fit and finish is definitely not shoddy, but not jewelry either. The little offset measuring platform I mentioned, seems to have been added by Audioparts to a stock electronic scale, but works very nicely.
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
BTW there is a company called "Save on Scales" and you can (for $32) buy the basic scale (JENNINGS CREDIT CARD J-SCALE CC-100) without the offset shelf, which I believe Audioparts uses to make their product. Go to:

http://www.saveonscales.com/product_jennings_cc100_digital_scale.html

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nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Metralla, did you check out some of their other 1/100 gram pocket scales? Most are under $100 and many measure in .01 gm increments.

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