Review on Analog Planet - Audio Additives Digital Stylus Force Gauge | Analog Planet
I personally think buying something inexpensive to use once and then returning it is lame. First you very well may need it again. Next think of all the material and waste, of time, fuel, printing labels trucks spewing carbon etc. just because you’re trying to save money?
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I think you misunderstand. He ordered a different one so will return the first for that reason.
I am glad. But in this particular usecase people seem to tune by ear, and I don’t think 0.01 gr is audible anyway.
Exactly. The adjustment will be by ear.
It looks like 1,80 g to me too. Lyra recommends 1,75 to 1,80 for the Kleos.
Maybe I prefer a weight closer to 1,80.
I will know more on Sunday, when the gauge will arrive.
I bought mine from Johnnie 7 ( Audio Origami) I think I paid £20 nice bit of kit.
Regards,
Martin
Bear in mind that the RB3000’s bearings are so low friction that finding the static balance point is not easy. Particularly with the residual bias.
Before my gauge arrives, should be this evening , are there some of you guys who could hear a difference between 2,00 g and 1,98 gr, and so on…
0,02 gr difference is it audible ? Just curious.
Not to me. But complication is of course that fiddling and getting it right, takes time and concentration, so comparing before and after is hard as you’re relying on subtle changes based on an (unreliable) memory of how it sounded before.
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Just to further complicate matters, a thought when the picture of the arm was posted. Rega arms apply force with a coiled spring, the set up guide says with the tracking and bias at zero, balance the arm so that it floats with the stylus 1mm above the record.
This then begs the question, which record. I recall that when I take my turntable for service/setup, one of the questions is how many audiophile records do you play, what era is the bulk of of your collection from. In other words the set up is judged by the proportion of “thick” audiophile pressings. Last time I went for a service I looked for information on record thickness. There is an interesting posting on The Vinyl Engine where the range is 0.9mm to 2.3mm.
So if you choose one of those very thin RCA records, set the tracking weight and then play a reissue 200gm record that is 2mm thick, how much is the tension of the spring changing and hence the tracking weight?
Similarly, I have one of those electronic gauges, if I take the mat off the platter and put the gauge on, the target dimple is about 4mm above the platter, so how correct is that measurement?
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Good point. My records are quite all from the 70’s, thin for >90% of them.
The right weight for optimal sound will depend of the thickness of the lp, 120 g or 200 g should be different.
I balance the Ittok ensuring that the arm is level, this is well above the thickness of any record. It can take some time to get it right as the counterweight is very tight but level it must be otherwise you are just wasting time.
Once level I dial in tracking weight and bias to my preferred settings.
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I could hear 0.05g difference on a Rega 300 with a DV 17D2 at the sharp end even through a Sansui AU217 with a Michell iso in between. With a Lyra with its tightly focussed magnetic field I’d be surprised if you can’t hear 0.02g through a 500 with an EAR in front.
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I just received it. Same as pictured at the beginning of the thread.
I calibrated it. Then it shows 5 g , as it should.
Then I removed the anti skating ( settled to 0).
Result: it weighs 2,17 g. Repeated twice, same.
So hopefully I bought it 
I settled the weight in the wrong direction, not to around 1,75 but 2,25.
So now I choosed 1,77 gr, mostly used by different members.
I will listen later and then compare to 1,75 and 1,80. Will choose the best of the 3.
What is important in this situation is to get the best sounding tracking force, rather than the correct reading on the arm dial. The reading on the arm dial is an estimate of what the spring is doing. My arm dial is pretty accurate, but on my previous TT the arm dial on the RB1000 was inaccurate by approximately, I would say, 0.15g. On that arm, it was easy to scratch the markings off the dial using a gentle scratch from my thumbnail.
The dynamic state, rather than static state, is what determines what you hear.
Different VTF will very slightly change the VTA. So after adjusting VTF it’s a good idea to adjust VTA, since VTA changes are certainly audible.
After 1hour and half, tried 1,82, 1,77, 1,72. Choosed finally between 1,77 and 1,72, so 1,75 as recommended.
Difficult from memory to say it’s really better vs the wrong 2,17 g setting, but I feel it’s more agile now, faster, more delicate, and the noise on a record dropped .
So I will leave it now and return the gauge. It was not a fun party.
Time to enjoy and relax.
Do all adjustments based on an average record from your collection.
They aren’t, at least not really. The angle of a cutter head is between 0 and 20 degrees, any VTA adjustment will likely result in a difference of a fraction. So even if there’s an audible difference with one record, it will be meaningless for any other as the cutting angle difference is likely much larger.
Here we go again 
I have learned to live with there being two kinds of people 
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