Ortofon - Stylus Pressure Gauge

A simple mechanical pivot scale for setting tracking force accurately between 1.25 and 4 grams — no batteries, nothing to calibrate.

Tracking force is the downward pressure the tonearm applies through the stylus onto the record, and getting it right is not optional. Too light and the stylus rattles in the groove, mistracks on loud passages and cuts into the groove walls. Too heavy and you are grinding away both the diamond and the record. Every cartridge has a manufacturer-specified figure, and the counterweight dial on a tonearm is a rough guide at best.

This is the simplest possible tool for the job: a small plastic pivot-type scale, marked in grams. Rest the stylus very gently into the grooved guide track at the tracking force marking you want, then adjust the counterweight or tonearm pressure dial until the scale balances. That is the whole procedure. It reads accurately between 1.25 and 4 grams, which covers essentially every moving magnet and moving coil cartridge in normal use.

There is a case for a digital gauge if you are setting up expensive moving coils regularly and want to work to a hundredth of a gram. For everyone else, this does the job for a fraction of the price and never needs a battery.

Features

• Mechanical pivot-type scale — no battery, no electronics, nothing to calibrate
• Measures tracking force between 1.25g and 4g
• Marked in grams
• Rest the stylus in the grooved guide track and balance the counterweight against it
• Covers the tracking force range of essentially every hi-fi cartridge

Specifications

• Type: Mechanical pivot-type stylus pressure gauge
• Measurement Range: 1.25g – 4g
• Construction: Plastic
• Operation: Rest the cartridge stylus very gently into the grooved guide track at the desired tracking force marking, then adjust the counterweight or tonearm pressure dial until the pivot scale balances. The scale is marked in grams
• Battery: None required
• Origin: Ortofon A/S, Nakskov, Denmark
• Not Published: Resolution or graduation interval; accuracy tolerance; dimensions; weight; plastic type; box contents
• Note: Ortofon also makes a digital instrument, the DS-3, which reads 0.1 to 200g with 0.01g resolution. That is a separate and considerably more expensive product — this listing is the mechanical pivot scale