Steady7 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Looking at getting one of these..anyone have any experience with these? Looking into the Pro Ject ones or the Acoustech deluxe gauge. Not really sure what route to go. Ive seen cheap ones get great reviews as well. Just looking for some thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Requiescat Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Shure SFG-2... Affordable, reliable and does a perfect job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Shure SFG-2... Affordable, reliable and does a perfect job. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcguirk Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Very happy with this digital gauge: http://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Backlight-Digital-Long-Playing-Turntable/dp/B00E7MVP3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398813454&sr=8-1&keywords=stylus+gauge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steady7 Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Very happy with this digital gauge: http://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Backlight-Digital-Long-Playing-Turntable/dp/B00E7MVP3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398813454&sr=8-1&keywords=stylus+gauge Awesome. Ordered. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 That's a good price. There are a lot of things that are ridiculously priced in the world of audio and a $200 digital stylus force gauge is one of them. Sometimes things are so expensive because of low manufacture numbers or high QC loses, but something like this should be cheap. I bought one to check it out. I have a Shure and it's OK. It definitely does the job, but could be seen as a bit inaccurate, or "close enough". It may be junk, or maybe won't last long, but for $20, it's worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 It wasn't one of the Amazon ones above but I have tried one of this style of cheaper digital unit and could get different readings pretty much every time I used it. It was a cheap ebay impulse purchase but I don't trust it and it just sits in it's box now. If people are having good experiences with them I might see if I can get one over here but until then I will still use my trusty Garrard SPG3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Right, well if it sucks, it was fulfilled by Amazon, so I will return it at no charge to me, so, why not? Like I said, I'm sure the business model is: Produce a lot at a cheap cost, sell a lot at a cheap price, and eat the cost of defective merchandise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcguirk Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I've been using mine for about a year. 1.81 grams, on the money, every time I use it. And yes, I check every week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Requiescat Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I still think the Shure is a great deal for the price and I do consider the "no batteries required" aspect rather appealing as well. It might be a little "innacurate" but I doubt that's even noticeable (probably talking all of +/- 0.05g or so) on a digital scale as long as you take the time to set up your cart properly to begin with. Balance is balance so as long as you set it to the correct weight that shouldn't be an issue. I can really never see that thing breaking either since it's all analog and rather simple. I'm a little curious now though so I might shell out the $20 for the digital scale just to do a comparison to see for myself. Either way, it's quite obvious you can get the tracking force set rather easily and accurately for under $20 and is a rather basic essential piece of equipment, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I still think the Shure is a great deal for the price and I do consider the "no batteries required" aspect rather appealing as well. It might be a little "innacurate" but I doubt that's even noticeable (probably talking all of +/- 0.05g or so) on a digital scale as long as you take the time to set up your cart properly to begin with. Balance is balance so as long as you set it to the correct weight that shouldn't be an issue. I can really never see that thing breaking either since it's all analog and rather simple. I'm a little curious now though so I might shell out the $20 for the digital scale just to do a comparison to see for myself. Either way, it's quite obvious you can get the tracking force set rather easily and accurately for under $20 and is a rather basic essential piece of equipment, in my opinion. Agreed on both points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I just got my SFG in. It comes with a case and batteries and a 5g calibration weight. It was reading 2.1g with nothing on it out if the box, but after simple calibration it now reads 0.0 without anything on it. And 5g with the calibration weight on it. So far, so good. I'll check it out at home this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 So I checked it about 10 times and 5 of those times it came in at 2.2 which is exactly where it should be. the other times it gave me a range around +/- .1, but it wasn't hard to double and triple check for consistency. I mean, so far, it's good. Not awesome, but if I wanted awesome (for a SFG?) I guess I would pay 7-10 times what I paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steady7 Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 Mine arrived on Friday. I calibrated it and re set my arm to start fresh, it weighed in at 1.73, which is about right for my cartridge, pretty happy with it. I do agree, its not great but it is a good value. Espically when you dont need to use this thing everyday. I couldnt imagine spending $100 plus on something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrrom92 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I can't recommend the shure enough. It's cheap. It's essential. And depending how anal you get about it, it's pretty damn accurate. I find most of the digital scales to be inaccurate and many are even bad for your cart (especially mc) Requiescat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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