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Stylus force digital scales

Digital scales from Clearaudio and others range from $200-500. Amazon has 'em for $20. Why cant I use one of these instead and save big bucks?
tbromgard
cleeds
6,273 posts
 
lewm
... gravity is a constant for any particular location on earth, however, actual VTF will vary depending upon where the tonearm is located in its vertical arc.  This happens when you play a warped LP, for example
Varying VTF while playing a warped record is the result of dynamic forces. What we're talking about here is static VTF, which does not "vary depending upon where the tonearm is located in its vertical arc."
cleeds
6,273 posts
 
Also, if you use a dynamically balanced arm, VTF will remain constant even while playing a warped record.

stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,531 posts
 
lewn....speaking of azimuth.....In my experience, accurate azimuth is even more important than is exact vtf
dover
2,353 posts
 
cleeds
814 posts
09-25-2017 9:45am
Also, if you use a dynamically balanced arm, VTF will remain constant even while playing a warped record.
That statement is not true. Most dynamic balancing is applied with a spring which is designed to provide a restorative force to the arm. The actual tracking force at the stylus will be unpredictable and variable depending on the cartridge compliance, size and gradient of the warp and speed of the record. The competing forces are far more complex - it would be almost impossible to provide a constant tracking force over a record warp.  

cleeds
6,273 posts
 
dover.
... Most dynamic balancing is applied with a spring which is designed to provide a restorative force to the arm. The actual tracking force at the stylus will be unpredictable and variable depending on the cartridge compliance, size and gradient of the warp and speed of the record. The competing forces are far more complex - it would be almost impossible to provide a constant tracking force over a record warp.
Provided that the phono cartridge and arm are properly matched, a dynamically balanced arm will provide precise VTF within a very narrow range even over a warp. There may be some deviation, but it will be slight compared to a statically balanced arm.
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