Clearaudio Smart Stylus Tracking Force Gauge

A Printed Scale That Reads 1.5 to 3.5 Grams Off the Flex of Your Stylus

The Clearaudio Smart Stylus is the simplest tracking force gauge made. It is a printed scale you set on the platter; you lower the stylus onto it and read the force from how far the cantilever deflects. It covers 1.5 to 3.5 grams.

There is no power, no display and no calibration. That is the whole proposition — a tool that cannot go flat, cannot drift and cannot be misread, sitting on the shelf for the day you notice the counterweight has crept.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What It Reads and How Far

The scale covers 1.5 to 3.5 grams, which spans the recommended range of nearly every moving magnet and moving coil cartridge in normal use. Check the figure your cartridge maker publishes before ordering, since a few designs sit outside that window.

It reads the deflection of the cantilever against a printed reference rather than weighing anything. That makes it a check rather than a laboratory measurement: it tells you whether you are where you meant to be, in seconds, with nothing to switch on.

It sits on the platter like a record and works with any conventional pivoted tonearm. Nothing about it is specific to a Clearaudio turntable, which makes it the one to keep beside a second deck or to lend to a friend who has never checked theirs.

Who Is the Smart Stylus Best For?

• You want a quick check rather than a laboratory reading — set it down, lower the stylus, read, done
• You dislike gear that needs batteries — there is nothing to power and nothing to fail between uses
• Your cartridge tracks between 1.5 and 3.5 grams — the range that covers most of what is on the market
• You keep a second turntable — it costs little enough to leave one beside each deck
• You want to resolve hundredths of a gram — a printed scale will not do that; the digital gauges are in stylus force gauges

How Do You Use It?

Set the Smart Stylus on the platter where a record would sit. Lower the stylus onto the marked area and read the force off the printed scale against the cantilever's deflection. Lift, adjust the counterweight, and lower again. Two or three passes will get you where the cartridge maker wants you.

Pairs Well With

What most owners of a force gauge shop next.

• Cartridge alignment tools — force is one setting; a protractor covers the geometry
• Phono cartridges — a gauge turns a cartridge swap into a five-minute job
• Test records — for checking the result of what you have just set
• Stylus cleaning — the other job that changes how a cartridge tracks

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is it?

It reads against a printed scale from 1.5 to 3.5 grams, so treat it as a quick confirmation rather than a hundredth-of-a-gram measurement. For setting a cartridge inside its recommended range it does the job; for resolving finer than that, a digital gauge is the tool.

What range does it cover?

1.5 to 3.5 grams. Cartridges specified outside that window need a gauge with a wider range.

Does it need batteries?

None at all. There is no power source, no display and no calibration routine — it is a printed scale and a reference mark.

Does it only work on Clearaudio turntables?

It works on any turntable with a conventional pivoted tonearm. The gauge sits on the platter in place of a record, so the make of the deck makes no difference to it.

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