Rega Atlas MK2 Stylus Pressure Gauge

Two Decimal Places, 0.5 to 10 Grams, on a Load Cell Rega Built for Its Own Factory

The Rega Atlas MK2 is a digital stylus tracking force gauge, sold each. It reads from 0.5 to 10 grams to an accuracy of plus or minus 0.01 grams, and it exists because Rega got tired of outsourced gauges failing in its own tonearm production.

Tracking force is the one cartridge setting that drifts without anyone touching it. A counterweight creeps, a suspension settles, and a cartridge that was set at 2.0 grams two years ago may not be there now. You cannot correct what you cannot measure.

Where the Accuracy Comes From

Accuracy, Range and Fit

The Atlas MK2 reads 0.5 to 10 grams to two decimal places, accurate to plus or minus 0.01 grams, with a safe overload of 20 grams. The MK2 widened the range from the original: Rega extended it to 10 grams to cover the more extreme cartridges now on the market.

Inside the aluminum casework is a full-bridge, shear-beam load cell with precision amplification behind it. The cell is temperature compensated across a wide operating range, resilient to shock, and resistant to drifting out of calibration over years of use.

A custom front guard protects the measuring element and locates the stylus, so the force is taken at the same point on the pad every time. Consistency of position is what makes two decimal places meaningful rather than decorative — a reading taken somewhere slightly different is a different reading.

It runs on a 9V PP3 cell. It is a bench instrument you set on the platter, not a fixture, so there is nothing to fit and nothing to calibrate before use.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Paul Rigby reviewed the Atlas for The Audiophile Man in June 2017 and called it "one of the best downforce gauges you can buy," finding it "well built and easy to use." Under the review's list of drawbacks he wrote a single word: nothing.

Who Is the Atlas MK2 Best For?

• You adjust your cartridge yourself — two decimal places is fine enough to set a cartridge to the middle of its recommended range rather than near it
• You own more than one cartridge — swapping between them means re-setting force each time, and a gauge pays for itself in avoided guesswork
• You run a heavy-tracking cartridge — the MK2 reads to 10 grams, where the original Atlas stopped at 3
• You have been through cheap gauges — Rega built this one because the bought-in gauges in its own tonearm department kept failing
• You are looking for a full setup kit — the Atlas measures tracking force and nothing else; overhang, offset and azimuth need a protractor from cartridge alignment tools

How Do You Use It?

Set the Atlas on the platter and switch it on. Lower the stylus onto the pad, inside the front guard so it sits in the same place each time, and wait about three seconds for the reading to settle. Adjust the counterweight, lift and lower the stylus again, and repeat until the number is where your cartridge maker wants it. Take a second reading to confirm.

Pairs Well With

What most Atlas owners shop next.

• Cartridge alignment tools — force is one of four settings; a protractor covers the geometry
• Phono cartridges — a gauge makes changing cartridges a five-minute job rather than an afternoon
• Test records — for checking the result of what you have just set
• Stylus cleaning — the other maintenance job that changes how a cartridge tracks

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is it?

Plus or minus 0.01 grams, displayed to two decimal places. The front guard puts the stylus in the same spot each time, which is what keeps repeated readings in agreement with each other.

What range does it cover?

0.5 to 10 grams, with a safe overload of 20 grams. That covers every mainstream cartridge and the heavier-tracking designs that the original Atlas, at 3 grams, did not reach.

Will it work with my cartridge?

If it tracks between 0.5 and 10 grams, yes — which is effectively all of them. The gauge reads the force the stylus applies, so nothing about the cartridge type or output matters to it.

Does it need a battery?

Yes, a 9V PP3 cell. There is no calibration routine to run: switch it on, set it on the platter and read.

Does it measure anything besides tracking force?

Tracking force is its one job. Overhang, offset angle, azimuth and vertical tracking angle are geometry rather than force, and they are set with a protractor and a level.

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