I agree with what you've said

The actual weight doesn't really matter, just repeatability.
I set VTF roughly then fine tune by ear - then measure the weight via Shure. The Shure is accurate enough to remake this final setting pretty reliably - even if it's not the actual weight. I've now played with the digital scale, and it gives repeatable measurements with .01g precision - much better repeatability than the Shure. This is just talking precision, but I believe the digital scale is also far more accurate than the Shure. And remember, it's not even twice the US price of the Shure. Amusingly, I've seen the Shure listed for A$55 here in Australia A$10 more than I payed for the digital scale.

Here's a funny story......I actually misread the Shure scale when I initially set up my 103R - I thought I'd set to 2.5g, but it was actually indicating about 1.9g (which was probably an *actual* 2.2g VTF). I thought it sounded really good. Then I remeasured the VTF via the Shure and discovered my reading error. When I set via the Shure to an indicated 2.5g the sound was not as good - no doubt because the real VTF was now ~2.8g!!
Had I not made that inital read error I might have been floundering about thinking the 103R lacked clarity and sounded a bit closed-in. Which, BTW, I've heard others report!
How long would it have been before I tried 2.1g via the Shure and got the sound I paid for?
IMO, this makes the Shure pretty rough and ready. The user should be prepared to experiment widely above and below what the Shure indicates.
Even if the digital scale is only accurate to .05g, that still puts you much closer to spec as a starting point for experimentation.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Investigation of the Shure SFG-2 accuracy - and tracking weight for DL-103R - Paul Tobin 18:37:58 03/23/06 (23)

The Shure SFG-2 gets a clean bill of health from me - Paul Tobin 00:08:14 03/25/06 (0)

Neither scale has been calibrated - riffer 07:30:35 03/24/06 (1)

Not strictly true - Paul Tobin 12:58:06 03/24/06 (0)

Hold the presses...strike that, erase....I am the King of misinformation - Paul Tobin 23:00:02 03/23/06 (4)

simple intuitive Analog wins ! - J.D. 09:31:29 03/24/06 (0)

Try Measuring A Playing Card - Backbeat1954A@aol.com 02:13:55 03/24/06 (0)

I also see that you are using the Shure on top of a record. - Chet 23:50:28 03/23/06 (1)

Yes, the instructions say.... - Paul Tobin 00:09:05 03/24/06 (0)

Paul, you may want to look at wally's site and - Shane From AUS 22:36:08 03/23/06 (0)

Re: Investigation of the Shure SFG-2 accuracy - and tracking weight for DL-103R - John Elison 20:37:49 03/23/06 (6)

I'll have to do some more tests it seems - Paul Tobin 21:31:43 03/23/06 (5)

Re: I'll have to do some more tests it seems - John Elison 01:34:31 03/24/06 (4)

Follow up on paper test - Paul Tobin 20:29:20 03/24/06 (2)

Re: Follow up on paper test - Paul Tobin 11:03:16 03/25/06 (0)

Re: Follow up on paper test - John Elison 07:18:39 03/25/06 (0)

I wonder what your bathroom scale looks like! - OMalley 06:03:08 03/24/06 (1)

Interesting-but you may want to check out this link. - powermatic 19:08:32 03/23/06 (6)

i have the Generic 50 "A" - OMalley 05:53:22 03/24/06 (1)

About measurement hieght - Paul Tobin 13:11:20 03/24/06 (0)

that's worth knowing about - Paul Tobin 19:31:14 03/23/06 (3)

That was my point in even bringing this link up-for the individual - powermatic 20:04:01 03/23/06 (2)

I agree with what you've said - Paul Tobin 21:14:43 03/23/06 (1)

Your story illustrates one of the problems with - powermatic 21:33:09 03/23/06 (0)

Follow Ups

I agree with what you've said - Paul Tobin 21:14:43 03/23/06 (1)

Your story illustrates one of the problems with - powermatic 21:33:09 03/23/06 (0)

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