🎚️ Tonearm Tracking Force Reference Chart
A quick reference for typical tracking force ranges by cartridge type. Always check your specific cartridge's manual for its exact recommended range.
What the ranges are and how to hit one
Tracking force is the downward load the stylus puts on the groove, quoted in grams - strictly grams-force, so 2 g is about 0.02 newtons. The chart groups cartridges by type because compliance tends to run with the type: stiffer suspensions want more load, and a DJ cartridge built to survive a back-cue wants far more than a high-end moving magnet.
Setting it on a counterweight tonearm takes three steps:
- With the stylus guard on and anti-skate at zero, slide the counterweight until the arm floats level.
- Hold the weight still and turn its numbered dial to read 0.
- Turn the whole counterweight until the dial reads your target, then set anti-skate to roughly the same number.
Then check it with a digital gauge on the platter, at record height. Dials are calibrated for one arm and drift with a changed headshell or a stiff bearing; gauges that read to 0.01 g cost little.
Reading the sound
| Symptom | Usually means |
|---|---|
| Sibilance or breakup on loud passages, worse near the label | Too light |
| Stylus skips or jumps grooves | Too light, or a dirty tip |
| Flat, dull, heavy-footed sound | Too heavy |
Frequently asked questions
What tracking force should I use?
Whatever your cartridge's manual specifies. Most moving magnets sit between 1.5 and 2.5 g, low-output moving coils around 1.8 to 2.5 g, and DJ cartridges 2.5 to 4 g.
Is too light or too heavy worse for records?
Too light. A stylus that cannot stay seated mistracks, and that does permanent groove damage. Excess weight mainly accelerates ordinary wear.
Should anti-skate match the tracking force?
It is the standard starting point - set anti-skate to the same number as your tracking force, then adjust by ear if one channel distorts before the other.