© Pro-Ject Audio Systems · Pro-Ject Debut Pro · Revision 2021.09.01
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Place the stylus pressure gauge onto the platter. To set the required VTF, lower the tonearm lift lever as
indicated in the illustration and place the tip of the stylus exactly in the point marked 20mN (20mN = 2g). If
the stylus gauge becomes level, then the correct pressure has been achieved. However, if the there is
insufficient or excessive pressure the gauge will either not move or tilt down.
To adjust the amount of pressure, carefully move the counterweight (6) along the support rod, until the stylus
pressure is sufficient to raise the pressure gauge to the level position. Moving the counterweight (6) away
from the cartridge will reduce pressure and towards will increase pressure.
Please note: Adjust the tracking force prior to installing the anti-skating weight.
The recommended tracking force for the Pro-Ject Pick IT PRO cartridge is
20 mN = 2g
.
Use electronic tracking force scales (like Measure it E) for more accurate results.
PRO Info: Tracking Force
Cartridges usually have a tracking force range as stated by the manufacturer (for example 1.8
–
2.2 grams).
The recommended tracking force is a result of the individual cartridge placed on the individual tonearm, the
record you play and the wear and age of your stylus. Just to name a few of the most important ones. You are
actually free to move within the range and divert from the recommendations. If your stylus is new you want to
ideally stay pretty much at the recommendation as a starting point. As it gets older (we are talking many,
many thousands of hours playtime) you can apply a little more tracking force. Other reasons why you want
more or less tracking force are old/dirty or badly worn records. Experimenting with a little more force might
enable you to extract more information out of a worn record groove (don
’
t worry about adding extra wear to
the record groove; the groove will wear if you are at 5g not if you are at 2.5g in our example here). If there
are scratches in the record or your record tends to skip, changing the tracking force a little higher or lower
might also enable you to play these records without skipping.
In general, it is true that if you move beyond the limits of the range as stated by the manufacturer you will
negatively affect the longevity of your stylus/cartridge and records. If you really know what you are doing it is
however possible to also use a little more tracking force beyond the range to get more tracking ability out of
your cartridge. Keep in mind as the tracking force gets higher and higher this will also affect the angle with
which the stylus lies in the record groove. Taking the tracking force to 2.4 grams, if the upper limit it 2.2
grams, you will also need to raise the height of the tonearm (also called the VTA
–
vertical tracking angle).
Obviously, we would only recommend this to experienced vinyl enthusiasts as correctly figuring out the VTA
setting requires a lot of experience in this case.
