VTF gauge

Dear mijostyn, way do you assume that we don't own those ''calibration weights''? I, for example, own 3 of those. 

I own 4 kinds: Technics SH-50 P1, mini digital scale, Ortofon ''ordinary'' + FR-64 S own (spring) kind. Each of them give different
''values''. But the most easy to use is FR-64 S. However my
Allaerts MC 2 ''allows'' only deviations of 0,2 g. So I just ordered
Ortofon DS-1 on recommendation of my Slavic brother. If this
one does not function as it should or as promised  by my brother
I will kill him (grin).

Dear chkaster, I don't know why but in former East Europe 
Aristoteles with his strange methodology of ''essential'' and
''accidental'' properties of things is still assumed to be true.
Despite Galileo in physics  and Frege in logic. This may explain
your opinion  about  ''essential'' parts in MC carts like stylus shape
and cantilevers while other parts are considered to be ''accidental''.
You may, according to this philosophy, think that the only risk in
our hobby is of financial kind. That is when we buy things which we
can't afford. As the debt crisis learned this is an real danger. But
as you can see from my response to your P&R for Ortofon DS 1,
which btw is more expensive than DS 3, there is also ''life danger''
involved. This my dear brother is certainly not ''accidental '' issue.
The American philosopher Quine invented following joke about
those ''éssential'' properties by describing humans as ''featherless
biped ''.   

What about the prices? There are some Ortofon products which
are made in Japan. I assume that Japan need to pay licence
rights to Ortofon . But chakster paid $ 30 for his Japanese DS1
while I paid 139 euro for my . In E. Union we need to pay 13% 
import duty + 21% VAT (Holland; 19%  Germany) . So we try
to buy European products in Europe. Gpgr mentioned China with
even lower prices than Japanese. I don't understand such price
differences . Anyway not In the so called ''global economy'' .