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My new Fozgometer.

Bill Stevens said:
Everything I know persuades me that this Fozgometer is an excellent device. Your photo confirms it. Very few stylii are mounted perfectly square to the cantilever, most are twisted one way or the other. It is impossible to know if the stylus is centered and perpendicular to the record grooves with any visual inspection. Only by measuring the electrical output of both channels can the final mounting be optimized. We used to use a Shure test record and an oscilloscope to accomplish this and almost always had some degree of twist to the cartridge when both channels were balanced. Methinks this Fozgometer is very worthwhile.
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But one is not doing that with this devise.
 
tnsilver said:
I'm not a big fan of Mr. Fremer or any of the audio magz writers. There's no scepticism, just being practical. I'm sure it works. Scepticism would be in place if thought the device is not able to do the job. It's just that $250 seems a bit exaggerated for a device that has one single function while at the same time you can get a pretty reliable multi-function true RMS DMM for $30, or solve the azimuth problem with a test record for about the same. Of course, Skizo has a point and now you probably need a Potzgometer to calibrate the Fotzgometer. I wonder how much that costs... $599.99?

Seriously people? $250 for a Fotzgometer? That's about the price of a very nice Fluke. Food for thought - isn't it...
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Like the the single function of a several thousand dollar automobile. Going from point A to point B. Oh ya! And the radio

The instructions with the Fozgometer tell you how to calibrate it using the tones that can be download from their web site. I mentioned it in my original post that I did the calibration. You must have missed it.

A Potzgometer is used to calibrate the strength of canabis.
 
gusten said:
No it isn´t. But what I mean is that the needle should perfectly fit the groove. We should not try to strive for a channel balance that is not achieved when the needle is perfectly fitting the groove IMO. It´s better to live with a natural tolerance on channel balance than skewing the needle and cantilever as I see it. But the real action in this case should be returning the cartridge.
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Bought the cartridge used. No return.
 
tnsilver said:
Seriously people? $250 for a Fotzgometer? That's about the price of a very nice Fluke. Food for thought - isn't it...
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At $250 you're almost at the pricepoint of an entry level digital scope, which is probably the best tool for adjusting a cartridge.
 
needlestein said:
You need a really sensitive voltmeter and a rock solid tone. Not that it can't be done, but voltmeter needles are probably going to be moving too much for you to be able to dial azimuth in. Perhaps with a digital voltmeter and some sort of averaging setting for the meter it could be done rather easily. I set azimuth by eye and then by listening through headphones, not that I wouldn't use a Fozgometer if I had one. It's probably very handy.
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I'm not so sure about that. FWIW, here's an interesting link to a discussion on the Fozgometer:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vinyl&m=927968&VT=T

I'd be really curious to see what that insides look like. It looks like the 4 screws come off and it would be easy to photograph. Maybe "kaplang" could snap some nudies?

This would be fun to try to replicate with a decent DMM.
 
needlestein said:
Bummer.

Do you think that there may be other ways to adjust the cartridge to make it read perfectly balanced in the Fozgometer? There's x, y, and z manipulations that can be made. I'm just wondering if you corrected it by adjusting the x plane, but correcting in the z plane might have been better in terms of the physical relationship of the cartridge to the record surface. Or, maybe you tried but the z plane (call it yaw) didn't achieve any corrective action.

I think the main complaint people have with the Fozgometer is the price. If it were $49.99, I think everyone would have one. I know I would.
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So once again it seems too all come down to money.

The price only bothered me enought to shop around. I wanted one so I bought one. If price bothered me for everything I wanted I would have none of it. I am retired and on a fixed income but still manage to get what I want. This was a major expense for me but so be it. Life is to short to want it any other way
 
dodog said:
I'm not so sure about that. FWIW, here's an interesting link to a discussion on the Fozgometer:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vinyl&m=927968&VT=T

I'd be really curious to see what that insides look like. It looks like the 4 screws come off and it would be easy to photograph. Maybe "kaplang" could snap some nudies?

This would be fun to try to replicate with a decent DMM.
Click to expand...

I have had it out of the case too install the 9V battery and do the calibration. Looking at the circut board I see several 1/4 watt resistors and some diodes, it also has 3 DIMS so it must have some kind of TTL. And of course the meter. I have also been thinking about trying to draw up a schematic. To do it I would need to remove the meter from the board so I could trace the connections and identify the DIMS. If I decide to do it the warranty will have to expired.
 
kaplang said:
I have had it out of the case too install the 9V battery and do the calibration. Looking at the circut board I see several 1/4 watt resistors and some diodes, it also has 3 DIMS so it must have some kind of TTL. And of course the meter. I have also been thinking about trying to draw up a schematic. To do it I would need to remove the meter from the board so I could trace the connections and identify the DIMS. If I decide to do it the warranty will have to expired.
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Understood. I wouldn't want you to void your warranty. If you ever do open it up again and could snap some pics, it would be much appreciated. I really enjoy DIY and love a good project. This would be something fun to try out some day for sure.
 
kaplang said:
I have had it out of the case too install the 9V battery and do the calibration. Looking at the circut board I see several 1/4 watt resistors and some diodes, it also has 3 DIMS so it must have some kind of TTL. And of course the meter. I have also been thinking about trying to draw up a schematic. To do it I would need to remove the meter from the board so I could trace the connections and identify the DIMS. If I decide to do it the warranty will have to expired.
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DIMS? You mean ICs?
 
I have one. It works as described. I think its niche is its simplicity and functionality. I does what it does very well. For the non-technically versed audiophile (think of the average person who doesn't know what an RMS DMM is let alone how to use an oscilloscope properly), it's a straightforward and useful tool for improved performance of one's vinyl rig. What's not to like?
 
I have NOT read this whole thing, but if we assume that the output mis-match is due to some flaw in the coil windings (or even in the cart-to-tonearm wiring, or the wiring from the tonearm to the phono amp), then cranking the cartridge around to where it is no longer perpendicular to the record is a really poor solution.
 
EchoWars said:
I have NOT read this whole thing, but if we assume that the output mis-match is due to some flaw in the coil windings (or even in the cart-to-tonearm wiring, or the wiring from the tonearm to the phono amp), then cranking the cartridge around to where it is no longer perpendicular to the record is a really poor solution.
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Agreed. I'd sooner move my chair over 6 inches. ;)
 
I believe that I once read on line that azimuth can be adjusted with a DVM set to AC volts and a test record.
 
I'm also in the sceptics camp - especially as numerous cart reviews of the past would indicate that equal L -> R and R -> L crosstalk unfortunately is just wishful thinking and that the difference can even vary pretty significantly over frequency.

The latter could be good for a verification of the usefulness of that meter, btw. I.e., if someone owns one or several test records with single channel test tones of different frequency (or maybe even one with single channel frequency sweeps), he could check, whether the Fozgo would show the same results for all test frequencies or rather different results for the different test frequencies. If the latter was the case, that would lead me to the conclusion that the Fozgometer is a useless gizmo (and not a cheap one at that...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
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