Thanks for your replies. The reading I have done also confirms that proper stylus seating in the groove is just as important (if not more important) than tracking force with respect to record wear. I was just curious whether there is a particular tracking force above which record wear is likely to lead to immediately audible results. My intention is to play each record only as many times as necessary to get a digital transfer. So, I suppose record wear shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I'd still like to do as little damage as possible.

Another problem I have with setting this cartridge at the high end of the recommended range is that most tracking force gauges I have seen only go up to 3 grams, rather than 5 or 6. Do you know of an economic gauge that will register that high?