Anti-Skate dial-How to set it? + a bonus question

what, precisely, do I see when I am looking for "stylus deflection"?

First, note that I said "cantilever deflection." If you are viewing the cartridge from the front, and if the anti-skating force is significantly misadjusted, as the stylus enters the groove of a rotating record you will see the cantilever deflect either to the left or to the right. In other words, it will change its angle relative to the cartridge body, either towards the spindle or towards the outer edge of the record, compared to its position before the stylus made contact with the record.

If you are unsure as to whether or not you may be seeing a small deflection, it might be helpful to misadjust the anti-skating until you definitely do perceive a small deflection, and note the corresponding setting of the anti-skating scale. Then misadjust until you see the same amount of deflection in the opposite direction, note the setting, and set the adjustment mid-way between those two points.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks, Al,
That's just what I needed to know!

There are those that say that there is no need for side thrust compensation at all. VPI says that all arms should remove the device because it can be heard as it works, providing noise to the original signal. Never the less, as posted above, the anti-skate should match the vertical tracking force, which should be toward the high side (never the low side) of the published range for the cartridge.

Mechans,
My partner and I do tweak VTF at least daily and in certain listening conditions I've been known to tweak it more often, including sometimes to the individual LP level.

No matter what the specs may say, some cartridges do perform best very near the threshold of mistracking, (ie, near the light end). My guidance for users of the original ZYX UNIverse (for example) was always to play it so and many found that to be best. With that cartridge, the optimal VTF range is less than .01g, below the useable resolution of most scales. I fine tune by listening.

With a cartridge that sensitive, an LP that's easy to track does have a different mistracking point than one that's difficult to track. Thus the opportunity (need?) to tweak from one LP to the next.

Of course this all assumes that you adjust with your ears. With highly sensitive cartridges one can't rely on specs or mechanical measurements for anything more than getting in the ballpark.

Stringreen,
We disagree, obviously. I don't doubt your experience but it isn't consistent with mine. We use almost entirely different equipment so that's hardly surprising. I don't think either of us has a claim on the best way to set up every possible vinyl rig.