Anti skate. I think something's wrong


I have an Acoustic Signiture TT with a Graham 2.2 tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge. My anti skate is set close to tracking weight and it would always dig to in inside when I would start a record. I read this is wrong so I got my Cardas test record out and placed it in smooth section and it imediately gravitated to inside. I adjusted anti skate to where cartridge slighty pulls to inside . Here is the problem. To get this I'm having to adjust anti skate to the max. I rechecked TT and it is right on level wise. I have less sibilence now and swear the two channels are more even. The right channel has always been just slightly lower than left in volume. The only qualm I have is the max antiskate I have to use. Is bearing bad? I have the blue fluid. Or I shouldn't worry and enjoy the music. Mike
128x128blueranger
...what I say is that a/s can never be adjusted properly...
And therefore any anti-skating setting, including zero, is a compromise.  Which says nothing as to whether zero may be a better compromise or a worse compromise than any other.

As I mentioned earlier, I have no experience with low compliance cartridges.  But I can say that with cartridges having compliances in the higher parts of the spectrum setting anti-skating to zero would result in cantilever deflection toward the outer edge of the record that upon close visual examination is so severe that it would seem to me to be absurd to even try such a setting.

Yogiboy, thanks for the link.  Very informative article, from an unimpeachable source as you implied.  I note, btw, that in Mr. Ledermann's reference in the article to looking at cantilever deflection he limits its usefulness to cartridges having medium to high compliance.  Although he is addressing its usefulness as a check for gross error, rather than with respect to the adjustment procedure I described above.

Regards,
-- Al
 
Dear lewm: Agree, AZ per se ( normal conditions. ) can't change the SPL on one channel, perhaps on " extreme conditions of a very bad AZ set up. Same with AS.
Now, what I was thinking is that in a wrong set up exist an accumulation of " errors " on diferent parameters that even if the SPL is not impaired we can perceive the sound as unbalanced one.

I think that  blueranger can take the " short/path/road " to fix the problem:

- listen in the same analog rig a diferent cartridge looking if exist the same unbalanced quality sound.
Here he can discern if the problem is in the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze or not

- Listen to his CD player looking for that channels unbalanced sound. If persist then is not a cartridge problem or phono stage problem but: line stage/amplifiers or speakers or even some kind of problem in the tonearm.

From here, he has to follow tests on each of those single system chain links.

Now, we can follow give any kind of advise to blueranger but it's not easy for any one of us to say with precission where is the real trouble.


Regards and enjoy the music,
R.


Dear friends: On the whole AS subject I think that no one of use has the " bible " about.

By the physics laws AS always exist in a pivoted tonearm, so we can dissapears it only because we can't detect its " microscopic " influence in what we are listening. Like is the case of SG and some of us. Example, I change to often of cartridges and is a " pain in the ass " the AS set up that is related with all the oother cartridge set up parameters. So I decided for some time forget about but I know is not " right ".

Problem with the AS subject is that we don't know yet ( at least me. ) a precise methodology to set up the " Right " AS because several obstacles: is changing all over the LP surface ( iws not static but dynamic. ), we don't know on each LP recording its diferent recorded velocities over the LP surface and the difference in cartridge stylus shape has influence too on the amount of AS ( in this regard I remember at least one of my tonearms AT where its AS mechanism noted diferent AS position for: sherical, ellipthical and line contact stylus shapes. ).

So, AS set ub is a night mare for say the least.

Today and only for a " mind in calm " I use AS at minimum posible. How knew it's at minimum? I did not.

Cero or at " minimum " is wrong but everythink we make about is wrong. Maybe the real subject could be which kind of AS set up makes the less " damages ".

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
Someone else mentioned the room. I had a channel imbalance after tweaking everything over and over I still had it.  Last but not least I moved a bookcase a couple inches and that was the ticket. 
Thanks for all your answers in this subject. I will have to get a slim bubble level to check tonearm. I checked platter with round bubble level and it was leveled right. I thinks that might be problem.