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. |
Years ago ('80s) part of my job was checking for stylus wear. Ever see a tip well worn only on one side? Think skating might have something to do with that? The purpose of anti skating is to keep the cart moving assembly centered in the groove, putting relatively even pressure on each groove wall and consequently having appropriate deflections from said groove walls. If your image is consistently off to one side or the other, perhaps it reflects uneven cantilever/tip centering as a result of incorrect AS applied to a pivoting arm. This is a type of distortion. The information on the record is not being reproduced with correct amplitude, channel to channel. Some information will tend to get buried in the mix, and other info. might be more prominent than intended. Why are heavy trackers more immune to the affects of skating? The down force (VTF) is great enough to overcome most of the skating force
mis-centering. If your goal is to reduce torsional forces on the cantilever, then look to arms with no offset. fleib
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fleib is right on about anti-skating! Soundsmith has the same conclusion! Any tone arm with a headshell that is angled to provide best overhang performance (zenith) creates a substantial skating force - NO EXCEPTIONS. Antiskating IS always therefore required, although it is often applied incorrectly. The force required may seem insignificant to many, but if you were to look at the many thousands of cartridges I have looked at over the past 43 years, you would undnerstand that it is required. The scale of the tone arm does not allow most people to understand that is happening at the scale of the stylus/groove wall interraction. These forces are NOT insignificant.
Almost always, most tables are adjusted incorrectly, and have too much anti-skating, or it is disregarded, and there is none. Sometimes, with some tables, it cannot be turned down enough, OR the range and fine control is terrible.
Usually, most folks use far too much antiskating, as evidenced by the thousands of cartridges I have rebuilt over the last 40+ years ��" THis is by observation of the outer facet edge (right channel) of the diamond to be worn far more than the inner, or left channel.
A properly designed anti-skating device is non-linear, as it should be, as it needs to increase A-S automatically at the inner grooves due to increased stiction.
Frank Schroder and I are of the same opinion about antiskating ��" and that makes MOST records that provide an "anti-skating track" totally in error ��" many are recorded at about 80-90% modulation -OR MORE, or have increasing levels of modulation as the track progresses and expect you to set the A-S force so that there is no distortion at all at any level of modulation (or equal amounts on both channels if the cartridge tracks poorly).
The problem with these tracks is that since the required level of A-S force is a function of the amount of modulation (and of course the VTF), it has you adjust antiskating at far too high a level. This would be OK, if you are listening to music that is constantly recorded at a high level. No music really is. When you adjust for this level, that means that you are very much overcompensated with far too much antiskating as you have adjusted it for where the music does NOT spend most of its time ��" it spends it at about 30-40% modulation levels ��" so adjusting the A-S with these records results in far too much A-S force - too much on the right channel, and far too little on the left.
Since there is no properly recorded track that allows proper setting of A-S (there will be such on our new Soundsmith adjustment record), the method that Frank Schroder crafted through careful reverse engineering works without tools, and without a special record.
If one sets the stylus on a smooth surface of a record (at the end, in-between the run out grooves) ��" the tip of the stylus has a drag on the surface that while not equal to, is "standardized" enough to allow it to be used to adjust the Anti-Skating. This is due to a calculation of “force per unit area” with consideration of the rheology of the material ��" vinyl. Suffice it to say that since it has been reverse engineered and calibrated properly, this method works well. It then becomes an easy matter to set the A-S and observe the movement of the arm. For a given VTF (any amount of VTF) ��" set the A-S so that the arm VERY SLOWLY drifts inwards when placed on the SURFACE (NOT IN A GROOVE) at the end of a record. You will have a moment to do this until the stylus “pops” into the run-out groove.
This works for ANY amount of VTF required, for ANY cartridge. It will set the A-S to EQUAL force per groove wall for 30-40% groove modulation levels, which is the best level for A-S force, as it is a moving target. What one DOES want is anti-skating that is basically correct for where music spends 80-90% of its time.
Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith
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