Anti skate. I think something's wrong

Flieb, Thanks for saying exactly the same thing that I said in fewer words and without the physics lesson.  If my point(s) were moot, your points are moot-er.  I realize that an experienced person such as yourself would have the facts well in hand. My post of 4-13 was aimed only at those who might not.

The RS-A1, and any other tonearm designed for "underhang" and lacking any headshell offset, WILL achieve zero skating force at the one (not two) points across the LP surface where it also achieves tangency. (Because the stylus underhangs the pivot, there can only be one point on the arc where tangency to the groove is achieved. However, at that one point, there is no headshell offset to generate skating force.)  I know you know this, Fleib.

Why is there no skating force on a linear tracker? The whole idea, as you know, is that there is ALWAYS tangency to the groove, and there is never headshell offset angle. Thus, no skating force. However, in practice, if there is even a minute error in set-up; if the stylus is not exactly on the imaginary line that describes the radius of the LP, then there will always be that tiny amount of skating force.  Also, if there is any play in the bearing such that the stylus can describe even microscopic arcs as it travels across the LP, this too will generate a small skating force.  The Rabco/Goldmund linear tracker actually depended on its loose bearing to periodically activate a servo motor that dragged the assembly across the LP.  That was not a good design, IMO. I know you know this, Fleib.

I suspect that there is always a tiny amount of tracking error and a tiny amount of skating force and that both are so small in magnitude and so relatively constant across the LP surface that these two qualities (small and constant, compared to a pivoted tonearm) account for why we hear linear trackers as sounding different from pivoted tonearms, although not perfect.

Lewn, while theory is a good place to start experiments, you still have to try it out in real life.  While it's possible that Peter Lederman was predisposed to look for that asymmetrical stylus wear to prove what he believed, it's also possible(and maybe more probable) that that's what he actually found.

BlueRanger,

We appear to have hijacked your thread with theorisations about antiskate (myself also guilty as charged). Getting back on topic I think you may be on the right track by checking levels.

Suggest checking :

1. The platter using 2 small opposing spirit levels in 2 axes.

2. The armboard (over its whole surface and in more than one axis). If the armboard is cantilevered/assembled there may be interference between armboard and chassis or the armboard itself may be distorted depending on what material has been used.

3. If possible, the headshell or tonearm level.

The idea is that 1-3 should be always be “square” with each other in all axes.

If you can check the chassis itself that might be useful in case the main bearing/chassis itself was distorted or misaligned.

I’ve heard of turntables being shipped with heavy platter semi-assembled but decoupled suffering a warped main bearing in transit. Choice of materials could even lead to the chassis itself being warped. Either way a chassis error would undoubtedly reveal itself eventually.

 For the purpose I can recommend these :

 http://www.russandrews.com/bubble-level-twin-pack-50219990000/

 Let us know how you get on.

All the best,