2. analog
  3. 124087-1252

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
inna
7,296 posts
 
I thought that anti-skate is always set by ear, you don't need no bloody test records, just listen. I am not familiar with the OP's set-up but with my Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm you can clearly hear the difference while moving the weight back and forth. It took me fifteen minutes and a few records to find the overall best setting and forget about it. 
The idea that no anti-skating always sounds better is a complete BS.

moonglum
619 posts
 

I think it depends on the rig that you are using.

A very tolerant cartridge (one renowned for excellent tracking) will make it harder for us to judge an optimal A/S setting (apart from clear visual indications that we’ve gone way over the top with A/S).

Personally I would never use a cart without A/S because it will cause asymmetric wear on the stylus which, eventually, will become a far bigger problem for your records (and listening pleasure) than any cartridge mechanical issue.

If you are comfortable with these caveats then it becomes a matter of individual choice.

Regarding Balance there are many possibilities. For example -

- The cartridge can be naturally unbalanced. (Not severely, one would hope)

- The electronics can be unbalanced.

- The room can be unbalanced.

- Your ears can be unbalanced.

Always check the last one first ;^)

All the best,

almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
A simple method for setting anti-skating that I’ve found to work well, at least with cartridges having medium to high compliance (I have no experience with cartridges having low compliance), and which I’ve found to generally require little if any subsequent fine tuning by ear, is as follows:

1)Observe the cartridge from the front while it is in the groove of a rotating record, and positioned somewhere in the middle of the record.

2)Adjust anti-skating until deflection of the cantilever to one side (left or right) becomes barely perceptible, relative to its position when the stylus is lifted off of the record. Note the setting.

3)Adjust anti-skating until deflection of the cantilever to the other side (left or right) becomes barely perceptible, relative to its position when the stylus is lifted off of the record. Note the setting.

4)Set anti-skating to the mid-point between those settings.

5)Verify that no perceptible left or right deflection of the cantilever occurs near the beginning and near the end of the record.

Regards,
-- Al

fleib
1,124 posts
 

Skating force varies with groove velocity and offset angle and while there might be no perfect setting, it is possible to find an appropriate setting for your situation, and fine tune by ear.

The Almarg method of obversation is appropriate IMO. Just remember AS force is applied to the arm and you generally want the cantilever to be deflected equally toward the outside or inside.  All of the settings effect all the others. Alignment, VTF, SRA/VTA, azimuth, are are all interrelated.

fleib

almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Thanks, Fleib. Your post reminds me that I should have mentioned that the procedure I described should be performed during low volume musical passages, having minimal groove excursions.

Regards,
-- Al

More to discover