Anti skate. I think something's wrong

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,

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