Ancient AR Turntable with NO anti skate

stringreen

Anti skate is such a low force that it is inconsequential..most part theoretical. Actually no antiskate sounds better than yes a/s.

Certainly, many listeners prefer no antiskate, although I'm not one of them. However, to claim that antiskate force is so low as to be inconsequential is mistaken, imo. When antiskate force is considered in relation to VTF and effective tonearm mass, it is significant indeed - even if you prefer to avoid its use.

This discussion comes and goes on every analog forum.  Stringreen has not changed his opinion, which is his right.  But I have to agree with cleeds; the skating force does exist for every pivoted tonearm, whether we like it or not.  I don't have any idea why some tonearms seem to sound fine with no AS applied and others do not.  In some cases (VPI) the routing of the tonearm wires may in and of itself provide some degree of AS force such that lack of a formal mechanism for AS is not missed. At least that is a popular hypothesis.  Many cartridge makers and repairers have also remarked that they see styli with irregular wear patterns, where the cartridge was used for a prolonged period of time in a tonearm without AS.  The skating force is like global warming; it's there all the time, whether one chooses to compensate for it or not. 

rotarius,

I agree with your statement and have always used antiskate  I am just surprised that the AR tonearm didn't appear to need it.  I could see no discernible skating, which I can easily see when I remove the antiskate from my tonearms.

And, to my surprise the old AR sounded very good.

N.

Well, you could purposely not level the TT such that the tonearm drifts in the outward direction when zero balancing the arm.  That can help get by without a bias mechanism.  If everything is correctly set-up and the tonearm bearings don't produce a drag, I have always found a channel imbalance without a bias force.

Norman,

There are many considerations we're aware of today that were not well known or appreciated in the 1950s and early '60s.  

Another example was cartridge alignment (overhang and offset).  While some engineers studied this even pre-WW2, it did not become more broadly known until the mid-late '70s after an article by Mitch Cotter was published in "The Audio Critic".  That magazine may have elicited concerns for other reasons but credit is due for raising awareness to the importance of proper cartridge alignment.

In spite of such limitations, some older tables such as the AR-XA are still capable of providing a satisfying musical experience, just as you learned.