2. analog
  3. 152993-96030

HELP! Technics SL1200GR/Benz Glider Anit-Skate Setting High

I just mounted a Benz Micro Glider on a LPGear Pro Headshell which looks like the standard Technics headshell but is not up to the same quality as an original and I think is lighter.

When I first mounted it, I couldn't set the VTA correctly because the cartridge height was too low.  I had a plastic "angled" shim that I had from an old Dual DD turntable I had in the late '70's.

I installed that and was able to get the vta set OK.

But, when playing, I noticed that if I set the stylus down at the end of the last song on a side it would just fly into the label area.  I usually set the anti-skate at about 10 below the tracking force.  For the Glider the tracking force was set at 1.9 so I set the A/S at 1.  I kept increasing it until the cartridge would not fly into the label.  I ended up at 3 (the max.) A/S force.

I've never had this happen before.

I tried adding weight to the headshell and resetting everything and the anti-skate setting doesn't change still high.

I've often read many times that people usually have the A/S set too high even when they have it set to the same value as the tracking force.  Mine is set at least 10 higher?

Any ideas?

Thanks, Nick
nicktheknife
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
This is what i expected, if the problem is the last track on Hi-Fi Test LP then you don't have to worry about it, the real music does not have such high groove modulation. Maybe your previous tonearm was better match for your MC cartridge. But again if your cartridge does not skip on REAL MUSIC then everything is fine! 

You can put 10 cartridges on Hi-Fi Test LP and only few of them can pass the last track without skipping. A high compliance cartridge will do that easily, but a low compliance cartridge simply can't do that. This is the hardest groove modulation. 
nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 
There's four bands on the HiFi News test record for anti-skate.

Most cartridge/arm combos I've used had been able to get through the first three but none were able to make it thru the fourth band.

The Benz can only get through two without putting the a/s adjuster up to 3.  Maybe the Technics arm isn't the ideal match for the Glider but so far it sounds good.  I'll listen for awhile to see if I hear any mistracking or other anomalies.

As I said earlier,  I'd like to get a better headshell with azimuth adjustment to see if that would make a difference.

If it doesn't do anything well, at least I'll have a spare headshell of decent quality.
lewm
13,268 posts
 
Sounds like your AS is at least connected and working.  Like Chak said, I wouldn't worry about what is happening with the test LP, if you are happy with the music.  There are other things that can cause mistracking which are unrelated to skating force or its correction.  If you keep increasing AS, eventually I would think you'd hear problems in the L channel.
nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 
Thanks to all who have posted suggestions.  I feel a lot better now just playing and listening to music instead of agonizing over the anti-skate setting.  So far everything at least sounds fine so I'll leave it at that.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I could never get benz cartridges to track worth a damn.  Horrible and I used lots.  Now I have a Lyra Delos and no more problems.
More to discover