How To Control The Eager Beaver

Have fun with that. The precise proper amount of AS will be different for different LPs and certainly even for different musical passages on any single LP. So, when you set it for Friday Night at SF, it may be correct for parts of that particular LP. Since the skating force varies with the composition of the vinyl and the complexity of the musical passage and with tracking angle error (TAE) and zenith error, not to mention with VTF and stylus shape, and since the magnitude of TAE varies in a somewhat predictable manner across the LP surface, the best one can hope for is to be precisely correct at two points on the LP surface, because the changes in TAE magnitude with respect to the distance from outer to inner grooves roughly describes a parabola, any constant amount of AS will at best intersect a parabola at two moments during play.

This may be just my tainted observation, but my tangential player tracks warps just fine...  Now, this could be a pleasant side effect from not needing anti-skate required with a pivoting arm.

Any thoughts?  Curious minds, all that....

Pre-thanks, J 

My only thought is that "just fine" is not quantitative.  Most of us would say the same for our pivoted tonearms.  Anyway, you raise an interesting question: what difference does it make tracking warps with a pivoted vs a tangential tonearm? Why would skating force and the application of AS make any difference?  Answer for me is I don't know.

@lewm 

When you wrote AS I read A$.

There should be no skating force with a linear tracking (tangential) tone arm, except some side force has to drag it across the record. I am somewhat familiar with the Holbo deck which has both an air-bearing for the tone arm and another for the platter.

@asvjerry

Traversing a vertical warp momentarily increases the tracking force, then decreases it as the stylus goes downhill.  With a pivoted tone arm, the skating force is proportional to the tracking force.  In the extreme when the stylus gets airborne, it will be pulled away from the center by the anti-skating device, which tangential tracking arms do not need

No, you are correct, RB, there should be no skating force with a tangential tracker.  The only side force would be to overcome any friction in the carriage, and there is always some of that, which is why the best LT tonearms in my opinion float the carriage on an air bearing.

And you've answered the question.  Warps throw the balance of skating force vs AS out of whack, momentarily. I'd never thought to worry about that, so I won't start now.