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VPI Scoutmaster - Anti-skate again..

Hi,
I'm sure this has been covered, but I couldn't find it...

As we all know, the coiled wire of the JMW-9 tonearm provides anti-skate force naturally, and is seen by VPI as preferable to any mechanical implementation.

VPI now provides a mechanical anti-skate with the Scoutmaster turntable. It is supplied but not installed. VPI still stands by their original position on anti-skate.

Now, for my experience.

I started without the use of the mechanical anti-skate. Listening, backed up by the Hi-fi+ test LP, convinced me that more anti-skating force was needed. I twisted the lemo connector counter-clockwise to apply more force, but I didn't notice any difference.

I then implemented the mechanical anti-skate. I found by visual inspection and confirmed with the test LP that, even at the lowest setting, far too much anti-skating force was now being applied.

Listening tests with the mechanical anti-skate engaged were a mixed bag. I found the image to be more centered, rather than leaning to the right, but I also noticed a loss of fine detail. For instance, when a fast sequence of plucked guitar notes were played, each note stood out more independently WITHOUT the mechanical anti-skate. With the anti-skate engaged the notes smear together slightly.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I am hoping to find a solution that will enable me to focus the image better and not lose any detail. It seems to me that I need a way to provide a little more anti-skate, but not a lot more. (and I am slightly baffled as to why the lemo twist method seemed to have no effect whatsoever.)

Cheers.

Tom
tfkaudio
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,404 posts
 
I went through the process with my Scout/Dyna 20XH and, like you, found that the wire twist was not enough to handle the HFNRR test disc, though I thought the table sounded just fine to my ear. But the neurotic audiophile that sometimes rears his ugly head caused me to get the mechanical system to see if it would allow clear sailing on the test disc and potentially cause the sound to improve. Installed with the wire located midway up the shaft my arm/cartridge now tracks all but the last groove beautifully (and even the last one buzzes only some). As to the sound--I really don't hear a difference. So......it was an interesting exercise that, to my ears, left me in the same place (unless I break out my test disc for some really great "tones").
tfkaudio OP
591 posts
 
Dodgealum,
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "Installed with the wire located midway up the shaft...". Which wire? Which shaft?

Cheers.
sberger
146 posts
 
if you're having image problems it could very well be you need to play with azimuth on your arm. the jmw9 is sensitive to this. for the record, my image is rock solid center, although when i haven't it's always been an azimuth problem.
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,404 posts
 
The mechanical anti-skate has a thin piece of fishing line that attaches to arm opposite the one with the weight at the base. This arm has about five spaced indents meant to catch the fishing line so you can adjust the amount of anti-skate force being exerted. On my setup the fishing line is on the middle indent therefore providing about 50% of the amount of anti-skate available. Hope this makes sense.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I don't have a JMW, but Tfkaudio's description of sonic murkiness with VPI's new AS device exactly mirrors what we hear if we set AS too high on our rig. Excess lateral pressure from the arm inhibits free movement in the cantilever/coil relationship, which dulls dynamics.

The solution is less AS, though how you'd implement that on a JMW is beyond me. Is there some way to put a lighter weight on the string or change the position of the fulcrum?

P.S. If you're using HFN&RR side 1/tracks 6-9 to set AS, don't just increase AS until you "pass" the highest track possible. That will result in AS being too high for real music. Skating force varies as the arm traverses the record, so using one (unrealistically dynamic) track located on the innermost grooves will skew your results.

A better way to set AS with that record is to equalize buzzing on the three widely-spaced "tracking test" tracks on side 2. This method achieves a reasonable compromise AS setting across the entire record.

The best way to set AS is to throw the HFN&RR record away. Do what Tfkaudio is doing: listen to music and adjust to maximize channel balance and center imaging while minimizing murkiness.
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