Antiskating .... The last analog secret

Stiltskin
I have a phantum also and I cannot get the antiskating to set anywhere near i feel it should be. I use the Denom Omnidisc. I have used it with all my other arms and it worked great but it just does not work on the phantum. I cannot get the distortion to stop coming from the left channel first no matter where I put the anti skating weight. My others arms included SME S type and the IV also the Graham 2.2 that worked great with the denon disk.

I cannot get the distortion to stop coming from the left channel first no matter where I put the anti skating weight.

Start by taking the AS weight off altogether. AS on top level arms and carts should be started at "zero". Adjust upward only if necessary to eliminate RIGHT channel mistracking, in TINY increments.

If you get L channel mistracking first with AS adjusted to zero, something besides AS is causing it, as I noted in my second post above dated 12-19-08 (step number 5.C).

Get rid of that Phantom piece of junk and buy yourself a Rega :-)

Nsgarch, I've always thought the line contact styli have a greater contact area than the elliptical ones. Greater contact area means more friction (although the pressure/area unit is less).

Dazz, sometimes Physics can be maddeningly counter-intuitive, can't it?! The amount of skating force produced is directly proportional to the friction developed between the stylus and the vinyl. Since the contact area of a conical/elliptical stylus is essentially zero, the VTF divided by zero = infinity. Therefore the skating force (in theory ;-) should also be infinity (which it isn't ;-) but the psi is still much higher than that of a line-contact stylus, which 'spreads' the VTF over a calculable area.

In addition to the contact-area-vs-friction issue is this point: assuming the SRA is properly set http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1140840022&openmine&Nsgarch&4&5&st0 a line-contact stylus will 'lock' into the groove for effortless (in theory ;-) tracing. Conical and elliptical styli kind of 'skip across the high points' of the groove modulations (I'm exaggerating for illustration ;-) which adds additional friction.

If you ever have a chance to watch an earlier model Shure MM cartridge (like a V-15 Type II) and see how much the cantilever deflects, even at one gram VTF, you'll understand where the AS = VTF standard came from.

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I think, this thread is essential for every analog enthusiast.
All of us want to do the things right, but it can go a frustrating route.
Antiskate is such a miracle. Lots of test records out there, but in a way they can be useless. This cartridge is a proof for trying to do it right and it went wrong. The side force can be very strong and when the cart. is new, the suspension is soft and sensitive. After some months it will deform and the story is over.
What amazed me, when I saw the cartridge is that excessive cantilever tilt...

This cartridge is on the way back to the manufacturer for a complete rebuild.