Antiskating .... The last analog secret

Nope, no AS and no AS mechanism still works best for me. Chimes, bells, woodblocks, cymbals, etc. sound clear and even have better timbre. However, as I was clearing the driveway today it suddenly occurred to me that it is well below freezing and the relative humidity is very low. I see about 20%. Indoors. I think I'll be revisiting this in the spring. ;-)

Dan so sorry to hear about the cold in your part of the woods. Smoking our New Years turkey today the temp was mid 40s early but made it up to the mid 60s by noon.

On the subject of AS as i have stated above going slow and moving small there is a difference and its quite audible. The brass washer i was using weighs in at 37 grams. I took that off and had just the lever only on TP. Then i went to rubber rings three of them at this point for a grand total of 25 grams. Listening to a very dynamic LP last night Captain Beyonds first the size of my stage has increased along with much better balance and depth. My wife calls it surround sound and if you did not know better you would think i had 5.1 playing. Ive been having a lot of fun making these adjustments and so far its paying off very well for better sound in my system.

Happy New Year to all of you analog lovers.
Mike

Hi Mike,

I haven't smoked a turkey myself in about 25 years. Enjoy! What I'd really enjoy is a properly fried turkey, but that is way too much hassle.

I hope you left out a decimal point. ;-) My stock Triplnar AS weight only weighs 3.9 grams. When I used my little plug of hardwood and 3 o-rings the combined weight was still just less than a gram.

My reference to the local weather was meant as a possible explanation as to why you and I would find such a difference in AS 'cus I don't doubt that you know what you are hearing. I have no idea what Doug has settled on, but if he, Paul and I are still on a like track the difference in weather between New England and New Orleans may help explain things. Also for Nsgarch as I seem to remember he lives in Arizona (?), but he also uses a different arm as well as a different cartridge.

Happy New Year to you as well!

We're on the same track as you Dan, I've removed the entire AS mechanism from the arm, back to the bearing frame, and noted a small improvement.

Also agree with your observations about the weather and its effects. VTF requirements correlate with changes in temperature and humidity. So do AS requirements.

This is predictable from the natural behavior of elastomeric polymers (and thanks to Paul, who did predict it) and was the reason I began experimenting with extremely low AS in the first place. Our results might resemble Stltrain's if we lolled about in warmer climes like his!

Yes, I do live in AZ (Tucson) however the temp/humidity may or may not affect the suspension material depending on what it is (hopefully the cartridge designer/maker chose a modern polymer) but temperature will definitely affect the magnitude of the skating force because it's a factor in the coefficient of friction (between the stylus and the vinyl.) I question though how much a summer/winter temperature difference would make because it would have to represent a small percentage of the heat generated at the contact point itself. The only place for the heat to go is into the vinyl itself and I have no idea how ambient temperature affects vinyl as a thermal conductor. However, I guess as long as it's cool enough to maintain its shape and not warp, it could absorb friction heat.

There are some vinyl connoisseurs who recommend an interval of "rest" for the vinyl before repeat plays. Personally, I never found myself wondering how long it might take for my grooves to 'cool down' (as I proceed to play the same track over and over again ;-)