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Anti skate and tonearm damping query

I have read a number of threads relating to both antiskating and tonearm damping on the JMW 9" Sig.arm and find myself a bit confused.......I have been experimenting a little and have reached the conclusion that I must be deaf. I have not used the additional antiskating system, I have tried twisting and not twisting the leno wire and can hear no difference. If the Leno wire is not twisted therefore no antiskate, will this damage the stylus or the album??
I have also filled the damping well above the taper to the base of the point and still cannot hear 'the music being sucked out' or indeed, an improvement. Do I fill the well up to the point!! and then work backwards. Those that finetune using the damping seem to have some sort of epiphany when the 'sweet' spot is reached.

Can someone please shed light on how I should be going about setting the AS and finetuning the damping on the arm. The table is a scoutmaster with super platter and sds, the cartridge is the dynavector Te Kaitora Rua

Thanks
wes4390
srwooten's avatar
srwooten
694 posts
 
IMHO the wire on the Signature arm is to stiff for the twisting method to work. I use the VPI anti-skating gizmo with just a bit of anti skate applied and no twist of the wire either way.
wes4390 OP
17 posts
 
Thanks to all for the advice.............I have read that the damping fluid is ineffective unless it is actually in contact with the internal part of the tonearm that sits on the pivot point is this correct? Thinking about it...........this does sound logical, However, it contradicts most of the other comments I have read about damping fluid.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
In general - "skating force" is not linear. It is general with modern styli much less than it used to be in the 1970ies. Several respected tonearm designers (Pierre Lurne, Mortensen, ...) do recommend not using anti-skating at all and for good reason - applying a steady and linear "anti-force" upon a non-linear force is not a good idea at all......

Dampening - if you REALLY need it, the cartridge/tonearm match is less than optimal in terms of its mechanical parameters.
In general - less is more with both issues.
If you apply any dampening fluid, do use as little as possible and do use fluid which is NOT like honey but more like water......
If you apply antiskating at all, do set it as little force as possible - 1/2 of what is recommended by the manual will be enough and more than that.
The higher the VTF - the lower the antiskating !
headsnappin's avatar
headsnappin
295 posts
 
Great posts that are spot on!
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Agree with all the above.

With regard to your question, on most unipivots that offer fluid damping in the bearing well, the fluid must actually touch the upper (movable) portion of the bearing to have much audible effect. Just damping the well isn't going to do much. I haven't played with the damping on a JMW, but if your well is tall enough to allow it, that's the right idea.

That said, I'd heed Nsgarch's sage analysis regarding damping with this particular cartridge/arm combo. Your bass and dynamics response are borderline now. Even a little damping might impair them noticeably.

Of course you could try it and hear for yourself. Just remember, once you've added enough fluid to touch the upper (free) part of the bearing, adjust in TINY amounts. Dertonarm's suggestion to use thinner fluid than what's considered normal makes excellent sense (again, because of your arm/cart combo).
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