Anti skate and tonearm damping query

Mark: I'm interested specifically in what your thoughts are on antiskating as it relates to stylus profile.

If I'm reading you correctly, elliptical styli should require less antiskate than spherical and line contact should require more than elliptical-please correct me if I'm wrong and misunderstanding your post.

Despite all the reading on (in theory) how little antiskate may actually be needed, I've found that my Denon 103R (with its stock spherical stylus) sounds best with an antiskate setting that is very close to the 2.6 gram tracking force.

I'm in the process of having another 103R retipped with a line contact stylus and am curious as to what, if any, changes I may have to make with antiskate when that cartridge comes back. Would you expect that, like the stock 103R, one retipped with a line contact would require antiskate set to approximate tracking weight? Thanks in advance.

HDM

The reason tonearm manufacturers put a scale on the antiskate corresponding to VTF is that the skate force is directly proportional to VTF, not that it equals VTF.

The constant of proportionality has already been factored in and the manufacturer based this on "average" vinyl composition and a typical contact area.

The difference between your old stylus and your new stylus will depend on the degree of polish on the diamond and the actual area of the contact patch. Note that with line contact styli the actual area changes with VTA so VTA and antiskate interact. BTW This is the only rational explanation of the effects of VTA I know of.

This also shows that even if one confines onesself to the realms of actual verifiable physics the situation "on the vinyl" is quite complex. There is nothing in audio which can't be explained with physics, its just that we haven't worked out all the physics yet. One thing is certain, if an explanation for an effect defies the known laws of physics than that explanation is wrong.

Mark Kelly

Mark, could you walk me through a real life example of Anti_Skate setup with your own arm and cart?

Hi,
funny, talking with my 'learned friends' I find *experiment most ALWAYS precedes scientific explanation...* :-)

I just now proved to myself by simply sliding my SME V arm forward from its ~ 18mm overhang to some more without changing VTF = 1.25g and anti-skate 1 on the arm scale which keeps the arm in balance on the blank area of my test record.

Slide the arm enough forward (increase overhang) and ---- the skate force increase enough to now pull the arm to the centre.

Now let's consider a cart like my Windfeld with more then twice! the VTF (2.6g) and the result should be even more telling.

Greetings,
Axel

Perrew

Unfortunately I can't do that without revealing details of my tonearm's geometry which are not yet ready for publication.

Sorry.

Axelwahl

You have changed the offset angle (because the SME overhang adjustment works by moving the pivot not the cart)

Mark Kelly