Anti skating SME V

The behavior described in the OP is normal on any properly set up rig (assuming a pivoting tonearm and an offset cartridge mount).

Fact: when a stylus contacts a spinning LP surface, skating forces immediately act to pull the tonearm inward

Fact: LP's with inward sloping lead-in ramps exacerbate this tendency, since gravity reinforces the skating force

Fact: if these forces are not resisted, the arm will swing inward

Resistance to this inward motion may be provided by:
a) friction between stylus and LP,
b) friction in the tonearm bearings,
c) outward bias applied by the anti-skate mechanism, and/or
d) friction between the tonearm and its cueing support.

Regarding (a), an ungrooved LP surface offers little resistance to inward movement. Stylus-vinyl friction, therefore, does little to impede inward motion until the stylus locks into a groove.

Regarding (b), friction from the arm bearings will be lower on tonearms of higher build quality, so the best tonearms will tend to swing in fastest.

Regarding (c), adjusting anti-skating to compensate for skating forces before the stylus finds the groove will result in excessive anti-skating for in-groove conditions, which is what matters when playing music. Anti-skating should be adjusted to optimize playback, not as a cueing aid.

The solution is to utilize (d) by learning to cue effectively. Don't just flip the cueing lever down and walk away. Maintain control of the stylus until it locks into a groove.

In your own words, you "have to be most careful when lowering the arm to avoid skipping". That's exactly right.

I own an SME V and Doug's explanation above is what I experience. I manually lower the arm very slowly into the lead groove, rarely if ever allowing the arm to leave the cueing support. Once the stylus hits the vinyl and moves into the lead groove, I finish lowering the cueing lever. I use very little anti-skate force and my stylus rarely skips.

Another issue with the SME tables is the washer placed under the LP at the spindle. This raises the LP above the surface of the platter. The record clamp then pushes the LP down (at the edge of the label) as it is tightened resulting in better record/platter contact. However, the inner part of the LP, usually the area after the last lead out groove is sloped up toward the spindle (because of the washer) and this results in the stylus traveling "up hill" at the end. I am not enough of a physicist to know if this effects anti-skate forces.

Audioquest4life: I own an SME IV.Vi arm. It does not have a removable headshell.

@Opus88,

Thanks for the clarification. I always thought that the V series was one of the few with a fixed headshell.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Thanks a lot Dougdeacon and Peterayer, this was great reading.

Audioquest4life: You can get the SME V with a detachable headshell. This will make the arm less rigid of course, but the advantage is you can adjust aziumth (and take of the headshell when mounting a cartridge). Here are som pictures http://www.hifisentralen.no/forum/index.php/topic,21378.660.html