Uni-Protractor Set tonearm alignment

@John,

You state all good tonearmas have anti-skating. The VPI 12.7 and 10.5i does not. Are they bad tonearms from your experience? The 10.5i sounds really good to me. I did try the VPI after market anti-skating and it made the sound worse. So I went back to what Harry recommends which is to not use any anti-skating with the 10.5i arm. The music sounds much better this way to me.

Certainly sounds better than my Thorens table which has anti-skating.

Jazzgene,

I have not heard your arm, but if you tell me it's a good arm and you prefer it without antiskate, I believe you.

From the manual it appears that VPI recommend using a higher tracking force than might be otherwise used. In my post I mentioned that downforce contributes to antiskate.

That the wiring can supply some antiskate, depending on how it is dressed, is mentioned too, in the manual. I don't know if you use this procedure, but these are methods of counteracting the skating force, without a specific antiskate device, so in that sense the arm has the means to do it, but you can choose not to use it, as with any arm.

Being longer than a 9" helps to an extent and the specific construction of the arm, being a unipivot, might lead to compensating forces in the rotational mode. The skating force is always present, though.

But if all the above mentioned things together mean you can do without a dedicated mechanical device to supply the antiskate, (spring/ string and weight etc), then that's a good thing, and the designer is to be commended.

@John,

Yes, Harry says in the manual that with every tonearm he's heard, it sounded better without anti-skate and heavier VTF.

The twisting of the cable is a bit "hit and miss". I tried it with a test record and whichever way I twisted it, it increased distortion on the same channel (left). With my oscilloscope and headphones, I confirmed it was the best without any twist in the arm cable. Without a twist, the arm and cartridge (Grado Statement1) tracked perfectly.

Grado recommended 1.7g vtf with the Statement1. I went with 1.8g but in the end, to my ears, 1.9g sounded the best so that is where it is now. Also some damping fluid for the pivot.

Thanks for you response.

Dear Jazzgene,
regarding Antiskating I had the VPI Memorial 12" tonearm and it's a pretty clever construction compensating by the wire. Harry is fully correct, Antiskating is mostly overrated. This has led to extensive usage by tonearm users damaging the carts over years. I am very careful with used carts cause many show signs of desorientation.

best & fun only - Thuchan

Jazzgene,
You said

...Harry says in the manual that with every tonearm he's heard, it sounded better without anti-skate and heavier VTF.

Perhaps so, but there can be issues with this method depending on the cartridge.

The bottom line is that there is a force which tries to rotate the arm inwards and it is a consequence of pivoted arms. It's not my opinion - it's the way it is. The issue is what to do with the fact of it. That then becomes a matter of choice and preference for the designer and the user.