Anti-Skate dial-How to set it? + a bonus question

A cartridge's ability to track correctly depends on a number of things, however the range of acceptable VTF is very small. To set the VTF at "what seems like a light force" is madness. There may be legitimate reason to change VTF to suit a particular record, but get a good scale and experiment with the VTF within the range recommended by the manufacturer. Most cartridges cannot track correctly at the low end of this range except on the very best tonearms. Set it too light and the stylus cannot maintain solid contact with the groove. The stylus can then bounce around causing groove damage. It's better to be a little too heavy than a little too light.

While some on here have said that they change the TRACKING ANGLE for different records, even writing the correct angle on the jacket, I don't remember anyone changing the force. I was suggesting you set the anti skate by ear if you want to use it; too little being preferable to too much IMHO. There is little about LP playback that is agreed upon; look at Vinyl Engine for more info on arm set up and proper geometry etc.

Q1)IMO a good starting point for anti-skating adjustment, which can then be further optimized by listening, can be determined by observing the cartridge from the front as it is lowered onto a ROTATING record, and adjusting the setting such that the cantilever deflection to the left or right, if any, is the same when the stylus is in the groove as when it is not. Since the setting may vary at different points on the record, perform this check at several points and find the best compromise.

Based on my experience with older turntables I suspect that the numerical value of the setting that is found in that manner, as indicated on the anti-skate dial scale, will be in the rough vicinity of 60% of the value of the tracking force.

Q2)I second the caution about the possibility of groove damage if VTF is set too light. Usually some value towards the upper end of the range suggested by the cartridge manufacturer is best.

Q3)I don't.

Best regards,
-- Al

Stanwal said:

I would just get a Shure mechanical one; I have found the digital ones unreliable and prone to failure.

I have had both mechanical and electronic. I have bought electronic ones off ebay which didn't cost much and proved accurate enough and reliable.

Also regarding accuracy of anti-skate, Stanwal also said:

Some quite good arms did not have the anti skate calibrated correctly; the Grace 707 provided twice the necessary force if I remember. I would start with the minimum and slowly increase it if you think it necessary. Most of the time I use none at all; I have never even installed the AS part of my Graham 2.2.

So I'm not sure what he regards as the "correct" or "necessary" force.

Similarly for vtf if it is too light you risk mistracking, so most would advocate more rather than less.

Yet with no anti-skate mistracking is a distinct risk on the right channel, yet this is often recommended.

However, it is not the case that

No matter where you set it it will be wrong for most of the record anyway.

This is a common fallacy. To counteract the skating force you need around 20% of down force, in real terms (most calibrated arms use a scale which may attempt to provide this or another value, but is marked to correspond with VTF)

This anti-skate may indeed never be exactly correct, and might vary by a few per cent either way across the record. But using no anti-skate means leaving a residual skating force of much greater magnitude than the above error. If using no anti-skate sounds better, that doesn't mean skating forces don't exist. That is another question, and assumes that with a zero setting there is no drag in the internal wiring or other hidden outward acting forces, which can easily be the case with arms using insufficiently fine wire, especially if it doesn't exit as close as possible to the pivot.

Almarg wrote:

a good starting point for anti-skating adjustment, which can then be further optimized by listening, can be determined by observing the cartridge from the front as it is lowered onto a ROTATING record, and adjusting the setting such that the cantilever deflection to the left or right, if any, is the same when the stylus is in the groove as when it is not.

My question for Almarg is: what, precisely, do I see when I am looking for "stylus deflection"?