Anti-skating- test records vs. ears

Dear Schubert....it's a fair point. Beats the hell out of arguing about it. Or you could use an MMIII which doesn't even need the 2g! ;^)

I get the strong feeling you could put that cartridge in the worst turntable/tonearm combination you could find and the cart would do all the work for you(!) :)

Just a shame I got strange resonance issues (reactions to pinchwarps) with it on 20% of pressings using a gimballed arm. Never tried the MMIII on the Phantom but I'd like to...
It only has about 100 hrs on the clock. :)

Moonglum... If on the 12th track, your cartridge is buzzing, it is set up wrong. I suspect all of the cuts would sound better with more vtf...but.... clearly you can't be talked to....all I said is to test your cartridge and see if it works better with or without. I have a Benz LPS....I can tell you that it works better without. I don't care if you or anyone else uses a/s...I can tell you that I don't. Perhaps another cartridge (I'm thinking of an Atlas) does require it...I'll let you know when I get it, after I compare.

Dear Stringreen,
I don't think you understand. If I adjust A/s for the test disc alone, at low-mid VTF (e.g. 1.759g) I can perfectly track the 12db band and (almost) perfectly track the 14db - and get a reasonably clean result on the 15db and 16db bands. ;^)
(Cartridge spec VTF range is 1.7-1.8g btw)

I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with this but it is completely irrelevant because I'm more interested in lower amplitude music signals?

Would you care to describe how your rig performs on those bands with or without A/S AT AVERAGE VTF? (Please tell us what the VTF setting is for your given cart and its max/min spec? It will give us an idea of your capability and show us how a really well set up rig performs?)
Many thanks...

There is no conflict here regarding anti skate. Stringreen doesn't use it, others do. If you use no antiskate you need more vtf, and you also compromise stylus and record wear. But if you prefer that, then fine.

Similarly you can always say you prefer tracking at half or twice the recommended VTF, or with your speakers pointing backwards. That will not change the fact that you are compromising something, while preferring something else.

I don't have a problem with those who don't use antiskate. Only those who deny the existence of the reasons for using it.

Stringreen said, "Mosin....I wonder if you increased the vtf by a bit, if you would come up with the same results."

No, I didn't. I tried that, but the only way to obtain a proper wave for each channel was by adjusting the antiskate.

One thing to consider is that when antiskate is off, it can not only affect tracking because of lateral pull, but when using a unipivot arm, it is possible for it to affect azimuth. My case may have been exasperated by that.