Gradys, I like the Clearaudio. I can't comment on how it pairs with the 868, since this is the first TT I've had in over 25 years. But it is nicely made, and once you get past Germans trying to write instructions in English (there were some very odd things in the set up manual- the "there should now be no air in the bearing"- really threw me for a loop), the set up isn't as bad as advertised for Clearaudio rigs of the past. Very solidly built. The Innovation line is a big step up from what I have, and the 868 allows you the option of your choice of MM or MC. I think it would sound pretty sharp.
Stefan, I don't think the distributor was debating that there is some skating force. His contention was that anti-skate doesn't do much as far as letting the stylus sit properly in the groove and contributes to wobble. I do know that on my TT, the anti-skate was causing an issue. If you raise the tonearm with the arm riser, and it pivots back towards the periphery of the record, then there's clearly too much anti-skate force being applied, and I was using the absolute minimum the rig would allow.
Another interesting point he made was that tracking force guidelines- the standard 2.2-2.6 grams- is an absolute minimum. He stated that a tracking force of 3 grams is minimum for the cartridge I have (which is based on the Denon DL-103), and that something closer to 4-4.5 grams is optimal. Something about that if manufacturers used the latter numbers as the standard, they were getting too many calls about damaged cantilevers and styli. Just more food for thought.....
Stefan, I don't think the distributor was debating that there is some skating force. His contention was that anti-skate doesn't do much as far as letting the stylus sit properly in the groove and contributes to wobble. I do know that on my TT, the anti-skate was causing an issue. If you raise the tonearm with the arm riser, and it pivots back towards the periphery of the record, then there's clearly too much anti-skate force being applied, and I was using the absolute minimum the rig would allow.
Another interesting point he made was that tracking force guidelines- the standard 2.2-2.6 grams- is an absolute minimum. He stated that a tracking force of 3 grams is minimum for the cartridge I have (which is based on the Denon DL-103), and that something closer to 4-4.5 grams is optimal. Something about that if manufacturers used the latter numbers as the standard, they were getting too many calls about damaged cantilevers and styli. Just more food for thought.....