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Harry Weisfeld Was Right All Along

I'll admit that I was skeptical when I heard Harry Weisfeld of VPI say that his JMW tonearm sounded better without any antiskating device a few years ago. All the arguments for antiskating compensation seemed plausible if not undeniable.

But today, I've seen the light. I own a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch Act 0.5 arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge. I dialed everything in, but still had the compunction to fiddle around with something so I removed the funky anti-skate weight from the WB. Not only does the arm behave much better (no annoying, backswing when indexing), but it actually sounds better to my ears. Smoother, more dynamic, less etched/more natural are the changes I hear. I wonder how many other arm/cartridge combinations would benefit from eschewing their anti-skate mechanisms.

While I originally thought that Harry Weisfeld was simply making excuses, in reality, he was probably just being honest. I'm sure the twisty-wire approach he now uses is a good way to implement anti-skating for those who must have it.
plato

Showing 1 response by bifwynne

bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Ralph (Atmasphere) ... I own a VPI Classic with a 10.5 inch uni-pivot wand. I use one rubber donut on the JMW arm AS thingy. I can't say that using that dribble of AS force makes much of a difference in sound playback.

The only reason I use the AS is because Peter Ledermann told me that the stylus on my Zephyr cartridge (my previous primary carty) was showing uneven wear. Peter suggested a little AS to even out the wear pattern.

My current primary cartridge is the Lyra Kleos, a truly wonderful performer. I still use the one donut, but again, not to tweak the sound, but rather to make a rough justice attempt to even out stylus wear.

Just an anecdotal experience FWIW for the benefit of fellow A'gon members.
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