Is my anti-skating too strong.


I’m trying to adjust the alignment of the Ortofon Black Quintet cartridge on my Music Hall mmf 9.3 turntable.  When I put the stylus down on the alignment protractor, the tone arm pulls to the outer edge of the turntable.   Should I disable anti skating when doing alignment or is it set too strong?  Obviously haven’t done this too often.
Also, when listening to the anti skating track on The Ultimate Analogue Test LP, there is noticeable distortion at the end of the track which indicates too much or too little anti skating.  Any guidance here?
udog

Showing 2 responses by audioguy85

You should NOT have the antiskate on or connected while making alignment adjustments. That is last step. In adjusting your anti skate, find a record with lots of dead wax near the label. Place stylus in the dead wax and watch how quickly or slowly the stylus moves toward the label/spindle. It should move gracefully, not too quickly and not too slowly. Usually the recommended position on the rod will coincide with your cartridge tracking force. The very outer rung is the most antiskating, while the rung nearest to the pivot is the least. So, you only have three options as there are only three rungs to hang the fishing line from.

Also, listen for distortion in right and left speaker...if your hearing it in the right, you have too much antiskating...if in left, you have too little...
Congrats on the music hall 9.3, great choice! I love my 7.3, was going to get the 9.3 but I did not like the overall look of cutout for motor, whereas on the 7.3 it looks better thought out. Of course yours is a step up from the 7.3 sound wise. As far as antiskate, disconnect fishing line from post when aligning cartridge. You only have three choices for antskate on that table. The most inner is the least amount, the outer is the most. Set stylus down on a record with lots of dead wax near label. Watch how the arm moves toward spindle, it should move slow and steady, not too quickly. When you see the slow and steady you are where you should be. Like I said, you only have 3 settings to choose from.