Setting anti-skate

My procedure was to buy a linear tracking arm that doesn't have any skating force :-)

However, if you have a pivoting arm I think that the best results are obtained using a test LP that has a highly modulated section designed for testing tracking. Find the antiskating setting that allows the minimum vertical force without mistracking.

Actually, exact setting of the antiskating force is not all that critical. We got along without any for many years. The optimum value varies over the area of the disc, and with modulation of the groove. The penalty for not having the right setting is the need for a slightly higher vertical force.

Dougdeacon...The excess antiskating force during less modulated grooves is trivial compared with the reduction of VTF (acting all the time) required to avoid mistracking.

But, as I remarked way back on 8/8, it is a compromise no matter how you do it, and linear tracking is the way to go.

Dougdeacon...Setting antiskating using a highly modulated groove does make sense. Such a groove is when mistracking will occur. Less modulated grooves will be OK with antiskating a bit high.

The groove modulation variation is small. My eyes aren't that good.

Warjarrett...When using the mistracking approach it is not necessary to identify which channel is having a problem, and, when using a tracking test LP, mistracking is very easy to hear. The blank record does give you a good place to start further adjustments.

Dougdeacon...Of course your vote counts. (But we aren't voting).

Dougdeacon..."I think you're engaging in antiskate overkill". You don't say! But isn't the audiophile hobby one big exercise in overkill? How about VTF scales that read out to 0.01gram?

As I mentioned before, for many years we got along with arms that had no antiskating: VTF had to be a bit higher. We agree that however you set it, antiskating is some kind of average value which works OK over most of the disc area. My research into antiskating adjustments, and all the other critical adjustments of a pivoting arm, led me to use a linear tracking arm, and the one I have does not exhibit the different problems that some say come with linear tracking.