Jack, it is my understanding that the skating force is not equal across the entire stylus path from lead in to lead out... plus, even if one were to consider doing what you suggest, any sprung table, or any unipivot arm, would use the same forces of gravity to try to “correct” the tilt you intentionally created. I could be wrong, but..
Does removing anti-skating really improve sound?
I know this topic has been discussed here before, but wanted to see if others have the same experience as me. After removing the fishing line dangling weight from my tonearm I’m convinced my bass and soundstage has opened up. I doing very careful listening with headphones and don’t hear any distortion or treble harshness. So why use anti-skating at all? Even during deep bass/ loud passages no skipping of tracks. Any thoughts from all the analog gurus out there?
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Lewm, I know the numbered value dials you refer to (I’m kinda *from* the good old days ;) ). The Rega arm has a few detents in the antiskate lever which represent 0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0 (iirc), and the manual suggests choosing the value that represents your cartridge’s downforce. I fiddled with the lever on his arm until it behaved as I described in my post. It ended up being between the lowest and second lowest values on that lever for a cartridge with a 2.1 g downforce. |
Jack, The stylus travels in an arc with the pivot point of the tonearm at its center (not a straight line). Tilting the turntable is about the same as hanging an anti-skate weight on a string, to pull the tonearm toward the spindle (as is done with many tonearms), but it raises other issues of wear and distortion, so I wouldn't advise doing it. (You'd have to tilt the TT very precisely toward the spindle, and you'd be guessing at the resulting anti-skate force.) |
lewm Tilting the turntable is about the same as hanging an anti-skate weight on a string, to pull the tonearm toward the spindle ... You’d have to tilt the TT very precisely toward the spindle, and you’d be guessing at the resulting anti-skate force.No, this is mistaken. If you tilt the turntable towards the spindle, you’re not creating an anti-skating force at all. Rather, you’re adding to the existing skating force. I do agree with @lewm that tilting a turntable to apply anti-skate doesn’t sound like good idea. It raises possible wear and other issues, and wouldn’t be as precise as a good pickup arm’s anti-skate mechanism. |
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