Anti-Skate Weight …. Better sound without it?

What this probably means is that the anti-skate set by your tonearm is inaccurately calibrated; if it sounds better without the weight it is probably adding too great an anti-skate force. The only way to correct for that is to not rely on the the calibration, but on the effect it has. That means either an ungrooved disc (most say this is unreliable) or something like a Wally Skater.

Are those who always advocate using no anti-skate already biased?

I would think they are, by definition, unbiased!

One is always “using” an amount of AS equal to the horizontal component of friction in the pivot bearings plus any additional resistance to free rotation of the pivot provided by the tonearm wires. There’s no such thing as zero AS.

Trust me on this, stop reading all these words and trust what your own ears are telling you.  Always realize that in the final analysis your ears are the most important factor in deciding what is best.  Forget all the expert opinions, you are your own best counselor here. 

@whyrichard  I too have the Musichall 9.1. Soundsmith Zephyer cart . Counter weight set at  20. I think thats 2 grams.

My MoFi and Analog Production lps sound great. 

I always wondered about counter weight. I admit its time to recheck all settings, but the tonearm pulls away from platter when I lift and move it to its rest. A bad design with a narrow lifter. If Im not careful and tonearm goes past rest it will fall off lifter onto plinth. I never thought of not using cc. 

Do you have this too? 

I think what his ears are telling him is that the AS force generated by horizontal plane friction at the pivot of his tonearm plus stiffness of tonearm wiring is sufficient AS force for his cartridge tracking at VTF of 1g.  When he adds deliberate AS using the adjuster on his tonearm, he then has too much AS which causes distortion in the L channel.  That's just one explanation for his report. He does not tell us how much AS he is adding when he adds the effect of the tonearm AS device, but it doesn't matter. Yes, he could have been satisfied with his own observations. (He could have believed what his ears were telling him.)