Anti-Skate Weight …. Better sound without it?

use your ears

this LP, this day, this random set of settings (some right, some not so right), IOW, I like this set of imprecision better than ......

repeat:

lack of anti-skate should be a problem, not a fix.

You need to start from zero, check everything

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level, where?

platter could be seated (this time) on the spindle ever so imprecisely

azimuth could be off

overhang could be wrong

vta could be off

alignment for two null points could be off

dials do not result in accuracy, so how much TF and how much AS do you really have?

tonearm wires could be exerting imprecise force

any single or combo of slight imprecisions could create a situation where ____ sounds better.

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Once you have confidence in your system’s balance using the CD Version

After you have triple-checked other calibrations using tools, not dials

lastly Use Your Ears

with the LP Version of the 3 guitarists I linked above. Those last 2 tracks are incredibly revealing, and you will be amazed as you move John left of/center/right of, and Paco and Al equalize solidly L and solidly R when you get John in the middle.

You must know the imaging, these guys are not off-center or walking around on the stage like some vocalists do, that’s why you want to use the CD version to KNOW the imaging, to prove your system L/R balance is correct, BEFORE using your LP version.

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junk in the pocket of the suspension/cantilever joint could be effecting

Note: VAS found magnetic dust in the suspension recess of one of mine, I realized I had put it upside down on top of my workbench in my shop, it has carpet tiles, brushed clean, but the magnet in the cartridge had sucked up nearly invisible metal dust in the carpet. That’s why I like this 30x mirror to view the tip, cantilever, and suspension frequently, not just the tip.

30x Mirror, Keep on TT below resting Cartridge

 

"azimuth could be off

overhang could be wrong

vta could be off"

All of the above are possibly true but would any of those errors generate an effective anti-skating force? Overhang and VTA might effect the magnitude of the skating force by a little, because such errors would marginally effect the size or angle of the contact surfaces between stylus and groove walls, thereby affecting the friction force that generates skating, and very incorrect azimuth would cause problems of its own.

Elliott,

Everything you suggest is true, and yet I know because I have been using AnalogMagik to set up turntables of late that antiskate is not as big a factor as you think it is.  In fact Harry Weisfeld, founder of VPI Industries, has said for years that  antiskate is not necessary at all.  Using AnalogMagik I have discovered that he is correct, at least on some tonearm/cartridge combinations.  There is no one size fits all answer when it comes to antiskate.  It is a complex factor in total set up.  Also, in the total scheme of all of the variables that contribute to how any given tonearm/cartridge combination performance is optimized, my experimentation using AnalogMagik so far, leads me to think it is perhaps the least important of any variable.  Bear in mind that what AnalogMagik is measuring is distortion.  So when I advised the OP to use his ears, that is the basis for my advice.  It is not frivolous as you seem to imply and it is based on science not on third party anecdote.  I would like to conclude by saying that antiskate is one factor and in certain tonearm/cartridge combinations it can be important, but it should be kept in balance with the other factors, namely VTF and VTA, and Overhang to ensure optimal performance.   It must be emphasized, too, it is not always necessary.

This poor thing has been beaten into puree.

billstevenson with the latest technical tools available, summed it up...what do you hear?

Particularly on lower tier gear- if it sounds "right" go with it.

Obsess/fuss is for Uber $$ setups.