Anti-Skate Weight …. Better sound without it?

"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.

lewm, bill

I’m saying the elimination of anti-skate, in this current setup, might be ’removing’ distortions caused by other imperfections,

IOW, yes, in this situation, eliminating it is helping, but IF it’s removal helps, something else is wrong!

bill

Anti-Skate lets me move the imaging of those 3 guitarists while listening, proving both it’s need and it’s worth, and the improvement to imaging of ANY and ALL content is thus improved. That is far more important than the amount of distortion that may be measurable or not

VPI arms started without providing for anti-skate, pure negligence IMO, then later added a gizmo to ’add it’.

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