Anti-Skate Weight …. Better sound without it?

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’.

https://houseofstereo.com/products/vpi-industries-anti-skate-mechanism?variant=45117216063637&utm_term=&utm_campaign=**LP+pMax&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4188007760&hsa_cam=19959714947&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21818316948&gbraid=0AAAAACNju70NNIaoFgK9ZRdStGZ6Pu6Jk&gclid=Cj0KCQjwo63HBhCKARIsAHOHV_WCr4_TZBCs_MaGYvZ1rqNbmieWIA1pelNNEcD_aQ22YdQAVGdKJZcaAjtmEALw_wcB

here's my Russian Arm, with original Litz wire soldered in a Junction Box, wonderful, until hum developed because the silk insulation became worn by a design flaw (since fixed). Unbelievably, that's 5 wires, each 37 strands

Here it is rewired by VAS, to a mini-din connector and a VPI Junction Box

I could no longer precisely control anti-skate, like OP, I removed the weight and, by blank side LP observed 'better' without the weight. I discovered, the thicker insulation on the wire was causing 'pushback' but not in a precise, measurable controllable way, it varied as the arm pivoted.

Here is the JVC Victor 7082 arm, with very delicate and precise anti-skate dial on top.

The rear arm is Acos Lustre GST-801, recommended here, it uniquely uses magnetics for tracking force and anti-skate, precisely adjustable, BUT, use tools, the dials are close, but never precisely accurate

Elliot why not hard wire to the junction box? You don’t need the DIN connection, as I’m sure you know.

And to continue to beat this very dead horse, I do not say AS is not needed in the OP’s case. I say his observation suggests there are other sources of an AS force, such as bearing friction and stiff wires that may be supplying sufficient AS force such that when he adds AS via his tonearm’s AS adjuster, the total AS force becomes excessive which causes distortion in the L channel, as he reports. Too much AS would be expected to cause L channel distortion. Too little or no AS causes R channel distortion. It all fits. His choice to set VTF at 1.0g means he needs very little AS, as well. Meantime the OP is enjoying a stiff drink somewhere.

lewm,

I’m going on about it because it is important for people to know: proper alignment/calibration is tricky; re-tippers ’one side worn’ evidence reveals MOST are not getting/keeping it ALL fundamentally correct. OK, now what?

Solution: get the few inexpensive tools I listed above, practice the simple methods until you can do it yourself, get it ALL right. Not perfectionism, but fundamentally correct! Re-check frequently!

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OP’s TT: you may be right, maybe it’s just a sign that it’s time to clean and adjust the bearings! 

Not a job for everyone, another argument for streaming, or sticking with elliptical rather than advanced stylus shapes which require more careful alignment.

My opinion is that the benefits of better cantilever materials and advantages of lighter tracking, and superior imaging from advanced stylus shapes make it imperative to gather the tools and acquire the skills to get superior results.

Solution fits the diagnosis, however It may not be a single, rather a combo of slight mis-alignments, if Azimuth is off this way, what? off that way what" combined with improper null points alignment? 

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I once found a friend’s TT where the platter was not perfectly level with the arm board. He leveled the TT using only the platter, thus the arm post/armwand was slightly out of level. Turned out the TT Drive fasteners were only hand tightened in the deck, the owner forgot to tighten them, which I did and they became level to each other.

I once found a platter that was not properly seated on the spindle, just lifting it off and putting it back on solved it.

Levels: check the arm board, check the deck/plinth, check the platter, make sure they are level to each other. 

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how much friction in the bearings? maybe not this case, but how anyone could not use a dust cover over a beautifully made and assembled tonearm with precision bearings leaves me shaking my head, there should be laws against it!

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mine, mini-din connector or soldered, the wire insulation VAS used is too stiff, and like OP, the ’pushback’ is not precisely controlled. VPI used similar wire that caused 'pushback', too stiff IMO.

I’m was thinking about having VAS put a short section of light/flexible Litz between the connector and the base plate exit hole to eliminate or minimize the ’pushback’, but

I like my JVC Victor 7082 with removable headshell and it’s on the fly VTA and Anti-Skate adjustments, it’s my favorite arm, I highly recommend it, and it is a bargain as it most often has an easily fixed age related problem:

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/12014https://www.audiogon.com/systems/12014

Did you repair yours?

Elliott,

You continue to insinuate that you and only you know what you are talking about and that you and only you are correctly setting up turntables here.  I have been setting up turntables since 1970 when as a college student I went to work in a high end hifi store in Seattle.  I set up TTs all the time.  I continue to learn, make no claims that I know it all.  It is a quest.  But your insistence in this thread that there is no such thing as a correctly set up turntable without need for AS is not accurate.