VPI non-Anti Skate Q

lewm,

You remind me of a lot of us when we were young engineers, all striving for exactness in our solutions for every problem.  As you know, with experience we learn that often the solution involves approaching the final point without ever reaching it.  Why calculus was invented.  I used to preach to my wards the need for practicality and to learn the fine art of satisficing.  When it comes to things vinyl, exactness is particularly elusive.  The subject of the "correct setting" for Anitskate is perhaps Exhibit #1.  One of the things that I have observed using AnalogMagik is that the distortion changes for a given AS setting from the beginning of the band on the test record to the end of that band.  The band is perhaps 1/2" wide and is the innermost band on the side.  So do I set AS for the beginning, the middle, or the end of the test band?  What is the "correct setting" for AS.  I do not know for sure.  What I do, arbitrarily, is pick the setting that yields the lowest overall value for distortion that is repeatable. 

I have a VPI Prime Signature 21. I called VPI and talked to Matt about anti-skate. He was like "whatever you want to do." I finally set the weights to about half way and I look to see if when I lift the tonearm it moves back a little. Otherwise, I've given up. I have done various tests, like listening to see if one speaker sounds louder than the other, using a blank record to see if I can slow down the tone arm from racing toward the center (couldn't), set the weights at full and gave two twists to the wire. I just want to enjoy my music, so I've given up that struggle. I do love the turntable, though. 

@lewm 

You know, for other’s following: it’s the horizontal wheel at the top of the arm.

I am guessing, by the precise feel of the rotation and tiny sensation of clicks, that it’s a very delicate spring (the other immobile end of the spring, due to the increased tension caused by anti-clockwise coiling, pushes out to a speck or a speck more, and, at any degree of tension, maintains that outward push, and is

not effected by rotation or lift of the arm on it's bearings.

however I don’t know that, and I am definitely not taking that mechanism apart.

Anybody know what’s in there, how it works?

I'm literally shocked!   A very large amount of feedback is not related to the main subject!

@mard 

were you just being funny?

"VPI", you got several responses

"protection from damage to both LP and stylus"

Many of us answer not only the OP, but consider that others are following along, and ’in addition to anti-skate’ point out our experiences/opinions, all of which relate to damage to both LP and stylus.