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Harry Weisfeld Was Right All Along

I'll admit that I was skeptical when I heard Harry Weisfeld of VPI say that his JMW tonearm sounded better without any antiskating device a few years ago. All the arguments for antiskating compensation seemed plausible if not undeniable.

But today, I've seen the light. I own a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch Act 0.5 arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge. I dialed everything in, but still had the compunction to fiddle around with something so I removed the funky anti-skate weight from the WB. Not only does the arm behave much better (no annoying, backswing when indexing), but it actually sounds better to my ears. Smoother, more dynamic, less etched/more natural are the changes I hear. I wonder how many other arm/cartridge combinations would benefit from eschewing their anti-skate mechanisms.

While I originally thought that Harry Weisfeld was simply making excuses, in reality, he was probably just being honest. I'm sure the twisty-wire approach he now uses is a good way to implement anti-skating for those who must have it.
plato
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Think about it. If there ever was a guy committed to analog and finding the best ways of extracting music from your vinyl, it's Harry Weisfeld. It would have been much easier for him to employ the conventional antiskating devices. Probably would have helped him sell more tonearms, too. As the happy owner of a JMW 10.5, I'm glad he resisted the "obvious." And it's not as if his arms don't give you the benefits of anti-skating. They do.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Some arms need the anti-skate more than others. In general, longer arms will need less. Linear arms don't need any. It should always be adjusted by ear anyway. If you feel you get best results from none, then fine. If wear is going to be higher due to this, you should be able to hear a channel imbalance caused by it. I'd say if you don't hear an imbalance, then it is going to be ok.
plato OP
1,543 posts
 
TWL, what you said makes sense. Right now, I think not having the anti-skate hooked up is working for me. But I'll live with it for a while and see if I still feel the same way next month. I don't think it's as critical an issue as some make it out to be. And I have used antiskate on some arms where I thought it helped a bit. Right now, I'm not so sure it helps on the WB and I'd be interested to hear from other WB owners to see if they have tried this experiment and what the results were... I'm getting a quality of sound that is quite excellent without it. I thought that it was good with it, but not quite as transparent and natural.

So if anyone wants to fiddle around and try their arm without antiskate and report back the findings, I'd be interested in hearing your comments -- especially from owners of uni-pivot arms.
ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
hi Plato -

I have the wilson benesch Circle turntable set up which uses that same arm. How did you disconnect the anti-skate? Just take the ball and thread off the horizontal piece? Seems easy enough to try out. what differences did you hear?

-Ed
quincy
322 posts
 
This is a interesting post. When I was running my Sony PS-X555ES Linear Tracking Bio Tracer table (no antiskate) the balance was equal on my pre amp, the sound stage perfectly centered. I retired the Sony, purchased a Michell Gryo SE with SME V arm, and transfered my Benz Micro Glider over. As soon as I fired up this new rig, I noticed a difference in balance (sound stage) which I corrected by adding five points of volume to the right channel. It took me six hours to set up the Michell/SME so I hesitate to "putz" with the antiskate, since it is tied into and is suppose to be adjusted with the tracking force utilized. Any comments?
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