Tri-Planar with no anti-skate?


On a hunch I removed the AS weight entirely from my new TP 7 (Merrill table & Ortofon Kont H cart).

The sound improved to an astounding degree: tons more body, much more solid imaging.

Certainly, I must not have had the anti-skate optimally adjusted, I am curious if others prefer it this way too.
paulfolbrecht
I'd have bought an Air Tangent, but it was so cheap it didn't even print out the VTA labels for each LP jacket! If I have to write them manually I might as well adjust them manually!

Yeah, we're nuts, but playing a harpsichord LP is still easier than playing the real thing. Real harpsichordists have to retune four octaves every time they turn on a lamp, because the room temperature changed! Compared with that, tweaking VTA/VTF/AntiSkate for each LP is child's play. :-)
Been a while on on this thread. I've been playing around with my anti skate on my Tri planar this weekend. Seems like if I take the thread off and remove the dogleg (totally removing the mechanism from the arm), clarity goes us a notch or two. Maybe it's a lowering of the noise floor.

With the antiskate in place, and 3-4 rubber o rings as weights, seems like I get more weight to the notes.

I don't have any tracking or sibilance issues either way.

Honestly, I like both settings :) Wish I could find a way to keep the weight but goose the clarity.

Any thoughts? Using a Lyra Skala currently.

Thanks
Hi jfrech. Could be related to what cartridge is being used. I know someone else who prefers AS with a Skala. I still prefer mine without AS and I'm using Dynavectors. On the Talea, all carts sound much better with that tiny bit of AS one or two o-rings provide.

dealer disclaimer: Durand Tonearms and Dynavector
Same cart, same arm, different table. Ultimately, I found that I preferred the increased resolution over the added sense of body, weight or gravity to the note; as such, I've removed the monofilament and dogleg completely. I've found that adding a tiny bit of VTF (we're talking maybe a hundredth of a gram, probably less...about a tenth of a rotation on the fine VTF) more than compensates for this loss. I assume you've also removed the damping trough completely as well.

I also find that I enjoy listening more at this time of year as it's warmer and more humid (even with AC). Not that I enjoy the heat, but something about the way sound travels through the warmer air tends to give me a greater sense of body, better dynamic shading and overall sonic density, like you can reach around each performer a bit more clearly. YMMV and all that.