Overhang for Ortofon 2M Bronze on Rega RB301

>>Huh??? Skating force caused by drag?<<

Skating is not the result of centripetal force in a tonearm. It is not the headshell that is spinning around, it is the record. And if it were centripetal force at work, the cart would be heading outward rather than toward the label.

Here is someone who knows more than both of us about the topic over at vinylengine.com

Quote:

Why do we need anti-skate? Passing the stylus through the record groove causes drag. If the cartridge were aligned straight down the arm and at a perfect tangent to the groove this force would act squarely on the bearings with no sideways component at all. But it doesn’t work like that. The cartridge is at an angle to the armtube to make the geometry work, so the drag force becomes a torque on the arm that’s translated into a movement towards the centre of the record. This torque is transmitted to the arm bearings, the cause of chatter in poor bearings. ...Setting up on a blank disc is not accurate because it doesn’t reflect the real drag value of the cartridge in the groove or an average value of the dynamic drag.

That still doesn't change the fact that, as far as Bobgares' RB301 is concerned, the amount of skating force will vary across a record's playing surface anyway so no matter what he does, it will be wrong at some point, whether at the beginning of the record or the end. And by the way, I never said using a blank disc was 100% accurate, but I still believe it's a useful jumping off point.

This is a fun discussion but it doesn't help Bobgates. So instead of disagreeing with me, let's ge back to helping Bob with his setup. If I'm wrong, that's fine -- even though I've been doing it wrong for 20+ years and my setups sound great and my records are in great shape.

So...your turn. Tell Bob how he should be doing it so he can stop worrying about setup and start enjoying music.

Good idea... From what I understand, drag/friction of the stylus in an actual groove is about 1.4 times higher than that produced by a blank record. Using the blank record as a "jumping point", once the stylus stops moving he could increase anti-skate by a factor of 1.4 times its current setting to get something that should work on an actual record.

For me, I just use a heavily-cut record with something strong in the left channel like a voice or trumpet. That usually gets the right channel to distort when anti-skate is too low. Harry James King James Version on Sheffield works good because there are some tracks where his trumpet is in the left channel only. Increase A/S until it tracks well. That record is probably the worst "torture test" in my collection so I don't need any more a/s than that.

I have no doubt your records and system sound great! Its all fun discussion.

Thank you Ekobesky and Onetwothreego for your thoughts on antiskate. I guess another way to set antiskate is to pick a record where you know a singer or instument is right in the center of the soundstage. If the antiskate is too weak the singer or instrument will be more on the left channel and if it is too strong the singer or instrument will be more on the right channel. I've also noticed with too little antiskate there seems to be a lack of air or ambience on better recordings. Thank you again for sharing you ideas on this topic.

So Bobgates, how is the Ortofon 2M Bronze working out? I don't know if I'm that crazy about the Shibata stylus in the Black and if I get a 2M it might just be the Bronze. How have you found it?