Remove your bias for better sound

11-08-12: Dover
Although the stylus is being pulled inline with the cantilever, there is a resultant force on the arm itself pulling the arm toward the centre due to the cartridge offset and overhang. Now the arm also has an inertia resisting this inward force proportional to its effective mass. Therefore there is more than likely a conflict of forces on the cantilever - inward force applied from the offset & overhang versus inertia of the arm. To my mind the amount of antiskate required is that required to keep the cantilever in line with the groove. I very much doubt that this would be 0, but it would also be influenced by the horizontal compliance of the cantilever pivot.

Thanks very much, Dover. That all makes sense to me, and is consistent with the observations I described. Which would say that as anti-skating is fine tuned by ear, a visual check should also be performed to confirm that no perceptible left or right cantilever deflection occurs, as viewed from the front of the cartridge, as the stylus enters the groove of a rotating record. Perceptible deflection occurring most readily, as a result of non-optimal adjustment of anti-skating force, in the case of high cartridge compliance, low tonearm effective mass, and also, if my understanding is correct, low cartridge weight. All of which is what I happen to have, relatively speaking.

FWIW, with my Soundsmith re-tipped Grace F9E Ruby and my undamped Magnepan Unitrac unipivot arm I've settled on an anti-skating force equal to about 56% of the arm manufacturer's recommendation. I suspect that their recommendation is based on setting anti-skating force equal to tracking force, which is a ridiculous notion IME.

Doug, thanks also. The concluding sentences of your two posts above seem to sum up the bottom line -- as is usual in audio, things are system dependent.

Best regards,
-- Al

Stringreen, after removing the anti-skate device did you then use Harry's recommended "twist" to the connection wire or plug that in straight from the arm? (for non-VPI owners, this is their recommended method for all the counter force they believe is necessary)

Doug/Al - I 100% agree with Doug's comment that too much antiskate is applied in most instances. The proof is that very few cartridges have straight cantilevers after a short while. The most common mistake I've seen is people using antiskate to adjust channel imbalances in the system. The other major factor is armboards that are not level. How many people 0 balance their arm and make sure there is no drift in or out before they start. This is a simple check to ensure there is no inward or outward pressure on the cartridge from the horizontal bearings in the arm being out of level because the armboard is not level. When I recently installed a new arm I had to shim the armboard by a only few micron to ensure the arm had zero drift and the resultant decrease in antiskate required was significant - 0.5gm.

Almarg.....What I hear is a "freedom", and suspect that the constant force of the anti-bias is damping the stylus. With or without the anti-skate connected or disconnected I don't see any deflection of the stylus....it always sits between the space allotted to it. ...and no twist to the wire, which I believe the force will diminish with time. Harry uses no a/s and no twist as well.

What I hear is a "freedom", and suspect that the constant force of the anti-bias is damping the stylus.

Bingo. A concise distillation of the long-winded explanations I've been posting for years, including my first post above.