Anti-skating- test records vs. ears

Stringreen said : "...I really don't care of the stylus wears funny - although I doubt that it does..."

Accelerated asymmetric wear on stylii due to either excessive or inadequate anti-skate is a documented fact.
Even if this were not true, many have taken their worn cartridges to specialists who've examined them under microscopes and commented to the effect that the styli were asymmetrically worn out. So if you didn't believe that skating exists it doesn't get any more graphic than this? Studies also indicate that increasing VTF accelerates asymmetric wear.

By implication, this means that the media will be similarly worn. With a £250 MM this may not be the end of the world. With expensive MCs I'd personally be concerned. If someone wishes to zero out A/S with their own MCs then that is entirely their choice and they should be allowed to go in peace.

I'm also concerned at the debating position of those who relegate skating force to an almost inconsequential level, insisting that everyone "do the same - or else!"???
True, cartridges vary in their response to this force (a Music Maker 3 is superb at tracking the HFN/RR tracking tests at as little as 1.55g with fairly random settings of A/S, unsurprisingly, since Len Gregory was responsible for both) but that doesn't mean that unilateral wear isn't occurring.
On balance, the average MC is generically less capable. This will not be an issue unless you get A/S wrong, but it won't make them "Test Disc Champions" and neither should it because the objective is to BALANCE the distortion at your "normal" VTF not to overcome it with brute force.

...I should have amplified this to read, "THOSE WHO USED ZERO ANTI-SKATE and took the carts to specialists for examination/replacement found they suffered pronounced asymmetric wear."

Dear Stringreen,
After the cartridge is well run in, what you are proposing (to use a similar car analogy) is that my car can have a square tyre on one front wheel and a circular one on the other whilst expecting it to steer, handle and perform properly?

Do I need to fit a "square tyre" to my car to prove this or is common sense sufficient?

In my rig, if I were to play the 12db track with my current A/S setting, the R channel would be buzzing slightly. This is because I optimised by ear and used lower A/S. IMO, contrary to some suggestions, I don't consider that the ideal setting is a million miles away from the "balanced setting" on the 12db track so it is an acceptable starting point (as far as I'm concerned).

(BTW, I have actually tried low > zero A/S approx 1000 LPs ago on this Phantom II/Delos combination)

Dear Schubert....it's a fair point. Beats the hell out of arguing about it. Or you could use an MMIII which doesn't even need the 2g! ;^)

I get the strong feeling you could put that cartridge in the worst turntable/tonearm combination you could find and the cart would do all the work for you(!) :)

Just a shame I got strange resonance issues (reactions to pinchwarps) with it on 20% of pressings using a gimballed arm. Never tried the MMIII on the Phantom but I'd like to...
It only has about 100 hrs on the clock. :)

Dear Stringreen,
I don't think you understand. If I adjust A/s for the test disc alone, at low-mid VTF (e.g. 1.759g) I can perfectly track the 12db band and (almost) perfectly track the 14db - and get a reasonably clean result on the 15db and 16db bands. ;^)
(Cartridge spec VTF range is 1.7-1.8g btw)

I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with this but it is completely irrelevant because I'm more interested in lower amplitude music signals?

Would you care to describe how your rig performs on those bands with or without A/S AT AVERAGE VTF? (Please tell us what the VTF setting is for your given cart and its max/min spec? It will give us an idea of your capability and show us how a really well set up rig performs?)
Many thanks...

That also made me suspicious, CT....but I'm sure he would be able to spot any "inadvertent" anti-skate when balanced at 0g with a reasonably frictionless bearing... ;^)

Spring loaded VTF and A/S can be quite useful features because you can balance the arm then use a tiny dose of A/S (readable on the dial) to sign the disc across the platter as a means of gauging any "stickiness" in the gimbal bearings without having to poke and prod. You can turn it up until inertia is overcome then watch the arm scan whilst looking for sudden hesitations.
Cheers,