Do 45 RPM records need higher anti-skate setting?


I was playing one of my 45's today and heard Distinct mistracking on one channel only. I increased the skating setting and it was much better. This was only near he beginning of the LP. The LP was a Cannoball Adderly record. Do 45's require higher anti skate setting or is just a peculiarity of this record. The vinyl system is an LP12, Arkiv B and Ekos II, which invariably tracks very well.
zavato

Showing 2 responses by tonywinsc

Skating force is generated by the friction between the stylus and the vinyl. That's it. I researched it a few years back and learned that the coefficient of friction, which will determine the friction force generated, varied widely like from 0.1 to 0.5 among different records up until the 50s. Since the late 50s the coefficient of friction has been pretty consistent- about 0.20-0.25. That would result is some milligram differences in skating force from record to record. That being said, I have a couple of records and perhaps it is more about their dynamic range, that I have to turn the anti-skating setting up a tad because I will here a little bit of distortion in the right channel. That does the trick. By the way, one of those records in my mind is recorded at 45 rpm incidentally. It is the Apassionata and it is very dynamic. It is an RCA direct to disc. Very high on the goosebumpometer.
Friction=skating, that's it. I remember back in the 70s some stereo shops had blank LPs for setting anti-skate. They would adjust the anti-skating on the tonearm until it would stay in the middle of the blank record.
45 rpm LPs can have a higher dynamic range, if the recording engineer chooses to apply it. The higher linear speed affords more velocity to be transmitted to the stylus. That means tracking ability of the stylus is further challenged and since the forces are or can be unbalanced a bit to the skating side of things, the first sign of mis-tracking is likely to be heard in the right channel. My 45 rpm direct to disc of the Apassionata can attest to that. My Benz can track it perfectly from beginning to end; but the stylus has to be squeaky clean.