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Harry Weisfeld Was Right All Along

I'll admit that I was skeptical when I heard Harry Weisfeld of VPI say that his JMW tonearm sounded better without any antiskating device a few years ago. All the arguments for antiskating compensation seemed plausible if not undeniable.

But today, I've seen the light. I own a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch Act 0.5 arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge. I dialed everything in, but still had the compunction to fiddle around with something so I removed the funky anti-skate weight from the WB. Not only does the arm behave much better (no annoying, backswing when indexing), but it actually sounds better to my ears. Smoother, more dynamic, less etched/more natural are the changes I hear. I wonder how many other arm/cartridge combinations would benefit from eschewing their anti-skate mechanisms.

While I originally thought that Harry Weisfeld was simply making excuses, in reality, he was probably just being honest. I'm sure the twisty-wire approach he now uses is a good way to implement anti-skating for those who must have it.
plato
twl
3,251 posts
 
You must remember that the need for anti-skating changes with the stylus position on the record. It needs more at the area close to the label than at the outside. This is why most anti-skate systems are a compromise at best, anyway. There have been some arms that attempted to solve this progressive change problem, but I don't know if any were perfectly successful.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Skating force is only one of many critical adjustments necessary for a pivoting arm, most of which can only be optimized for one location on the LP. I finally decided that you can never get them all right, so I went to a linear tracking arm, which I find to be flawless.

Anti-skating force permits the pickup to track at a lower downforce setting. If you are willing to add a gram or so you can do without antiskating. Whether or not this causes greater wear depends on the quality and condition of the diamond.
ffs
2 posts
 
Hi Plato,
I have a Wilson Benesch Nanotube one tonearm, similar to the WB 0.5. Does it fit in the Orbe hole for mounting or do you need some adaptor? Thank you very much.
Regards
Ffs
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
TWL - I don't think you're correct. Because the cartridge really tracks at a greater speed in the outer (away from the label) portion of the record, more anti-skate is needed there with gradually less as the record plays with nearly none at the label end.
mmakshak
589 posts
 
I would suggest you read more on audiogon about anti-skate. I agree that uni-pivots are a different case, and it seems that people who own these arms have to look into it differently. Has someone done anti-skate by ear for uni-pivots? Why would anti-skate be necessary for linear tracking arms? Logic(as in HW being an expert on analog, and therefore correct on anti-skate) may or may not lead to correct conclusions. Note also that some cartridge manufacturers recommend a much lower anti-skate than VTF, which may be due to stronger cantilever materials?
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