I remember reading SOMEWHERE ( who knows where ??? ) about 15 - 20 years ago that MOST anti-skating controls were typically about .25 to .5 grams shy of being correct. With that in mind, i had always set my antiskating slightly higher than the tracking force and never had any noticeable problems. Your findings verify that statement. Then again, i never had any REAL expensive cartridges on the "mid-fi" tables that i was doing that on. Sean
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This is interesting. There was a school of thought in the 70's when I bought my first Linn that 1 on the anti skate when tracking at 1.5-2 grams sounded better than if you set the anti-skate to the same level as the tracking. Now you're suggesting that the anti-skate should actually be set HIGHER than the tracking force! Check with your Linn dealer and see if he agrees. By the way, Rega definately does not. |
I have on older Linn Basik ark and it has the same problem. must be a linn thing |
My working assumption for any turntable, regardless of brand, would be that the anti-skating dial reading is not adequately reliable. Tracking force dial readings probably are more reliable, but I wouldn't put too much faith in them, either.
Extreme, I also use the HFNRR record to set up my turntable. I asked a question here about the anti-skate results I was getting, which seemed counter-intuitive to me. You might find some of the discussion in the thread interesting; search for "Anti-skating question" in the forum archives. |
I read you old post, don't see what was counterintuitive to you? Using a grooveless track is not accurate and should undercompensate due to the reduced friction (hence force).
The anti-skate is a force related to the friction, offset by the angle.
However, on Rega RB250, the antiskate adjustment is so off, that I cannot make any statement on it. I have to add a cotter pin to compensate the RB250 just to get started... |
Extreme, you missed the gist of my post in that thread --not that it matters ;-). You posit that using a grooveless track should undercompensate for skating force, and that is a widely held view. I found that using the grooveless track method _over_compensated for skating force, and that thread provided some corroboration for my finding.
My conclusion: The heck with generalizations about this matter.
Certainly, the heck with those numbers on those dials. You mention the RB250 -- I don't even know if the anti-skate dial on my RB250 has numbers on it, 'cause if it does I never paid them any attention. |
Jayboard, your post referred to RB250. I think I can explain the counterintuitive observation was caused by RB250 having too much positive anti-skating (outward), even when set to nothing on the dial, it exhibits outward push.
Therefore, settings are likely opposite because you were probably trying to 'reduce' rather than 'increase' the anti-skating force to balance the grooveless track. |
Extremephono,
You should read the thread "Anti-skating question" again, because you seem to have missed the point.
The point was (and is) that setting antiskating using blank bands often leads to too much compensation.
The fact that Rega arms overcompensate, while true, is not related. |
...what Bkearns said. Extreme, your surprise and frustration that anti-skating dial numbers are not accurate is getting in the way of your reading of the "anti-skating question" thread, which has nothing to do with that specific problem. Just thought you might find it interesting, but no big deal. |
i agree with a comment above the linn mk 1 akito seems to be a bit heavy on the tracking and my arm moves outward when set to zero.....the denon dl-110 cart seems to track anything i put on even with the tracking off and set to zero...i put it to 1 just in case ...but the deck seems to sound much better with very little on it tracking wise.... |
I think you will find that while many arms are marked with antiskate 'settings' that there really isn't an established standard. IOW the antiskate forces at 1 gram on one arm will be different from that of another arm. As a result the best method seems to be by gosh and by golly as shown with this thread. |
Use the HFNRR record and then experiment. Nothing is fixed, only the music. You are the final judge of what setting is best. |
Float the arm and level it correctly, then put the cart on with a mint LP or other good protractor. I had an Ekos and 2 Ittok LVII's and a Basik LVX and never had a problem. Set the anti-skate a bit lower than VTF. 1.7g for VTF. Best of luck. |
