Anti skating SME V


I am using my SME20/2A with a Dynavector XV-1s cartridge and it sounds good.

I have a question though. The cartridge tend to skip a bit (towards the spindle) when lowered on the run-in groove.
I have tried to set the anti skating to maximum (3) and this helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem. I have to be most careful when lowering the arm to avoid skipping. I also found that playing a bit with the position of the din-connection, turning it anti clockwise seen from the top, might have helped (not sure), but did not eliminate the problem either. Is there a special position for this connection that is preferable? Will the position of the cable affect the anti skating in any way? I have tried to lower the cartridge on a blank record and the arm goes quite fast towards the spindel even with max anti skating (never experience this problem on my Dynavector arm). I know this is not the correct way to set anti skating, but it should give an indication.

Anybody?
fosse

@dogberry what you're describing suggests to me that the problem is more likely in the arm's bearings or wiring than in the antiskate mechanism.

dogberry

On all four arms?

It's obvious something is wrong, isn't it?

I have only one SME V arm, and it doesn't behave as you describe.

A curious result with the Wally Skater: it replicated the grooveless record's results, but reduced them by the same percentage (~30%). So the three arms that the grooveless record required a setting at "3" are now set a smidgen over "2." The fourth that required "2.5" is now set at "1.65." (I use quotation marks as these are marks that correspond to VTF in grams, but are not actually grams. I set them so the Wally Skater thought I was applying 10% of VTF. Trying it out now and everything plays as expected.

On performing the tests of static friction and internal tonearm forces I could see no issues. Evidently the joke is on me as the anti-skate settings are almost exactly where the SME manual says they should be: very close to the value of the VTF.

If there is a lesson here, it might be that a cheap and easy-to-use grooveless record could be used, if followed by reducing the anti-skate by 30%. And this is awfully close to the Ledermann method where a "slow inward movement" for certain values of slow equates to 30% less than than the grooveless record's result.