Quality tonearms were produced before antiskating became a feature.
Somewhere in the ?? late 70's it started being used on some arms.
Eventually nearly all arms got it.
It will NOT damage your LPs or your cart to not have it. |
VPI recommends NO anti-skate. Anti-scate is a crapshoot, and is NEVER right. It depends on the loudness being tracked (which constantly is changing), shape of stylus, VTA, and numerous other conditions. No antiskate is fine. Use your cartridge at the higher tracking force of the recommended suggested range. |
E and S, thanks so much for the guidance! Elizabeth, it is always great to hear from you, but I think that bias adjustments came earler than that; one of my arms is a Micro Seiki MA202L from around 1970 with standard anti-skate. It would be interesting to see when it became common on arms. The new old arm is an ESL (Ortofon) 2000, so I will go for it. |
I agree with the above posters who say that not having an antiskating adjustment will not harm your records. I have a couple of test records that test for antiskating, one with a blank side and another that has a test tone track, and Stringreen is correct, it is very difficult to set antiskating so that it does not pull the arm toward the center of the record. I would like to think I can hear sonic differences with different antiskating settings on my Graham Phantom unipivot arm, but I might be fibbing. The only effect I thought I could hear was slight skewing of the soundstage right or left. Personally I would not let this lack affect my decision. |
Lately I've just given up with AS altogether on my Project Perspective Carbon. I just can't stand the sight of that weight swinging back and forth, knowing it's attached directly to the tonearm.
It has always sounded better without the AS weight attached. Open, calm, more at ease.
Wacky idea - Alter the level-ness of your TT to induce slight outward force, counteracting the skating force? |
I set AS at a minimum with the Pro-Ject 9C carbon fiber arm on 2Xperience table with Benz Ace. I agree with Mfsoa.....don't like the sight of that weight swinging but I do use AS. I would prefer an arm with other type of AS adjustment without the weight, although some say the weight is the better approach....go figure. |
The RS-A1 and the new Nottingham tonearm on the 294 model do not have anti-skate, because the headshell (and therefore the cartridge) is not set at an angle to the arm tube. Thus skating force is not generated. I think there are other older tonearms that are so designed. Perhaps yours is one of those. |
unless your arm is a tangential design, all pivoting arms generate 'skating force' regardless of the angle on the arm tube. it is the angle deviation of the stylus from perfect tangent that causes the force. that is why AS is so difficult to set and wrong for the most part, but some AS, I think, is better than none, just don't go overboard!
Bob P. |
Bob P., The headshell on the RS-A1 tonearm has a unipivot bearing right at its base,in addition to the one at its main pivot point (so there are two articulations). Thus in theory the cartridge CAN always maintain tangency to the groove, and no skating force is generated. However, you are probably correct in general. (I've got to think about this a bit longer, and it does seem to me I've read in two other sources that skating force is generated by the offset headshell in 99.9% of all modern tonearms.) |
>>09-28-07: Lewm
The RS-A1 and the new Nottingham tonearm on the 294 model do not have anti-skate, because the headshell (and therefore the cartridge) is not set at an angle to the arm tube. Thus skating force is not generated.<<
That is wrong.
All pivoting tonearms according to the basic laws of physics are affected by centripetal force. |
Audiofeil and Bob, You are both correct, as I already conceded to Bob. BUT since the headshell of the RS-A1 could in theory remain tangent to the groove at all points on the record, the designer claims that no skating force is generated. I would agree with you if you were to respond that the arm probably does not accomplish that goal perfectly in fact, due to friction in the bearings, etc. Now, as for a headshell that is not offset, there WILL be one point on the record where skating force does approach zero, but only one point. And Audiofeil, according to the references I read, the skating force is not due to "centripetal force" per se; it is due to the force of stylus drag (Fsd)and is equal to (Fsd X sin of the angle from tangent). So, when the angle from tangent is zero, the sin of the angle equals zero, and skating force disappears. I am very sorry for placing incorrect info on this thread in my previous post. |
Lewm, I didn't know that the RS-Ai articulated at the head. Similar to an old Garrard arm back in the '60s or was that another company. Still, in this case, I guess AS would really be difficult and unnecessary.
Salut, Bob P. |
Bob, no the Garrard Zero 100 used a pantograph style arm and there have been other examples of this design, there is even a current arm out of Switzerland with this design. The RSA1 is a different animal. |
Ah yes the Garrard Zero 100, I had forgoten. Thanks.
Bob p. |
