Anti skate. I think something's wrong


I have an Acoustic Signiture TT with a Graham 2.2 tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge. My anti skate is set close to tracking weight and it would always dig to in inside when I would start a record. I read this is wrong so I got my Cardas test record out and placed it in smooth section and it imediately gravitated to inside. I adjusted anti skate to where cartridge slighty pulls to inside . Here is the problem. To get this I'm having to adjust anti skate to the max. I rechecked TT and it is right on level wise. I have less sibilence now and swear the two channels are more even. The right channel has always been just slightly lower than left in volume. The only qualm I have is the max antiskate I have to use. Is bearing bad? I have the blue fluid. Or I shouldn't worry and enjoy the music. Mike
128x128blueranger
I have a Graham 2.2T. I agree with the posts by Almarg on how to adjust AS. It may help to first verify with no AS and no tracking force applied that the arm is not being forced to the outside by anything such as a twisted tone arm wire or connection.
It's been awhile since I did anti-skate, but I remember one thing.  Do not use anti-skate for any other reason(like channel balance) than what is the best setting for the just the anti-skate alone.  I think you get close to the correct anti-skate, and then, incrementally go forward and back(more and less anti-skate), until you hear what anti-skate does.  You can go slow, and even sleep on it.  If, the next day, you are less excited to want to listen to your records, put it back where you had it, etc.  I vaguely remember that it might be just less(a slightly smaller amount of anti-skate) than where the balance between channels(or something like that) is best.  There was a discussion on here, where I came to the same conclusion as a person who studied anti-skate a lot. Note:  all of my anti-skate experiments were done with gimbaled tonearms(but I would assume you could use the same experiments. I think uni-pivots[the Graham, I assume] use less anti-skate.).  To get a starting point, you might research your tonearm and cartridge(reviews, etc.).  In addition, your choice should be for the best sound(again don't listen for specific things) for the whole record, while you can keep in mind that anti-skate should be more needed towards the end of the record(I think there might be a few more compromises towards the end-even if you get the correct setting.).  
Are you absolutely 100% sure your platter is perfectly level? How about where you mount your tonearm - is that perfectly level, too?

Check it, and recheck it. My table is on a wooden cabinet and "level" changes day-to-day (I tweak with pieces of card stock under the footers). No need to mess with AS until you confirm.
I thought that anti-skate is always set by ear, you don't need no bloody test records, just listen. I am not familiar with the OP's set-up but with my Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm you can clearly hear the difference while moving the weight back and forth. It took me fifteen minutes and a few records to find the overall best setting and forget about it. 
The idea that no anti-skating always sounds better is a complete BS.

I think it depends on the rig that you are using.

A very tolerant cartridge (one renowned for excellent tracking) will make it harder for us to judge an optimal A/S setting (apart from clear visual indications that we’ve gone way over the top with A/S).

Personally I would never use a cart without A/S because it will cause asymmetric wear on the stylus which, eventually, will become a far bigger problem for your records (and listening pleasure) than any cartridge mechanical issue.

If you are comfortable with these caveats then it becomes a matter of individual choice.

Regarding Balance there are many possibilities. For example -

- The cartridge can be naturally unbalanced. (Not severely, one would hope)

- The electronics can be unbalanced.

- The room can be unbalanced.

- Your ears can be unbalanced.

Always check the last one first ;^)

All the best,