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VPI Traveler skipping - no anti skate

Hi everyone,

Back again with another analog question.  For Xmas I bought myself a VPI Traveler, and I've been working on setting it up today.  It sounds absolutely fantastic...for about half a song, and then it starts skipping.  The tonearm has a tendency to pull towards the rim of the record pretty significantly.  There is no anti-skating adjustment on this table.  VPI only recommends applying a slightly higher VTF (about .1 gram).  They also suggest a slight twist of the tonearm wire to apply slight pressure to the tonearm.  

Well, I have tried both a Grado Sonata and a Denon DL-110, and in neither case can I get through a song without the record skipping as the tonearm pulls back towards the outer rim of the record.  I have raised the VTF, fiddled with the tonearm height, checked the leveling of the table, used 180 gram and standard records.  In all cases it skips repeatedly.  

I found one other discussion of this problem on Steve Hoffman's forum, but there was never a resolution posted. Any thoughts on what I might do?  

Thanks, Scott
smrex13
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,152 posts
 
How are you checking the VTF?  Do you have a digital gauge or something like a Shure?  And what VTF are you using for the carts?

A tonearm is pretty simple if the bearings aren't wasted.  If it skips on every song, something has to be impeding the arm's movement.

I know the Traveler's arm is a little different to set tracking force.  Are you sure you are doing it right?
inna
5,245 posts
 
Set the tracking force at the lowest within the range recommended by the cartridge manufacturer and see what happens.

terrybbagit
31 posts
 
Another thing that might be worth checking is that the stylus is aligned correctly.
smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
To answer the questions...

1.  I'm using a digital stylus gauge to set the VTF.  I have tried the low and the high end of the cartridge recommendations, and they skip regardless.  Setting the VTF is fairly straightforward on the Traveler.

2.  The stylus (on both cartridges) seems to be aligned correctly.

3.  Perhaps the bearings were damaged when the tonearm came loose.  I had to do some pretty precise surgery to get things back together.  

4.  It sounds damn good for 30-40 seconds and then it starts skipping.

I'm going to call Music Direct tomorrow to see what they suggest.

Thanks, Scott
inna
5,245 posts
 
I would exchange the table. The question is for what? I would never use an tonearm without anti-skate and VTA adjustments. Their advice - just increase the tracking force- is BS, that's not the way. At least in my experience with Nottingham Spacearm slight changes in anti-skate affect the sound, and that's good. It takes time to find the best overall combination of the VTF, VTA and anti-skate but it pays off.
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