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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
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 

While this TT does not have any anti-skate, it does indeed have very good VTA adjustment. Also, do you have a Traveler V1 or V2? The V1 did have tonearm problems that were rectified with the V2.

So a simple test should tell if you have faulty bearings. Does your tonearm have free travel both up and down and left to right? Simply get a hold of it by the finger grip and with the cueing lever down, check to see if it will freely move in the above directions under your control. Most important, make sure it can travel all the way to the center of the platter (where the label would be) with a fluid movement without any restraint - especially by the outer support ring of the gimbals. Is it banging into this?

If the above doesn't check out, you should have no problems returning to Music Direct as they are a great outfit.

I have a V2 and have had no problems whatsoever with playback of any records. I increased VTF by the recommended 0.1 gram and used the Baerwald solution on the supplied plastic protractor for my cartridge. Good luck brother and I am sure you will get to the bottom of this - the Traveler is a great table.

stringreen's avatar
stringreen
5,112 posts
 
It sounds that you checked everything....I would send it back to the dealer/or get in touch with VPI.  Why knock yourself out...you bought a good product and fully expect it to work.
cantgetnosat
17 posts
 
I am assuming that the problem exists for multiple records and is not due to a dirty record.

You haven't said you leveled the turntable.
hwsworkshop
36 posts
 
If it plays for a few minutes it is not the bearings, remove the wire from its connection and see if it tracks the record.  If so the wire is either too twisted or not twisted enough.  Did you buy this from Music Direct??  If so they will back you up completely.  They are the only retailer with Travelers, we stopped making them a year ago.
smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
Thanks everyone.  Yes - the turntable is level, and it skips on every record I put on, not just the older/dirtier ones.  I tried running it without the wire as recommended above, but it still skips constantly.  At this point, it's completely unusable, so I'm just waiting to hear back from a "specialist" at Music Direct.   This experience makes me hesitate on trying another table with no anti-skate.  

In my searches online I've come across several people who have had either the similar skipping problem (pulling back to the outer rim of the table) or the tonearm issue (coming loose from the housing).  

I'll keep y'all posted,
Scott
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