Anti-skate

I believe that you have to settle for less than optimum playback on that last song.

Not true, not true at all. But I will agree that it depends on the table, tonearm, cartridge being used and how it is all set up. If you are hearing a noticeable degradation on the last track something is not setup right. I suggest you start by verifying that the pivot-to-spindle distance is indeed correct both at the outer edge of an LP and as close as you can get to the spindle. A good arc-style protractor would be a great place to start.

What if you don't use anti skate?

>>I believe that you have to settle for less than optimum playback on that last song.<<

Totally disagree.

"less than optimum playback on that last song" was something that I remember from my last turntable setup, but isn't that true in theory also? Jsman, is your arm the one that uses the twisting of wires for anti-skate?

Less than optimum playback is most likely due to one of 2 factors.

1. Tonearm/cartridge combination. This is the most critical match in your analog front end. Only the amplifier/speaker combination is more important in a system.

2. Cartridge alignment. Sorry to say that many hobbyists and even some dealers don't do it correctly. It's not something you knock off in 20 or 30 minutes. It's not unusual to spend 3-5 hours or even more getting it right.

Anti-skating is an "icing on the cake" setting. It's efficacy is also dependent on the tonearm and cartridge used. I have a dozen cartridges here; depending on the tonearm, some are very susceptible to minimal anti-skating changes while others seem impervious to larger settings.

Good luck.