Left Channel LP Distortion

Tvad,

forget setting AS using that test record! As Doug Deacon has pointed out, those tracking grooves are way beyond anything a normal record would put a stylus through. Most likely you can get much better results with far less AS. We've traded the metal AS weights on our Triplanars with a few o-rings. I believe I have less than 1 gram of weight on the cantilever for AS. You will get much better micro-detail and timbre with less AS.

When I encounter left channel distortion I usually try to increase VTF by a few tenths of a gram (again, o-rings used for VTF find adjustment). If that doesn't improve things I write it off to damage or just a bad pressing. It does come with the territory with some used LPs.

Tvad,
I think you're on the right track about the previous owner and improper setup. No one(including myself) that I knew back in the day even knew setup was important. We just played our discs on whatever we could afford.

Thanks everyone. It seems unanimous that the HiFi News LP anti skate bands should not be used to set anti skate...who knew!?

Stringreen,

Do you actually set AS to zero? What is the impact? Thanks.

Azmoon... I have tried anti=skating. The proper adjustment of a/s is impossible. The amount of a/s depends on soooo many variables (loudness, complexity of recorded signal, vtf, sylus shape, etc.) that are constantly changing, it is virtually impossible to set it correctly. VPI suggests no anti-skate. Having a VPI arm, I tried it, and then tried it on a number of arms. I found that anti-skate always (tuff word - I haven't tried ALL arms) effectily dampens once side of the stylus (outside). Also, all arms I've tried has a mechanism for anti-skate, that interferes with the purity of the signal. I don't use any anti-skate with very satisfying results. To each his /her own.