Left Channel LP Distortion

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.

Tvad, Stringreen, et al: Isn't a bit disingenuous (in a nice way) to recommend using low or no anti-skate with the Triplanar, as a blanket statement? IME, the amount needed will vary depending on the cartridge and probably also depending upon the LP. I tried going without AS with my Triplanar/ Urushi combo, and there was mucho distortion in the R channel. I gradually increased AS from zero to the point where the recording sounded "right" (an LP I know by heart) and ended up with the normal Triplanar weight just a bit less than half way up the shaft that it mounts on. When I mentioned this finding once before, including the additional fact that my Urushi sounds best with "some" damping, someone here suggested that this was evidence that one should not use the Urushi on a Triplanar. I beg to disagree on that. The reason we pay big bucks for this tonearm is because it is so adaptable to use with a wide variety of cartridges. There's no reason to throw those features out the door and limit one's self to only perfect matches. So I would advise a newbie to listen w/ no AS and then gradually add AS as you perceive it to be needed.