Left Channel LP Distortion

Joe Grado said to me not to use anti-skate that is was an unnessary evil. Funny thing though when I bought one of his wonderful tonearms a couple years later it had an anti-skate adjustment. Tom

How are you going to sell tonearms if you don't have anti-skate adjustment..that's why Harry at VPI has a device for his. Thedudiotweak..Did you know Joe? Did you know that he sang with the Met? Nice guy!!

Lewn...damping - to use it or not...is not an indication that your tonearm is right for the cartridge you use. Some cartridges require some, some cartridges require none, and some require lots. I have a Benz on a VPI, and indeed some damping makes the cartridge sound better...too much is harmful to the sound, too little and it can be improved. Experiment and listen. Having more VTF is usually better than too little. It sounds as though you have too little

Stringreen, I spoke to Mr. Grado several times about his cartridges, headphones and tonearm. He always took my calls and was there on the job. He was very outspoken and dynamic in his beliefs in his work and his designs. Certainly nothing wrong in that. The midrange quality of his designs were a direct reflection of his vocal skills. Tom

Stringreen, Thanks for the reassurance. Thankfully also, I did not need it. I agree completely with your statement about how to use damping and what it does to the sound, good and bad. I was just trying to say that some of the advice given on this forum is a bit too rigid, if read and absorbed by a newbie who has no backlog of personal experience.

Doug, You made an interesting point re anti-skate. But notwithstanding the imperfect way in which it is applied, isn't the end result supposed to be the minimizing of forces that throw the stylus tip against either side of the groove (not just one side vs the other)? Thus AS per se is not an evil to be avoided; it's a tool to be used judiciously. Maybe that's what you meant.