I noticed in the thread about the VPI classic that VPI says all of the t/ts they tested sounded better with the anti-skating off and tracking force slightly increased. I tried this with my SL 2000 and it's probably true. I have put it back to factory reccomendations because I don't want to damage the vinyl, but...it probably does sound better without it. Any thoughts on this?
Byron

I get noticeable inner groove distortion on my Thorens if I turn the antiskate clear down, I would suspect that it is dependant on the tonearm.

It's not a good idea to have anti-skating off, even moreso if you're increasing tracking force... you'll cause leading edge groove wear and uneven separation... it's best to follow normal protocol... set your anti-skating numerically to the same as your tracking force.

RJ

Get the hi fi news test record.Since i bought one i can actually hear what moveing anti skate around does.It really is invaluable.TT set up is now a snap.

This seems to me, to be a very complicated grey area subject, in which it's hard to find a right answer to?

I, in fact started a recent thread over on audiogon, asking too, if there might be a correlation of a cantliever beginning to take on a crooked set, due to improper, or no antiskate settings being used?

While some good posters responded, with very technical answers, I still came away scratching my head, as there were no rock hard answers, or rules to follow.

The only conclusions I can come to, for my own use, and logic seems to tell me this may be the best answer, is that extremes in anti-skating may not be so good, for either record, or stylus-cantilever.

Some state that slightly less anti-skate than what should be prescibed is the proper way to set anti-skate. I was always lead to believe that "neutrality", meaning that the arm didn't favor any one direction would be ideal.

Some food for thought, was I thought a blank track was a good way to adjust, , or at least to begin with, but some people say a blank track is not what a stylus encounters while in play, and that the record groove does impart it's own set of forces upon the Arm, and the Stylus.

I'm still confused as well about such topics, but find that by staying away from such anti-skate extreme settings, such as no anti-skate at all, I haven't encountered any problems through many years of vinyl play. Of course, others mileage may vary, dependent upon Cartridge, and Arm. Mark