If you are responding to me, reread my post. I said nothing about no anti skate. If meant for someone else never mind!
Russellc
Great thread and discussion.
We seem to be focused on stylus wear. A stylus WILL wear out. I thought the function of the anti skate was to prevent record wear/ damage, and to improve sound quality?
I find anti skate hard to set because on my tables I don't hear the skating problem. On tables that have it I use a minimum amount.
Great thread and discussion.
We seem to be focused on stylus wear. A stylus WILL wear out. I thought the function of the anti skate was to prevent record wear/ damage, and to improve sound quality?
I find anti skate hard to set because on my tables I don't hear the skating problem. On tables that have it I use a minimum amount.
No, not responding to your post
Who plays wet records ?
I agree that all will wear out. It is a good thing, and gets the most life out of the stylus, if we can cause the wear to be even. I have not witnessed any record damage due to skating forces but LOTS of records damaged from worn out styli. Sound quality, it is hard to say, because, like you, I can't hear the difference by adjusting the AS.
AzimuthBTW, much more stylus and album damage are created by an incorrect setting (which many tone arms dont even have) is the
angle The cartridge is riding (I forget the term and am too lazy to look it up) from side to side, when viewed from the front. Many old moving coils, including one I have by SAE have a vertical line on the front of the cart so this angle can be set with the stylus sitting on a mirror, or very, very flat album, by looking at its reflection. Some have elaborate measuring devices that test the actual output signal in various manners.
Myself, I worry far less about stylus damage (even on my moving coils) than I do album damage, which is a MUCH larger investment! Sadly, most times they are both damaged at the same time. Reach a level of comfort with the best you can do, balanced against the price of your cartridge, albums, and how picky you are. Then, enjoy the music.
Russellc
I didnt think so, and again, enjoy the arm. I dont know what it is about turntables, but I just enjoy the aesthetics of the mechanical device, much as in the same way with watches....
Russellc
It used to be a thing.
Thanks, I am the same but sometimes I get bogged down in the complexities of turntables/vinyl which can get in the way of the enjoyment.
I well recall. Never tried it myself, I recall hearing folks say once you had done it, your cartridge didnt sound right unless you played wet. I really cant comment, never tried it.
Russellc
In another forum, Harry Weisfeld of VPI (an anti skate minimalist), once suggested that without anti skate, and tracking at or slightly above the maximum rated tracking force, replacing the stylus every 500 hours might be a good idea. For me, that would mean replacing the stylus every 9 months as opposed to every 12 months (based on Shure's expected stylus life of 600-800 hours). A local shop with a stylus microscope confirmed for me that after 9 months, the degree of stylus wear was not presenting any danger to my records. For the improved performance I hear with my particular turntable/arm/cartridge combination when using the minimum anti skate setting, I can happily live with this level of reduced stylus life. The fact that a new N97xE stylus only costs $59 may have something to do with my easy acceptance of a 500-hour stylus life.My original post was concerned with the possibility of excessive wear on the groove wall that faces the spindle if no or low anti-skate is applied but it also would seem that as well as possible excessive groove wear it would also wear the stylus on that side as shown by tubewade's image above
Origin Live has an interesting article on the subject, and they address the twisted wiring approach used by VPI, saying, "A neat solution in some ways but the disadvantage is that side bias increases towards the inner tracks and you want the reverse to occur."Setting a VPI's anti-skate is as easy as zeroing the VTF and giving the armwand connector an extra twist from neutral so the arm will drift away from the spindle when floating. The closer the headshell is to the spindle, the more force is being exerted by the wiring. . .
I'm not sure just how much more force is being exerted by the wiring at the end vs. the beginning, but it does make sense why there'd be more needed at the beginning than the end. I set my VTF at the high end with one extra twist and notice no problems... as with most things hi-fi, TANSTAAFL./snip
Their article also cites and links to the Kogen research I mentioned earlier in the thread, and that paper indicates that skating forces are higher at the beginning of a side than at the end.