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RE: VPI antiskate

Posted by Retipper (M) on April 26, 2014 at 15:55:35

In Reply to: VPI antiskate posted by Alanpiga on April 26, 2014 at 14:04:56:

Any tone arm with a headshell that is angled to provide best overhang performance (zenith) creates a substantial skating force - NO EXCEPTIONS. Antiskating IS always therefore required, although it is often applied incorrectly. The force required may seem insignificant to many, but if you were to look at the many thousands of cartridges I have looked at over the past 43 years, you would undnerstand that it is required. The scale of the tone arm does not allow most people to understand that is happening at the scale of the stylus/groove wall interraction. These forces are NOT insignificant.

Almost always, most tables are adjusted incorrectly, and have too much anti-skating, or it is disregarded, and there is none. Sometimes, with some tables, it cannot be turned down enough, OR the range and fine control is terrible.

Usually, most folks use far too much antiskating, as evidenced by the thousands of cartridges I have rebuilt over the last 40+ years – THis is by observation of the outer facet edge (right channel) of the diamond to be worn far more than the inner, or left channel.

A properly designed anti-skating device is non-linear, as it should be, as it needs to increase A-S automatically at the inner grooves due to increased stiction.

Frank Schroder and I are of the same opinion about antiskating – and that makes MOST records that provide an "anti-skating track" totally in error – many are recorded at about 80-90% modulation -OR MORE, or have increasing levels of modulation as the track progresses and expect you to set the A-S force so that there is no distortion at all at any level of modulation (or equal amounts on both channels if the cartridge tracks poorly).

The problem with these tracks is that since the required level of A-S force is a function of the amount of modulation (and of course the VTF), it has you adjust antiskating at far too high a level. This would be OK, if you are listening to music that is constantly recorded at a high level. No music really is. When you adjust for this level, that means that you are very much overcompensated with far too much antiskating as you have adjusted it for where the music does NOT spend most of its time – it spends it at about 30-40% modulation levels – so adjusting the A-S with these records results in far too much A-S force - too much on the right channel, and far too little on the left.

Since there is no properly recorded track that allows proper setting of A-S (there will be such on our new Soundsmith adjustment record), the method that Frank Schroder crafted through careful reverse engineering works without tools, and without a special record.

If one sets the stylus on a smooth surface of a record (at the end, in-between the run out grooves) – the tip of the stylus has a drag on the surface that while not equal to, is "standardized" enough to allow it to be used to adjust the Anti-Skating. This is due to a calculation of “force per unit area” with consideration of the rheology of the material – vinyl. Suffice it to say that since it has been reverse engineered and calibrated properly, this method works well. It then becomes an easy matter to set the A-S and observe the movement of the arm. For a given VTF (any amount of VTF) – set the A-S so that the arm VERY SLOWLY drifts inwards when placed on the SURFACE (NOT IN A GROOVE) at the end of a record. You will have a moment to do this until the stylus “pops” into the run-out groove.

This works for ANY amount of VTF required, for ANY cartridge. It will set the A-S to EQUAL force per groove wall for 30-40% groove modulation levels, which is the best level for A-S force, as it is a moving target. What one DOES want is anti-skating that is basically correct for where music spends 80-90% of its time.

Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith

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