I've read the conflicting opinions of Harry Weisfeld, and Fremmer. VPI arms do not come with an anti-skating adjustment. Is this unique to VPI arms? Does anyone here worry about anti-skate? It would seem that most other arms offer an anti-skate adjustment. Is this some thing else I should start to worry about? I had a JMW 10 but it died, now I need a new arm(and table). Anyone have any thoughts?
I thought it was great. I bought the arm and table used(got a very good deal). I can't afford new VPI gear of the same quality. I'm looking for gear now but no VPI gear has come around. Most of the arms I've looked at have this anti-skate thing and I'm wondering if I need to worry about it.
I ask because I'm tempted to look for a used Aries with VPI arm. How did your's die? I've read they're good arms, even without antiskating. Apparently the added lenght reduces the need for antiskating. Thanks. Clive
Sorry to hear that. At least I know it's not an equipment defect. Have you called VPI? They have a reputation for helping out when something goes wrong. Forgive me, but after reading you signature line, I can only hope it wasn't yellow snow. Clive
I haven't called VPI yet. The arm is gone(it's in many pieces). The table was exposed to temps around –30f for about 20 hours and now it doesn’t turn properly. Roof joists landing on it though could have also caused that.
The design of the VPI arm uses the torque of the arm lead to provide the necessary anti-skating force. I don't see a problem with this. There have been other pivoted arms that had no specific device to apply anti-skating force - like the early AR arms. One of the problems with anti-skating is that the required force varies across the record; at the inner radius much less force is required. A falling weight - the most common technique - applies the same force irrespective of the tonearm position. It may be possible, with judicious arm lead dressing, to get a force that is higher at the outer radius. It's my opinion that many users apply too much anti-skating. Typically they set this to be the same as the down force, which is often far too much. Look at the cantilever and adjust the anti-skating force so that the cantilever is parallel to a tangent to the groove. Some use a blank record to set anti-skating and I did it this way once, but I don't believe that's the optimal way. I think the best way is to set the anti-skating force to zero and eyeball the situation. Gradually apply small amounts of anti-skating force and watch how the cantilever starts to square up. You can often hear the effect of applying anti-skating force has also, and tune it by ear. Regards, Metralla
Maybe I'll just save for a new VPI arm. I don't need another thing to worry about. Now if I were to buy a rega arm I'd have to have some anti-skate? What happens if you have little or no anti-skate adjustment? I think Harry Weisfeld really got it right with the JMWs just wish they weren't so expensive.
