My anti-skating setup routine for turntables with S-shaped tonearms (for listening, not scratching)

Hi. Thank you in advance for reading. Before anything, please notice that this document is aimed to owners of DJ-style turntables with S-shaped tonearms and full adjustment capabilities (cartridge alignment, VTF, VTA and anti-skating). Basically, here are the results of LOTS of reading and experimenting that have finally left me satisfied. I’ve wanted to share them with you, hoping someone finds them useful or at least interesting.

What I wanted to achieve when I started these geeky experiments is the stability that a scratching DJ gets from his/her turntable’s tonearm when performing all those maneuvers, but still being able to play records from beginning to end without compromising their health. Scratchers prefer short, straight underhung tonearms because they are virtually unskippable, but at the expense of record wear. And, from what I’ve seen, S-shaped tonearms aren’t as stable. For this “tutorial”, it’s going to be assumed that cartridge alignment, VTF, VTA and azimuth (if adjustable) are at their optimum settings. The focus here will be getting the best possible anti-skate adjustment. Here’s what's needed:


- A paper sheet (the thicker the better).

- A blank-sided LP record.

- The Hi-Fi News Analogue Test LP (specifically the last track from side A, a.k.a. “The Torture Track”).

- Some good headphones.


The basis and inspiration for what I did is this video (I’m not the creator):



The problem with that trick, as the guy in the video says, is finding the ideal paper thickness. Too much paper will make the tonearm/cartridge to get stuck, and it simply won’t play any record. Instead, it will keep looping at whatever point the stylus tries to track the grooves. So, with anti-skating set to zero, fill just one side of the tonearm base with paper. Then move the tonearm all the way toward the spindle and back to its rest. THE PAPER SHOULD NOT MOVE FROM ITS PLACE BECAUSE OF THE TONEARM MOVEMENT. You must find a spot in which the piece of paper keeps firmly in place, unaffected by tonearm movement.

Then play the “torture track” from the Hi-Fi News LP (last band from side A). The cartridge must be able to play it from beginning to end, no matter the buttload of distortion you hear. The goal at this point is just finding the thickest amount of paper you can stick in the tonearm base without the cartridge getting stuck while playing that track.

When you achieve that, then put your headphones on and listen to the torture track through them at a relatively low volume (it’s loud!). While playing, turn your turntable’s anti-skating dial gradually. If it works properly, you must hear increasing distortion on the left channel as you get farther from the zero point (make sure your channel orientation is correct!). When returning (gradually) to the zero point, the left channel distortion should disappear, and one of two things may happen: Either distortion appears on the right channel, or no distortion at all. The “perfect” anti-skate setting for your cartridge is achieved when you don’t hear background distortion on any channel, but just the loud (+18dB) reference tone “torturing” your cartridge. Set the anti-skate dial at that point.

After getting that distortion-free sound, the next step is spinning the blank-sided record and put the stylus on at several different points. The tonearm should not move in any direction. If it moves towards the spindle, then more anti-skating force is needed. Moving toward the tonearm rest means that there’s too much anti-skating force applied. Use the anti-skate dial to make sure that the tonearm doesn’t move, no matter the area of the record on which the stylus is placed.

But now comes the part that demands the most patience: Go back to the “torture track” and your headphones. Is the cartridge still able to play it from beginning to end? What happened to the L/R distortion? Is it like you heard it before the blank-sided record adjustment? If it’s like that, leave it that way and congratulations! You’ve got a “near perfect” (it never isn’t, actually) anti-skate adjustment for your tonearm. But if distortion appeared on either channel or the cartridge gets stuck when attempting to play it, you must try different “paper combinations” until you find the right one (for this first test, you stuck paper just in one side of the tonearm base. Now try some less thick paper in both sides. Don’t forget that tonearm movement shouldn’t displace the paper).

Summarizing, the “perfect” anti-skate setting is achieved when three conditions are met:

- The cartridge can play the Hi-Fi News LP’s “torture track” from beginning to end.

- When playing the same track, no background distortion can be heard through headphones on the left or right channel only.

- The tonearm doesn’t move in any direction when “playing” a blank-sided record on any area.

A final remark that may help: Many times I thought I got the ideal anti-skate setting, but I noticed that things changed over time. I think it’s because the paper gets loose after some time and most likely the tonearm won’t stay still on the blank-sided record. And solving that problem with the anti-skate dial will probably bring distortion to the torture track again. The solution I found was leaving some “tight” paper stuck in the tonearm base (so the cartridge can’t go through the torture track) and not using the turntable for a couple days. After that time, there’s the chance that the cartridge will be able to play the torture track since the paper loosened. If that happened, you are on your way to get a “definitive” adjustment. If paper is still tight after two days, most likely you stuck A LOT of paper in the tonearm base.

This has been tested on my Numark TTXUSB, a friend’s Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB and another friend’s Technics SL-1200 MkII. All of us are happy with the results. The key here is patience, since finding the right spot to get all the conditions together takes more than one try.

All of the above is my sole opinion and experience. I'm not an audiophile nor a technician nor an expert. But as I said at the very beginning, hopefully some of you will find this document useful and/or interesting (or not boring, at least). Thank you for your time!

P.S.: Here's how my turntable's tonearm currently looks:

 

It worked on a AT-LP120? Which famously has an anti-skate dial which doesn't appear to actually do anything?

I wonder if Audio-Technica has changed the design in the three years since I bought mine.

 

At least on the one I tried, it worked.

 

What if there is such a scenario on the same arm (SME 309)?
Cartridge A - tracking force 1.0, anti-skate 1.0 - arm stays steady on a blank record
Cartridge B - tracking force 1.5, anti-skate 1.4 - arm stays steady on a blank record
Cartridge C - tracking force 2.0, anti-skate 2.0 - arm moves strongly toward the spindle, anti-skate 2.5 arm less but still moves toward the spindle, tracking force max (3.0) - arm still noticeable moves toward the spindle.
Appreciate reply
W.

 

Have you tried it Ben ?

 

The SME is leagues better than anything on this class of turntable too. Those arms cost considerably more than this class of turntable and leagues beyond most every such save for the Technics SL-1200 (who's arm is not hugely behind in overall precision engineering and bearing quality).

 

Nope. I don't have the Hi-Fi News test record. If I get a rare skip with my Shure M97xE / Jico SAS combo, I swap head shells and run my Nagaoka MP-110 instead. That thing's a cougar and tracks through almost anything. The very few skips that I can't play through are all due to LP damage and whaddya gonna do then?

 

A lot of work and I'm glad you got results from it, but remember that a "blank" record is the absolutely WRONG way to set ant-skate, since the purpose of anti-skate is to counter-act the "pull" the tone arm gets from being in a groove. That's why elliptical and conical styli have different anti-skate settings. They create different levels of "pull" on the tone arm.

For an AT-120 you have to set the dial one gram higher than the tracking force.

 

I have been using a Shure M447 and never seen it skip anything. Im certain the tracking force is stuffed on my AT120 so im guessing no point in trying it unless It starts skipping.

I have been reading your past comments on the AT120 because I have never been 100% happy with the performance of mine
would say you use the Nagaoka MP-110 more than the Shure M97xE

 

Shure M97xE w/Jico SAS stylus about 95% of the time, unless I'm dealing with a noisy/damaged record which plays better with the Nagaoka. I every now and then have a new LP with surface noise issues (especially "whooshing") which the Nagaoka also helps with. But I'd say a solid 19 out of 20 plays is with the Shure/Jico.