Audio Technica At-LP120 Anti-Skate problems

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Danny Holland, Jan 20, 2014.

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  1. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    I recently bought an Audio Technica AT-Lp120 turntable and I've been having problems with setting up the anti skate. I set the VTF using the floating technique (with the anti-skate on 0 and I checked the weight with my scale) and I aligned the cartridge, but I just can't get the anti-skate right. I tried setting it to the same number as my VTF (2 grams), but when I put the needle on the blank vinyl at the end of a record, it skated right to the label on the inside. I keep on tweaking it, but I can't get it to sit still in the blank vinyl at any setting ( 0-7) Setting it at 7 is the closest I can get, but it still skates to the center. Any suggestions?
     
  2. QBNCGAR

    QBNCGAR Active Member

    Location:
    NEOKLA
    Are you certain it is close to bang-on level each direction as possible?
     
  3. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    I forgot to mention that I leveled it too. Sorry!
     
  4. QBNCGAR

    QBNCGAR Active Member

    Location:
    NEOKLA
    I've heard others have had to deal with an anti-skate spring on certain turntables, I think (?), so hopefully someone with more experience using that one can chime in. If it does next to nothing and you've got it level, etc., seems like something is broken - hopefully small and insignificant...good luck.
     
  5. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    Thanks. I wonder if I could tilt the turntable a little bit on the left side, would that help...
     
  6. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    I just tried using the blank side of a cd to test it out again. Same result.
     
  7. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    Something is wrong with the anti-skate spring, a common problem with these TTs.
     
    Slick Willie likes this.
  8. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    How do I fix it?
     
  9. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    I have no idea.
     
  10. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    Does anybody know what I have to do to fix it? Maybe replace the anti-skate spring?
     
  11. There's a debate raging at AK right now on the proper way to check anti-skate on this TT. I'm using the Shure V15 Type V Audio Obstacle Course test record. With a M97xE cartridge, I can get the rattle out of the first level test tone at around "5". But even maxing out the dial at "7", the rattle stays in the second and third level tones. Best I can do is make myself less sure if the right channel is the more predominant one or not.
     
  12. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    So, should I just keep it at 7 and call it a day, or try to find a solution?
     
  13. You'd likely be better off finding a test record with an anti-skate section and doing your best to dial it in that way.
     
  14. Budysr

    Budysr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pensacola, FL.
    I have this same TT. I have my anti skate set around 2 with the cart. running at about 1.3 I don't know for a fact that its spot on, but playback on records sounds perfectly fine in both channels and with headphones on, also sounds equal on both sides. Are you sure its really a problem when playing an album?
     
  15. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    Probably not, but I just want to make sure I have it set right so there isn't uneven wear on the records and stylus. Would it be worth a try to tweak around with the anti skate and see which way the cantilever bends in the groove?
     
  16. QBNCGAR

    QBNCGAR Active Member

    Location:
    NEOKLA
    Given how many people elsewhere online complain about this same situation with your model, you may find that there isn't really a remedy...assuming you don't / can't find any issues with the anti-skate spring as mentioned before. If you are going to go to an extreme like that with the setting, and have the ability to look very closely at the cantilever's angle as you do so, it would probably be very telling. I had read this same advice elsewhere when looking at alignment of my cartridge (which fortunately was set, best I could measure, pretty much perfectly when I got it). You're going to benefit from some sort of magnification unless you've got superhuman eyesight or unless the problem is very, very obvious....yikes.
     
  17. John Buchanan

    John Buchanan I'm just a headphone kind of fellow. Stax Sigma

    Trying to stop the stylus skating on a unmodulated vinyl is about as close to anti skating calibration as tying it up on one side. Reset your anti skate to the tracking weight of your cartridge and forget about it. There is a huge amount of misinformation in this thread. Correct calibration involves listening for balanced tracking of a mono groove at increasing amounts of modulation. If it mistracks on one side, you know you have to adjust anti skate. All else (apart from a Wally anti skate calibrator) is rubbish.
     
    Echoes Myron and The Pinhead like this.
  18. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    Problem is that the anti-skate on the AT-LP120 famously does not work.
     
  19. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    I took a look at the cantilever while the record was playing, and it's leaning heavily to the left so bad that I can see it with my bare eyes! And this is on full anti skate!
     
  20. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    But it should with full anti-skate.
     
  21. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    I mean it looks like this \
     
  22. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    Hmm, doesn´t say much does it. Does the needle tip point to the spindle?
     
  23. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    No, it points to the outside of the record. The opposite way.
     
  24. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    Odd, something is certainly not as it should be, can possibly the spring got stuck at full force
     
  25. Danny Holland

    Danny Holland Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Mississippi
    Tomorrow I'm going to take it apart to see what's up
     
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