Using turntable with very little or no anti skate set...

There are plenty of examples of both approaches on both straight and curved arms. With the offset pivot, the counterweight moves in an arc, which many feel is worse than the very slight azimuth change from not offsetting the pivot. Both designs are a compromise.

 

I seen this crazy commercial for a vertical turntable.I’ll bet quite a few audiophiles already attempted that unattainable feat.

 

Problem solved

 

Heh, seriously though Leon you are correct about the physics of this. So I decided to re-visit the anti-skate issue in my system.

It had been years since I messed around with the anti-skate adjustment on my tonearm. It is just a thread attached to the tonearm base that is attached to a small weight that screws onto a small pole that is attached to the thread that swings up and down as the tonearm moves in or out. The small weight screws onto the pole, and the farther it is screwed on the lighter the anti-skate value (pulling the tonearm outward). The tonearm was supplied with three of those small discs that screw onto the pole that attaches to the anti-skate thread. Years ago I experimented with anti-skate, and found I couldn't tell much difference at all in the sound with various adjustments, or even with no anti-skate applied. So I figured I'd leave it at minimum anti-skate then, with two of the discs removed from the small pole leaving only one, which I then screwed all the way closest to the tonearm base for the minimum amount of anti-skate 'pull'.

Just recently I did further research on anti-skate. I finally found this article with a method for setting it.
How Do I Adjust Anti-skating On My Cartridge? | Soundsmith (sound-smith.com)
With this method you find a record with a large runout groove space at the end. Then set the stylus down on a non-groove section as the record spins. According to the article the anti-skate is basically properly set when the tonearm slowly moves to the spindle just before it settles into the runout groove itself.

I first tried this with no anti-skate applied. Wow, the tonearm quickly scooted toward the spindle and immediately was caught in the runout groove! I wasn't expecting that. So I started applying the anti-skate single disc weight screwing it in and out to slow down the inward travel of the stylus on the bare record before it slips into the runout groove.

I finally got it right, so that the stylus slowly moves to the spindle (center of the record) just before it is caught by the runout groove.

Since I was into tonearm adjustments at that point, I decided to once again play around with the vertical tracking force while I was at it, another adjustment I hadn't made for years now. The more the VTF, the more anti-skate is needed I found using the above method. I have been happily using what I back then considered was the best VTF -- 1.57 grams for years now. My cartridge is recommended to be used in the range from 1.5 to 2.0 grams. Most users of the same cartridge I'm using from my research set theirs at 1.8 or even slightly above that weight. So I knew I was an outlier in adjusting mine, which I often thought about but didn't worry too much as it sounded so great. Anyway I started by taking the weight up to 1.8 grams, but there I thought the sound was a bit thick sounding (or something), so I lowered the VTF back down to 1.68, about halfway in between. That was it! The sound was now better than I'd ever heard it, more saturated, better detail, more of everything!

So now just those two adjustments have made an improvement in my system and I'm a happy listener (as usual). With this exercise I found that adjusting the anti-skate didn't change the sound noticeably, but it is well now that I know the stylus isn't wearing one side of the groove more than the other! But raising the VTF a bit did improve the sound, which makes me glad I experimented with it after a few years of complacency. But I hate continually adjusting things in my system, I just want to get to the music and enjoy it. Which I guess explains the complacency once I get things adjusted just right (for that period of time).

 

Not sure if your turntable is old or not but the spring on the anti skates can become sprained over time.

 

Im very familiar with that Anti Skate method and I primarily use it, but there are questions left open there too.

If a blank area is the form of lightest skating, since groove modulation just increases it, shouldnt it be the opposite? As in, the arm should move outwards slowly to balance the stylus in a groove.

VTF is more impactful indeed, but I rarely hear much difference there either. Its better to track slightly too heavy than slightly too light however.

 

I have many tables, almost all of them far more expensive, but the AR is my favorite.

 

No spring. Just a small adjustable weight on a thread.

 

You'd think so. I was just following the advice from the link. But I thought that too.

 

I think the idea that the stylus should skate in on blank vinyl makes sense. It would account for more indentation with one perpendicular force than with two contact points on angled surfaces.

 

Minimalism at its finest!

 

Here is a new shot of the tonearm base.

 

I cant find the anti skate on this table!!
Also, apparently my Grado isn't compatible either