Retired and Covid-bound, I am spending more time listening to vinyl. Years ago, my beloved, original Transfiguration Temper somehow lost its tip and was replaced with a wonderful Lyra Skala cartridge. This recent deep dive into my record collection led me to revisit the Transfiguration situation and I sent it off to Peter Ledermann at Soundsmith to be retipped. I also ordered a new VPI-10 3D Reference tone arm with the intent of easily switching between the two for a new exploration of the wonders if each cartridge/arm combination, and that is when I re-entered the deep waters of cartridge alignment (I use a VPI TNT turntable with tri-pully system and an SDS controller). And now I get to the point/question for you all: the pros and cons of applying anti-skating force.
We know that a stylus sitting within a groove of a spinning record is “pulled” toward the inner wall, toward the spindle. Yet from our childhoods spent on merry-go-rounds we know about the effect of sitting on a spinning platter: a force seems to push us outward, in the opposite direction.
What does the truth lie then in aligning a cartridge and applying anti-skating force for the greatest extraction of music and the least amount of distortion? Peter Ledermann and Michael Fremer, two exceedingly intelligent, insightful and well respected people with a wealth of experience, argue forcefully that skating force is real and requires a counter force to extract the last measure from our records. Harry Weisfeld, a man who dedicated his adult life to design of extraordinarily good turntables and tonearms is firm in his opinion that mechanical anti-skating methods only introduce another, and therefore unacceptable, potential for poor alignment. Interestingly, Peter Ledermann has commented that he has often seen the wear/damage to diamond stylus from the application of too much anti-skate force from hundreds of hours of record playing, yet insists that skating force is real and bad.
So I turn to you all here for opinions. Where do you come down on this subject?
We know that a stylus sitting within a groove of a spinning record is “pulled” toward the inner wall, toward the spindle. Yet from our childhoods spent on merry-go-rounds we know about the effect of sitting on a spinning platter: a force seems to push us outward, in the opposite direction.
What does the truth lie then in aligning a cartridge and applying anti-skating force for the greatest extraction of music and the least amount of distortion? Peter Ledermann and Michael Fremer, two exceedingly intelligent, insightful and well respected people with a wealth of experience, argue forcefully that skating force is real and requires a counter force to extract the last measure from our records. Harry Weisfeld, a man who dedicated his adult life to design of extraordinarily good turntables and tonearms is firm in his opinion that mechanical anti-skating methods only introduce another, and therefore unacceptable, potential for poor alignment. Interestingly, Peter Ledermann has commented that he has often seen the wear/damage to diamond stylus from the application of too much anti-skate force from hundreds of hours of record playing, yet insists that skating force is real and bad.
So I turn to you all here for opinions. Where do you come down on this subject?