So, with the Kenwood table, I found it necessary to make a heavier weight for the anti-skate apparatus. I wasn't understanding WHY at first, but the fact that I'm running a microlinear stylus, v. a spherical one, makes perfect sense. The more contact area, the stronger the centripetal force. Duh.
But, I have a feeling now that the entire geometry of the mechanism was designed around a spherical stylus, and the simple addition of weight may not be totally effective (or the arm is full of compromises to meet a sales price point- probably that), but, it IS much better now.
I mentioned the parabolic curve of necessary anti-skate force on a record to offset the skating force: 100% at the center of the record, 110% at the outer grooves and 105% at the inner grooves. If the Kenwood thingie is providing a linear change, that could be why it's not working well. But, based on the way one arm slides on a second arm, as the yoke rotates, the length of the first arm effectively changes as it rotates (which changes the length of the "lever" acting on the supplied force). And, as the mass is raised from below the record surface, to be parallel with the record, and then above parallel, this also affects the actual force applied. It is actually quite complicated, and I don't have a measurement method to determine the two (or better, three) points of the travel here to plot something and make sense of it (and that math is well above my pay grade). So, the force applied for anti-skate IS changing throughout the record surface. I just have no way to know, other than testing with the test record, that it's right.
Recently I made a copy of Steven Stills 2 for @Bob Boyer and I was disappointed with the distortion of the horns on the last track. That's what got me digging into this deeper in the first place...
Anyway, I played it again last night, to see if my wonder weight eliminated this distortion. And, it did not. It is significantly reduced, and now audible on both channels about equally (so moving the weight won't do jack). It does just barely pass the HI Fi news test record test, so it's tracking well. So, I either have a bad pressing, or prior owner damage to these passages with a worn stylus and/or poorly set-up arm. The rest of the record sounds really clean and clear, so I don't think it's play wear as the primary culprit. I am very interested to do follow-up testing with the modified Rega as well as the Micro BL-91/ MA-505 arm combo.
Can the fancy set-ups do better? Is it worth all the effort to upgrade arms (and other isolations) to extract better, clearer sound? Well, I'm a gonna find out.
One possible hope, with this Kenwood table and cartridge combo, it to start playing around with the tracking force (and then resetting the anti-skate), to see if going to maximum tracking force will improve it. I am currently at the center of the suggested range, so I have a little room to play here (about 0.5 gram either way I believe).
But, I have a feeling now that the entire geometry of the mechanism was designed around a spherical stylus, and the simple addition of weight may not be totally effective (or the arm is full of compromises to meet a sales price point- probably that), but, it IS much better now.
I mentioned the parabolic curve of necessary anti-skate force on a record to offset the skating force: 100% at the center of the record, 110% at the outer grooves and 105% at the inner grooves. If the Kenwood thingie is providing a linear change, that could be why it's not working well. But, based on the way one arm slides on a second arm, as the yoke rotates, the length of the first arm effectively changes as it rotates (which changes the length of the "lever" acting on the supplied force). And, as the mass is raised from below the record surface, to be parallel with the record, and then above parallel, this also affects the actual force applied. It is actually quite complicated, and I don't have a measurement method to determine the two (or better, three) points of the travel here to plot something and make sense of it (and that math is well above my pay grade). So, the force applied for anti-skate IS changing throughout the record surface. I just have no way to know, other than testing with the test record, that it's right.
Recently I made a copy of Steven Stills 2 for @Bob Boyer and I was disappointed with the distortion of the horns on the last track. That's what got me digging into this deeper in the first place...
Anyway, I played it again last night, to see if my wonder weight eliminated this distortion. And, it did not. It is significantly reduced, and now audible on both channels about equally (so moving the weight won't do jack). It does just barely pass the HI Fi news test record test, so it's tracking well. So, I either have a bad pressing, or prior owner damage to these passages with a worn stylus and/or poorly set-up arm. The rest of the record sounds really clean and clear, so I don't think it's play wear as the primary culprit. I am very interested to do follow-up testing with the modified Rega as well as the Micro BL-91/ MA-505 arm combo.
Can the fancy set-ups do better? Is it worth all the effort to upgrade arms (and other isolations) to extract better, clearer sound? Well, I'm a gonna find out.
One possible hope, with this Kenwood table and cartridge combo, it to start playing around with the tracking force (and then resetting the anti-skate), to see if going to maximum tracking force will improve it. I am currently at the center of the suggested range, so I have a little room to play here (about 0.5 gram either way I believe).