I recently purchased a Sansui SR-2050E turntable for a friend, but became fascinated by its funky vintage (early ‘70s) character and quality construction and have been playing with it myself. It’s a slick little turntable with arm lift-off initiated by an electronic sensor and the silkiest cueing mechanism I’ve ever experienced. The thing that has me puzzled is the anti-skating adjustment.
There is a rod protruding from a block mounted on top of the gimbal (see first picture) that suspends a small counterweight on a thin wire. The owner's manual refers to this as the "Inside Force Canceler (Anti-Skating).” To quote the manual: "Position the loop of the bias weight in the groove corresponding to the stylus pressure being used." The center groove, marked in red, corresponds to 2 grams which I am using with the Shure M75E cartridge. So far, so good.
Now it gets confusing for me. The sliding cylindrical weight on the right side of the gimbal is referred to as the “Lateral Weight.” Instructions for the lateral weight read, “To adjust the lateral balance of the arm, move the lateral weight in the direction of the arrows until the arm stops swinging over one way or the other, while raising the rear bottom edge (hinged side) of the SR-1050C about four inches.” (The 1050C is the same tone arm as the 2050C/E but without auto lift-off.)
I followed the instructions with the exception of lifting the rear only 3”+ rather than four which seemed too precarious. I was able to balance the arm in the lateral plane doing this. However, when I returned the turntable to a level position, the tone arm would swing back to the rest regardless of the setting of the lateral weight. The second and third photos are of the turntable propped up and the arm stationary above the platter.
One thing that could factor into the equation is the fact that the M97E is mounted as far forward as possible in the head shell but still doesn’t quite meet the overhang specified by Sansui.
I’ve always thought that if an arm was balanced in the lateral plane that it would remain motionless at any point above the platter. So, what’s the difference between an anti-skating adjustment and lateral balance? Why can’t I balance the tone arm in the lateral plane with the turntable sitting level and what is the purpose/interaction of the two weights? Can someone who was paying better attention in physics class help me out here? Thanks…
There is a rod protruding from a block mounted on top of the gimbal (see first picture) that suspends a small counterweight on a thin wire. The owner's manual refers to this as the "Inside Force Canceler (Anti-Skating).” To quote the manual: "Position the loop of the bias weight in the groove corresponding to the stylus pressure being used." The center groove, marked in red, corresponds to 2 grams which I am using with the Shure M75E cartridge. So far, so good.
Now it gets confusing for me. The sliding cylindrical weight on the right side of the gimbal is referred to as the “Lateral Weight.” Instructions for the lateral weight read, “To adjust the lateral balance of the arm, move the lateral weight in the direction of the arrows until the arm stops swinging over one way or the other, while raising the rear bottom edge (hinged side) of the SR-1050C about four inches.” (The 1050C is the same tone arm as the 2050C/E but without auto lift-off.)
I followed the instructions with the exception of lifting the rear only 3”+ rather than four which seemed too precarious. I was able to balance the arm in the lateral plane doing this. However, when I returned the turntable to a level position, the tone arm would swing back to the rest regardless of the setting of the lateral weight. The second and third photos are of the turntable propped up and the arm stationary above the platter.
One thing that could factor into the equation is the fact that the M97E is mounted as far forward as possible in the head shell but still doesn’t quite meet the overhang specified by Sansui.
I’ve always thought that if an arm was balanced in the lateral plane that it would remain motionless at any point above the platter. So, what’s the difference between an anti-skating adjustment and lateral balance? Why can’t I balance the tone arm in the lateral plane with the turntable sitting level and what is the purpose/interaction of the two weights? Can someone who was paying better attention in physics class help me out here? Thanks…