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Can not balance Audio-Technica LP120X USB tonearm

ovi.sergiu

ovi.sergiu

New Member
I recently bought an Audio-Technica LP120x USB, and I spent hours watching YouTube videos regarding the tone arm balancing but man, I just can not do it. My tonearm either floats way up or stays on the platter.
In the movie I posted I set the anti-skating to zero and I insert the counter weight and started to slide it easily in order to make the tonearm to float above the platter.


 
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I'm not quite sure what you're doing but you don't need to "insert" the counter-weight every time, as it should be kept on the tonearm. Also, on most turntables (and undoubtedly on the AT-LP120), you don't slide the counter-weight by pushing it but by rotating it - perhaps you are already doing this.

One approach to getting the arm to float is a "binary chop". So, if the arm initially moves down with a certain setting on the tracking-force scale, rotate the counter-weight to a lighter setting (although this may take you over the '0' line). If it now moves up then try the setting half-way between. Continue like this until the arm floats.

Then you need to rotate JUST the tracking-force scale to the '0' position - a common mistake is to rotate the whole counter-weight at this stage. Then you can rotate the whole counter-weight (including the scale) until you achieve the desired tracking force (2g for the AT-VM95E) and set the anti-skating to the same value.
 
No offense, but the video doesn't provide any information about your problem.
Crab33 has it right. The only addition I would make is to get a sacrificial record, and place it on the mat, in case your manipulation of the tonearm counterweight causes the arm to swing. Having the stylus exposed to the felt mat might result in a sideways swing of the tonearm taking the stylus off the cantilever.

You can't be too far off, as the arm drops when the cuing cycle begins. So, just back the counterweight off, a bit, until you see the tonearm start to rise. When it's balanced, then reset the dial, without moving the counterweight. Then set your desired downforce.
 
ovi.sergiu said:
I recently bought an Audio-Technica LP120x USB, and I spent hours watching YouTube videos regarding the tone arm balancing but man, I just can not do it. My tonearm either floats way up or stays on the platter.
Click to expand...
Good points have already been made, but if you haven't seen it yet, AT put out a set-up video for the LP120XUSB that runs just a few minutes (link below). I think it illustrates the process fairly well. You'll note in that video that when the arm was balanced, the stylus force gauge dial happened to end up at 1.5 grams, but it could have ended up anywhere on the dial. Once the arm is balanced, you simply rotate that front indicator dial to zero, then use the grip at the rear of the counterweight to rotate to the 2 gram setting.

On my LP120XUSB, there is still a bit of antiskate force even when that dial is set to zero. This is not uncommon, and my Rega turntable does the same thing. This isn't a problem, but it does mean the arm might tend to drift back to the tone arm rest while you are zero balancing the arm.

 
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jrtrent said:
On my LP120XUSB, there is still a bit of antiskate force even when that dial is set to zero. This is not uncommon, and my Rega turntable does the same thing. This isn't a problem, but it does mean the arm might tend to drift back to the tone arm rest while you are zero balancing the arm.

Click to expand...
Indeed. I have exactly the same thing on my "older" LP120 USB. Even at "0", the arm will slowly move to its resting position. Either way, still much better than having no AS at all.
 
If they couldn't do it right they shouldn't of done it at all, AudioTechnica/Hanpin. Uturn managed to design a table without AS and it works just fine.
 
majick47 said:
If they couldn't do it right they shouldn't of done it at all, AudioTechnica/Hanpin. Uturn managed to design a table without AS and it works just fine.
Click to expand...
U-Turn's website says:

"On our original tonearm, some anti-skate force was applied via damping of the unipivot bearing. This damping is not possible with the new gimbal bearing, so we designed an anti-skate mechanism (consisting of a small spring that is pre-set at the factory) that provides a small amount of outward force to counteract inward skating force."

Having non-adjustable anti-skate once seemed odd to me, but Rega does the same with their current Planar 1 and Planar 2 models, and the arm on the Stanalog-sourced Well Tempered Record Player I bought in 2008 also had non-adjustable anti-skate.
 
jrtrent said:
Good points have already been made, but if you haven't seen it yet, AT put out a set-up video for the LP120XUSB that runs just a few minutes (link below). I think it illustrates the process fairly well. You'll note in that video that when the arm was balanced, the stylus force gauge dial happened to end up at 1.5 grams, but it could have ended up anywhere on the dial. Once the arm is balanced, you simply rotate that front indicator dial to zero, then use the grip at the rear of the counterweight to rotate to the 2 gram setting.

On my LP120XUSB, there is still a bit of antiskate force even when that dial is set to zero. This is not uncommon, and my Rega turntable does the same thing. This isn't a problem, but it does mean the arm might tend to drift back to the tone arm rest while you are zero balancing the arm.

Click to expand...

I watched the video. A good refresher in that I think I've been ignoring a couple things I need to (re)check. The video states that the TT cover should be taken off when records are being played. I don't think I've ever heard that before. Is that necessary? If so, why? I thought the cover was beneficial when records were being played because it protects the record from dust.
 
misterjones said:
I watched the video. A good refresher in that I think I've been ignoring a couple things I need to (re)check. The video states that the TT cover should be taken off when records are being played. I don't think I've ever heard that before. Is that necessary? If so, why? I thought the cover was beneficial when records were being played because it protects the record from dust.
Click to expand...
The owner's manual also says to remove the dust cover. Some people find that a dust cover can pick up vibrations from the air while music is playing and transmit this to the turntable, and that this vibration degrades the sound. Opening and closing the dustcover in a rough way could also jar the 'table and cause the stylus to bounce around on the record.

I don't bother removing mine; I just leave it up while playing a record. I've never owned a 'table where I heard sonic degradation from this, but then I don't listen at high volume levels and my speakers have little output below 60 Hz. In a different environment, having the dust cover off might make a difference.

A Rega manual says, "Keeping the lid closed while playing records will prevent dust falling on to the record surface and should make cleaning unnecessary. Depending on the room environment and ambient temperature, playing with the lid open may offer sonic improvements. You can experiment to optimise the performance best suited to your room." I also say just experiment and see if there's any difference for you whether the lid is up, down, or off.
 
I put a weight on top of the dustcover to reduce resonance. :)

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jrtrent said:
U-Turn's website says:

"On our original tonearm, some anti-skate force was applied via damping of the unipivot bearing. This damping is not possible with the new gimbal bearing, so we designed an anti-skate mechanism (consisting of a small spring that is pre-set at the factory) that provides a small amount of outward force to counteract inward skating force."

Having non-adjustable anti-skate once seemed odd to me, but Rega does the same with their current Planar 1 and Planar 2 models, and the arm on the Stanalog-sourced Well Tempered Record Player I bought in 2008 also had non-adjustable anti-skate.
Click to expand...

AR designed them without AS, many years before there was a U-Turn, so did Gray Laboratories, Rek-O-Kut and others.
 
English is not my mother language and this time I was not able to explain correctly what I wanted. I am sorry.
In the meantime I bought a digital scale for measuring tracking force and I could see I have the 2,53 g with the setup I already did. So I managed to do it!
Thank you for understanding and for your messages. I truly appreciate it.
 
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