The 'good enough' antiskating guide.

Antiskatind guide whit no fuss

By Marcellusconi · 2026-04-20 · 4 min read

Writing a blog about music and hi-fi gear is not particularly easy when you have a collection of records and stereo equipment stored in several different boxes across various rooms. But I felt inspired to write about a few things after witnessing too much of what I call "social media idiocy": the tendency among influencers to produce content without knowing what they are talking about.

So, let's talk about the topic of antiskating, which regularly features at the top of the algorithms.

We can start with an important point: there is only one way to calibrate the anti-skating to perfection and that is by using an oscilloscope and a test disk. For 99.9% of us, looking for that kind of precision will be only a waste of time due to the limitations of our hi-fi systems and the age of our ears.

We can also say, yes, the antiskating is a fundamental regulation for the health of our needle and cartridge, to have a good stereo effect and to preserve the condition of our records. But at the same time, we need to know it will affect the quality of the sound of our hi-fi really marginally, we will hear not many differences between a perfect and a ‘good enough’ calibration, and a cheap all-in-one or economic turntable will have almost no improvement in terms of quality of sound. Cheap equipment most of the time results in cheap sound and going mental with the antiskating will not change that.

Not so long ago, the majority of printings were in mono and the microgrooves were created to be read by spherical needles with a tracking force of 5 to 7 grams on a high mass tonearm making the antiskating totally useless. But, in time, grooves have changed and become mainly stereo and adapted for conical and elliptical needles, with tracking force not above 2.5g for hi-fi use on a low mass tonearm where an instrument to balance centripetal and centrifugal force is essential.

Let's dig deeper into how to do that. Many turntables have a counterweight dial to help calibrate the tracking force but, honestly, I believe the force gauge ring makes sense only in an emergency as a last resort when a drunk dancer collapses on your Technics 1200 and you need to recalibrate the tracking force on the spot. Why use something that will only give you an approximate idea of the real force adopted? Knowing what force the needle presses on the record is the first step for a ‘good enough’ antiskating regulation.

Online you can easily find scales dedicated exactly to reading the tracking force applied. You need one of them, as you need to know which cartridge is mounted on your turntable and if the needle is conical or elliptical to know the exact force to apply, usually suggested on the producer's website.

After that, match the tracking force with the antiskating force and you will be ‘good enough'.

You can also try using the flat surface of a CD: it is another way to get ‘good enough’ antiskating regulation if the tonearm stays in the centre of the platter while rotating at 33.3 rpm. However, the forces created by a groove are not the same as those applied to a needle on a flat surface, and there are many variables that will affect your antiskating.

Because of that, I have a slightly negative view when someone speaks about perfection regarding antiskating, especially if they promote the use of the counterweight dial, where the only way to match all the numbers is with some good video editing.

You'll never have a perfect antiskating force; you'll need to adapt it from time to time, increasing or decreasing it based on temperature or humidity.

Just take it easy and sometimes have a look at your needle to see if it is straight when playing, and you will be 'good enough'.