From my experience, antiskate calibration is not a rigid standard and is based on several dependencies, like type of cart, type of headshell, tracking force, length of tonearm, tonearm mass, type of tonearm pivot, etc. If you are using the Shure M44-7 MM Cart, the antiskate calibration standards for hi-fi listening is ideally 1.5 gms but for DJ and scratching use, it is different. There is an interesting reference mentioned in the manual, which is based on Technics SL1200.
http://cdn.shure.com/user_guide/upload/765/us_pro_dj-cartridges_ug.pdf
I was once advised by an experienced friend to use standard 1.5 gms for all Shure cartridges, this turned out to be similar what my dad used for his Shure M75-6 back in the day.
The correct way to get this calibration right is to use a plain 12 inch disc (without grooves), a thin piece of perspex cut in the shape of a 12 inch record will do. Change the stylus on your cart to an old used one of similar type (not that this matters, but just in case). Set the anti-skate to 0, start spinning the platter and lower the tonearm on to the disk. In normal circumstances, the stylus will skip across the disk towards to label area and auto return (if the facility is available). This is to check if your tonearm moves freely. If the stylus does not skip across to the centre, you'd need to run a check on your tonearm's pivot and overall moveability (or your tone arm may have the anti-skate factor already accomodated)
Now, set the antiskate to a higher value, lower the stylus on to the disk, the tonearm should stay put in the same position. By trial and error, you have to reduce the anti-skate force till you reach a point just before the tonearm skips towards the centre. You now have your ideal antiskate calibration. Revert back to your regular stylus and enjoy the music (remember only the stylus is changed, not the cart).
I tried this method on my SL3200 and arrived at the 2 gms antiskate setting for my M44-7 in original Technics OEM headshell.
On another note, calibrate the tracking force first and then attempt to calibrate the anti-skate. Pundits would say, for higher tracking force, less anti-skate is used. In the old ceramic cartridge based record players of old, there was no requirement for antiskate as the ceramic cart tracking at 5 gms or 7gms would push the stylus down into the grooves. Again some old record players cleverly used to tonearm wiring to provide required antiskate force. Interesting concepts.
Hope this helps.
Note: As per audiophile jargon, Turntable referes to a vinyl disk player used for hi-fi listening while record player refers to either a portable vinyl disk player or a low-fi vinyl disk player. I have used this context.
