SME IV Tonearm and Warped Records

@snackeyp,

I agree with vusi-khumalo. Adding a spacer isn’t an ideal solution, if you like your cartridge/arm it is an easy inexpensive fix. I made one out of carbon fiber for my ET 2.5 arm when I bought an Acutex 420 STR as the cartridge pins are at such an angle that I could not attach the leads.

@invictus005,

The top of the cartridge/parallel approach is just a good starting point. The magic happens when you spend some time further dialing it in.

I use a heavy outer ring and a center record weight. They flatten all my moderately warped records very well.

@cjaronica Why not just throw the warped records away and get flat ones?

@invictus005,

"why not throw the warped records away and get flat ones?"

Have you no heart? Have you no soul?

Thanks for all the feedback on this issue.
I had this issue since I first got the TT.  I have already added a spacer between the cartridge and arm, which helped a lot.  After doing that I hadn't had any problems in a long time.  The other night I was playing a brand new record from Deutsch Grammaphone and the first side played fine, but when I flipped it over I discovered it had a dish warp.  Side one was the outside of the dish and side two was the inside.  The outer edge of the record was at least 2mm higher than the center on side 2.  
To be honest, a lot of brand new vinyl has issues with warpage.  Even when the tonearm doesn't bump the record, I am still certain that they are not providing the best sound.  Dead flat vinyl tends to sound the best.
Also, I have a Kiseki Purple Heart cartridge.  I should have mentioned this in my first post.  I had the same issue with the previous cartridge (Lyra Delos) but it got worse when I switched to the Purple Heart.