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How best to eliminate LP warps

I own about 2500 LPs, and I like to think they're flat.  Furthermore, I espoused the view that warped LPs ought to be discarded.  But lately I have found 2 or 3 of my LPs that do have warps but sound too good and are too precious for the music recorded on them to throw away.  So I am in the market for ideas on how to remove warps.  I am aware that there was a device on the market that looked like a large waffle maker, to be used for warp removal.  I think Furutech made it, but I never see it advertised these days.  I am also aware of the DIY method of placing an LP between two glass plates and heating the ensemble.  The question there would be how hot and for how long?  Any suggestions are welcome, especially opinions on the efficacy of the Furutech.  Thanks.  Please no comments on vacuum hold down; I think it's a great idea but none of my five turntables has that feature.

lewm
lewm OP
13,120 posts
 

Who knew warps were so popular?

terry9
2,342 posts
 

@mijostyn

"you can not adjust azimuth by ear. You adjust it by site which is easy to do."

Don’t agree. The Koetsu sits so low that even an approximate setting by sight is very difficult to impossible. In any case, sight is approximate to perhaps one degree, unless you have a microscope on a stand with crosshairs, which is registered precisely to the plane of the platter. Otherwise you are at the mercy of too many other variables, such as the construction of the tonearm wand - which is an absolute dealbreaker for me, as my wands are artisanal.

Speaking of USB microscopes, which ones do you find best? I looked a few years ago, and couldn’t find anything useful at less than thousands. A USB microscope would be useful to get me into the ballpark, and keep me there. A real timesaver.

Last, it is quite possible to adjust by ear. I use two tests: choral music in close harmony (Harmonia Mundi has lots of these; looking for ’sweetness’), and folk songs in dialect (looking for clarity of diction). But that’s harder to do without azimuth-on-the-fly.

czarivey
5,946 posts
 

If it's playable warp, don't eliminate it. If it's not playable warp, you can take risk of ironing it through cloth

1971gto455ho's avatar
1971gto455ho
499 posts
 

Don’t buy LPs…get snap crackle and pop cereal instead. Lol

Cheersc

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@terry9, Yes, the Koetsu is a PITA. You do it by placing the tonearm down on a mirror with good light from both sides and your eye or a USB camera directly in front. This technique quadruples your accuracy. The stylus and it's reflection form an hourglass. You simply adjust azimuth until the hourglass stands up perfectly straight. It hardly takes any practice once you get the set up down.

This insistence on using hearing to make accurate adjustments on turntables is bordering on the absurd. Human hearing is in no way shape or form calibrated. It is like trying to use a screwdriver to remove a bolt. Wrong tool for the job. You do yourself, your stylus and your records a gross disservice by doing it that way. I do not mean to be harsh but it is important for everyone to understand this. If you insist your hearing is sufficient for the job than your ego is taller than the rest of you. You will not really hear a difference until your stylus is way out of line. 

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