There are warps and warps.....
The nasty ones are what I call ’short wave warps’, usually only at the edge of the record, so a record weight or clamp won’t do you any good. These are hard to detect without spinning the disc on a turntable, but most shops have them around, so you can always check. Some cartridges are better than others in navigating them, but in all cases it puts some stress on the suspension. You should avoid these.
The ’long wave warps’ are more comfortable for most cartridges to track and don’t put stress on the suspension. You can buy these without any worries.
Finally there are the ’dish shaped’ ones. One side can be flattened by a record weight or clamp, so you’ll be fine. But for the other side, when the outer edge of the disc is (much) higher then the centre, you’re in trouble. Both VTA and azimuth are totally screwed up and the only solution here is to use an outer ring to flatten it.
The nasty ones are what I call ’short wave warps’, usually only at the edge of the record, so a record weight or clamp won’t do you any good. These are hard to detect without spinning the disc on a turntable, but most shops have them around, so you can always check. Some cartridges are better than others in navigating them, but in all cases it puts some stress on the suspension. You should avoid these.
The ’long wave warps’ are more comfortable for most cartridges to track and don’t put stress on the suspension. You can buy these without any worries.
Finally there are the ’dish shaped’ ones. One side can be flattened by a record weight or clamp, so you’ll be fine. But for the other side, when the outer edge of the disc is (much) higher then the centre, you’re in trouble. Both VTA and azimuth are totally screwed up and the only solution here is to use an outer ring to flatten it.