Heavy Vinyl

Thanks for all the replies. I think, maybe I have a different definition of warped because its a very exceptional record that is truly flat in the first place.

Picking up on something else in the discussion, I don't buy much new vinyl because I'm not interested in anything sourced from a digital file (which is pretty much everything contemporary) but such recent vinyl as I have bought has been disappointing in terms of the quality of the vinyl and associated noise. This is even after ultrasonic cleaning, so it's intrinsic to the vinyl stock itself.

@relayer101 - I agree, Analog Productions work is excellent.

My comment about not buying much new vinyl relates to new releases of new music rather than reissued material. I've more existing vinyl than I can practically get around to listening to while keeping up with new releases in recorded on digital.

@terraplanebob. That's probably the main reason people use VTA adjusters on their tonearms. Personally, I set my tonearm to an average between a standard pressing and 180g. Geometrically, the deviation in SRA from that average is very small across different records. In addition, SRA is changing dynamically in response to the modulation of the grooves and tracking warps.

@vinylandtubes. There is a certain logic to the "absorb vibrations" theory. But of course that is going to be system dependent according to how the record interfaces with the platter material. I agree that a lot of the "heavy vinyl" marketing of a lot of commercial releases is for marketing purposes. However, to be fair, I have come across some commercial releases - the Plant / Krauss Raising Sand album and Jackson Browne's Downhill from Everywhere, both of which have exceptionally good quality pressings. I wonder if that's because the artists involved are the kind of people whom one might expect to take more than a passing interest in how their work is presented?