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SME IV Tonearm and Warped Records

I love my SME turntable and tonearm, but one frustration I have is that warped records will bump the base of the tonearm as it tracks toward the end of a record side.  The taper in this tonearm design does not allow for much clearance from the record edge.  I can raise the tonearm in the mount, increasing the VTA, but the sound is not as good, so I do not consider this a good option.  I guess I am left to only play flat records, or buy one of the devices to flatten warped records.  Or, I can replace my tonearm, but I'd rather not do that.  

Anyone else experience this issue and solve it in ways I have not considered?
snackeyp

Showing 2 responses by slaw

slaw's avatar
slaw
22,694 posts
 
@invictus005,

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

Have you no heart? Have you no soul?
slaw's avatar
slaw
22,694 posts
 
@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.





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