VMP Magazine

Short of buying a replacement copy of your prized records, there really isn’t a quick and easy way to alleviate the pain of having a bent or warped record on your hands, and buying new isn’t always an option. You might have noticed some people put a clamp over their records while they play them, but those don’t work for every turntable and they don’t actually fix a warped record, they just soften the effects by smashing your record down during playback. Although your perception of an “easy way” to fix a warped record might be wholly different than others in the vinyl-collecting community, simply bending it back the other way is not an option. This guide to flattening warped vinyl records will hopefully get you on track or, at the very least, prevent you from irreparably damaging your records.

You probably wouldn’t be reading about how to fix this problem if it wasn’t already an issue, but general prevention is a good place to begin. So before we jump head-first into ways to fix warping issues, let's start with some basics about vinyl care that might prevent you from having to troubleshoot this issue in the first place.

Since the first person took two Edison cylinders home to their log cabin and put them in the top shelf of their chifferobe, record organization has been a logistical problem for everyone who collects records. Once you seriously start collecting a musical medium — be that MP3s even — how to organize that musical medium in a way that you can find that right song and record at the right time becomes a full time job (well, at least part time, weekends only).

But there’s very little practical advice on how to organize your records. Each record collector is treated as an island: you figure out how to organize your records on your own, without any guidance. So I’m here to help: I’ve assembled 10 different ways to organize your records, and laid out why a person would choose to organize their records that way, and followed that up with which people will find that method most amenable.

Eleven years ago, I sold every CD I’d spent my youth on and set out on the adventure of record collecting. I had no stereo and knew little about what I was getting into. I knew I wanted the mother-of-all-turntables, the Technics SL-1210MK5, and at that time you could still buy them new. Quality speakers would be essential, but I wasn’t willing to dive too deep there, as I wanted to save as much cash as possible for my burgeoning record collection. What took me the longest to understand was why I needed a receiver, and what the hell was a pre-amp? I just wanted to get the music from my turntable to the speakers in the simplest way possible.

I’ve written about turntables and record players many times, and I’ve enthusiastically recommended different setups and stereo equipment to people for years. I love music, first, collecting vinyl as a general practice, second--it’s nice when someone says “what’s this?” and you can hand them a record sleeve instead of your iPhone, just sayin’--and third, like a growing flock of others who share those traits, I enjoy constantly updating my own record player setups to make sure I’m eeking the most out of every record groove on my crowded shelves.

Anyone who has been collecting records for any length of time knows the name Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, or MoFi. They’ve been releasing extremely high quality reissues of classic albums since 1977. In early 2016, MoFi announced that they were were starting production of a line of turntables, cartridges and electronics, showing prototypes at numerous Hi-Fi shows. Earlier this summer, their Michigan based factory released two new turntable designs, the $1999 Ultradeck including their $499 Ultratracker cartridge, and the less expensive Studiodeck, which is priced at $1149 with their $199 StudioTracker cartridge. Here, we will focus on the Ultradeck.

When MoFi announced their new line of turntables, the minimalist industrial design immediately caught my eye. But of course performance is more important than appearance. What's really interesting is that these models were designed in collaboration with Allen Perkins. Perkins is a rock star among turntable designers, normally designing uber performance models for extremely well-heeled buyers - starting at $17,995. After parting with that pile of cash, you'll have to part with several thousand more dollars minimum for a suitable arm and cartridge. Knowing this and looking at a picture and reading the description of the prototype Ultradeck, one would expect a price in the $4,000 to $5,000 range. When prices were announced, coming in much lower than anticipated, I knew I had to try one.

If you wanted an indicator of just how dramatic the resurgence in vinyl has been in recent years, the choice of new turntables at pretty much any price point you can imagine is larger that it has been since the early '80s when vinyl was the default format for home use. The variety is bewildering and this alone would be enough to keep many people poring over the choice available without wanting to consider other options. There are other options though and they can be excellent value.

I am of course referring to the second hand market. The nature of this has changed in recent years—the golden age of extremely good quality turntables being sold off as end of life scrap has come to an end- but in its place has come a much more consistent arrangement where owners upgrading to new models will seek to offset some of the costs of doing so by selling their old turntable. The models on the market will be as variable as their owners but some models are a little more likely to crop up than others.

We've already talked about some holy grail devices but these are some more commonly encountered models that might work out as being useful alternatives to a new turntable. So without further ado, here are some second hand heroes that are worth seeking out.

Between saving up for your $1,000 Holy Grail records and trying to track down that last rare Joy Division EP to fill out your post-punk catalogue, you may have come to the realization that collecting records ain’t cheap. How do you stretch your budget? You don’t want to skimp on buying actual records, and you definitely don’t want to cheap out on speakers or amps.

Aside from buying crappy bootlegs from Germany, the easiest way to cut corners without hearing the fuzzy side-effects pour out of your bookshelf speakers is to buy good, cheap accessories and use them as frequently as possible.

One of the (many) great aspects of vinyl as a medium is that as well as there being several decades of truly great music that can be played as easily as your latest VMP delivery, there is almost as great a reserve of hardware too. While I'm compelled as a reviewer to point out that new turntables offer some of the very highest performance the format has ever delivered, some designs that are no longer in production can more than hold their own.

In the fullness of time, I hope to be able to write a piece on some real world bargains that you can find at yard sales, in free ads and the like but first of all, I'm going to indulge in a little flight of fantasy. Here are five of the greatest, no holds barred decks ever built. They are all perfectly capable of delivering truly incredible vinyl performance years (decades in many cases) after they ceased production. If you find one of these for sale at a price you can stomach, I'd jump in with both feet but injecting a little moment of reality I'm going to try and sum up your chances of actually finding one.

Unlike any other format in common use today (and that 'common' means a nod to you diehard cassette users), Vinyl relies on direct mechanical contact to work. The process of dragging a tiny diamond on the end of a needle through the groove of a record is half precision engineering and half magic but there is one unavoidable side effect. After a period of time that little stylus will wear out. Depending on your existing turntable cartridge, you might be able to simply replace the stylus to bring it back to life but you can also take the opportunity to upgrade it and boost your performance.

The five models listed below have been selected for three reasons. Firstly, as reflects how international Vinyl Me Please is, they are available in almost any country you happen to be in. Secondly, they are priced at a level that won't require you to sell a kidney to secure them. Finally, they all deliver sparkling performance and if you are using an affordable turntable, should give your vinyl playback a significant boost. So, without further ado, here is a quintet of analogue excellence for your consideration.