Why are records still warped?

Because records are one of the most inherently flawed yet still loved inventions of all time.

Next time you are on a rollercoaster, pretend the track is the groove and that you are the stylus trying to track it.

See what I mean? :^)

Actually riding a rollercoaster is nothing compared to what a stylus has to do to track a record, especially when the modulations associated with big dynamics and good transients start to hit. And in stereo none the less.

No wonder we love the things. Its amazing that they work as well as they do, warps and all.

Well, I guess they made roller coaster better back in the day. Of course it is a system that is plagued with potential issues.....we all know that....but it is not an excuse for the poor quality control that is being pushed out today when compared with years past.

The biggest frustration is that taking warps, dish issues and at times poor pressings a side today's pressing would sound significantly better than yesterday's records. Sometimes it just takes returning a bad copy over and over again until a clean copy is found.

If consumers are as diligent as I am it won't take long before the pressing plants are force to improve their QC...or else they will be losing money.

My fear is that they will abandon it due profit margins, as well as the consumer due to frustration with bad sound.

BTW.....now is the time to buy used cd s. ...they can be had for a dollar...or so.

Effischer,
I share your frustration. Bdp24 explained it in a nutshell.
I think the criminal lack of quality control at pressing plants is to a large degree caused by the huge jump in vinyl popularity in recent years and everyone jumping on the bandwagon trying to capitalize on it. I know for a fact that RTI can't keep up with with orders so they probably rush the process as Bdp24 explained. And as much as I admire and am grateful to people like Kassem for doing great things for analog enthusiasts, Acoustic Sounds doesn't fare much better in comparison to the rest of the market in my experience, which is inexplicable to me. I had to exchange an AS Norah Jones record, which was not only warped and noisy but also pressed off-center. My Stevie Ray Vaughan 33.3 box has pretty much each of the six records warped to a degree, at least on one side. Fremer is all over AS and how perfect the pressings are, probably to keep those test pressings coming his way. If Kassem can't get it right, the future for new vinyl is rather grim, the amazing resurgence of vinyl in general notwithstanding.

Spot-on, Bdp24. We know better, spend the bucks, know how to be squeaky wheels when quality is poor, so why?

For those interested, I use a Sota Reflex clamp. Works well but ca't fix ripples or a dish. My Graham/DV combo tracks warps superbly, but that doesn't make them disappear. A vacuum table can address some of that stuff, but at price of noise, cube and cost.

Better just to make flat records to begin with. Especially with so-called "audiophile" pressings. Also helps newbies acquire the addiction. I'm fairly sure that warp largely starts at the manufacturing end, too. Otherwise, how could so many used records ranging from played-out junk to still-sealed Holy Grails be perfectly flat?

Case in point: A NOS RCA reissue copy of a Broadway play originally recorded in 1964 and pressed in 1974, wafer thin and flexible, purchased from Georgia and delivered to Ohio during the deepest of February's deep-freezes, flat. Still had the original price sticker from whatever out-of-business retailer and has gone through who-knows-how-many hands.

Storage, methinks, is as much of a much. Especially considering the Hampton pressing I mentioned before. Owned at one point by a frat guy according to the hand-written note on the back cover and was purchased out of a basement vintage shop under a bar in the dead of winter.

I am resolved to squeak more when new vinyl is warped. Right after I get a Vinyl Flat to try and fix the ones that can't be sent back.

Edit above: "Storage, methinks, is not as much of a much." Sorry, proof-reading is not my strongest suit.