Post by Citroen on Jan 30, 2017 19:30:51 GMT 12
I must admit that I like to try cheap upgrades to my turntables. One way is isolation feet, and another is the mat. I've tried many different kinds of mats on my turntables - from none, to felt, drawer liner, leather, cork, rubber, graphite amongst many others. Last few years using an Auditorium Hommage mat on my main turntable. Mostly subtle differences. Until I tried an Achromat! Same 5mm thickness as the Hommage so no VTA change necessary. Immediate reaction "ew, this sounds good. Must play another lp", and another, and another. A few weeks later and still mightily impressed. It might as well have been a new cartridge. Yes, this mat makes one hell of a difference! So what are your experiences?
|
Post by michaelw on Jan 30, 2017 20:11:51 GMT 12
tried a few over the years on various turntables. rega planar 3 - best with supplied felt mat linn sondek - rubber yuk, felt good, record interface acrylic mat best. well tempered turntable - naked acrylic platter best. sp10 - herbies way excellent mat best so far, beats the stock rubber, felt, doggett. anyone got a spare microseiki cu180 copper mat ?
|
Post by deano1974 on Jan 30, 2017 22:08:17 GMT 12
I just strated using the clearaudio harmonica mat made of vinyl and wow the sonics of this mat are amazing, i was a little hesitant after trying many different ones but man this mat is utterly superb
Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI
|
Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jan 30, 2017 22:23:05 GMT 12
With the Garrard 401 I used an Auditorium A23 mat and sounded fine to me so didn't try any others. When I had the VPI Classic 1 I tried a couple of mats and always went back to no mat at all (as suggested by VPI).
|
Pundit
Post by neilsan on Jan 31, 2017 15:07:40 GMT 12
My 401 has the mat from another deck with a cork mat stuck on it.For years I used a leather/suede mat. The sp10...at present I'm trying out the ringmat on top of a drawer liner as it's too low on it's own.Sounds great.Haven't had time to tutoo.
|
Post by Citroen on Jan 31, 2017 21:45:21 GMT 12
tried a few over the years on various turntables. rega planar 3 - best with supplied felt mat linn sondek - rubber yuk, felt good, record interface acrylic mat best. well tempered turntable - naked acrylic platter best. sp10 - herbies way excellent mat best so far, beats the stock rubber, felt, doggett. anyone got a spare microseiki cu180 copper mat ? Wouldn't mind trying one of those copper mats too!
|
Post by Citroen on Jan 31, 2017 21:56:24 GMT 12
With the Garrard 401 I used an Auditorium A23 mat and sounded fine to me so didn't try any others. When I had the VPI Classic 1 I tried a couple of mats and always went back to no mat at all (as suggested by VPI). Jan 31, 2017 16:07:40 GMT 13 neilsan said: My 401 has the mat from another deck with a cork mat stuck on it.For years I used a leather/suede mat. The sp10...at present I'm trying out the ringmat on top of a drawer liner as it's too low on it's own.Sounds great.Haven't had time to tutoo. My 401 seems to work best with the Resomat, lifts the album off the platter rather than directly coupling it.
|
Post by michaelw on Jan 31, 2017 22:41:58 GMT 12
addendum... back in my linn days i also tried the sticky oracle mat, which lifted lp12 performance above the oracle delphi.
|
Post by Graham on Feb 1, 2017 7:38:39 GMT 12
addendum... back in my linn days i also tried the sticky oracle mat, which lifted lp12 performance above the oracle delphi.
Gasp !!!! You realise that is blasphemy. Graham
|
Post by foveaux on Feb 1, 2017 15:02:11 GMT 12
Thanks for this thread TT mats is on my list of 'to do/investigate' Tonight I'll start - and try the WT Simplex without the standard mat, LP direct to platter p.s. I'd bookmarked this one - any local users? herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm
"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]
"Free - I miss that band, but when I look back, we were very young" [Paul Rodgers]
848 posts
|
Post by michaelw on Feb 1, 2017 15:16:07 GMT 12
i am not alone ... david a wilson from the absolute sound december 1983
|
Post by Owen Y on Feb 1, 2017 15:16:19 GMT 12
Of course, don't forget to (re)adjust VTA
|
Post by Citroen on Feb 1, 2017 15:52:58 GMT 12
Thanks for this thread TT mats is on my list of 'to do/investigate' Tonight I'll start - and try the WT Simplex without the standard mat, LP direct to platter p.s. I'd bookmarked this one - any local users? herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm I missed out on a fixed price offer on Trade Me of a Herbie's Way Excellent II mat for only $65 about 2 weeks ago. If the Simplex behaves anything like the Amadeus then I found the Auditorium A23 mat to work really well.
|
Post by michaelw on Feb 1, 2017 16:09:46 GMT 12
i have a herbies on my sp10
|
Post by Citroen on Feb 2, 2017 16:57:18 GMT 12
Thanks for this thread TT mats is on my list of 'to do/investigate' Tonight I'll start - and try the WT Simplex without the standard mat, LP direct to platter p.s. I'd bookmarked this one - any local users? herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm What are your initial early impressions sans mat?
|
Post by foveaux on Feb 7, 2017 16:56:03 GMT 12
What are your initial early impressions sans mat? Hi Citroen Still a work in progress, incl. another session last night: Paul Buchanan - Mid Air Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus (MFSL) Steve Wilson - Transience Eno - Lux Jakob Bro - Gefion I'm inclining towards michaelw's view: well tempered turntable - naked acrylic platter best. To my ears the difference between the standard mat and no mat is subtle. One thing I'm sure on tho': sans mat - vocals are better separated and clearer. I didn't expect this and this finding could be the clincher for future listening... However, niggling away is the desire to try a 'specialist' mat. What are chaps experience of going to a specialist mat with a WT TT c.f. sans mat and WT standard mat? (Owen - VTA all sorted fine!)
"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]
"Free - I miss that band, but when I look back, we were very young" [Paul Rodgers]
848 posts
|
Post by michaelw on Feb 7, 2017 17:09:54 GMT 12
please remind me - which wt do you have ?
when i tried a wt amadeus gta - the stock fuzzy mat was best in my system
|
Post by foveaux on Feb 8, 2017 6:58:05 GMT 12
Hi michael WT Simplex - has the fuzzy mat
"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]
"Free - I miss that band, but when I look back, we were very young" [Paul Rodgers]
848 posts
|
Post by Citroen on Sept 18, 2018 17:35:35 GMT 12
anyone got a spare microseiki cu180 copper mat ? I wish, but maybe next best thing Puresounds Tenuto copper alloy mat
|
Post by michaelw on Sept 18, 2018 20:00:52 GMT 12
did you buy one ? i contacted guy at puresound, got one reply then silence.
can the aura spin it to speed in a timely manner
|
Post by Citroen on Sept 19, 2018 7:09:40 GMT 12
I bought it for the 401 but of course had to try it on the Aura. And it's sounding damn fine. Guy got back to me straight away, answering my queries the same day. Postage was very expensive but it arrived 5 days later. Oh, and I normally give the Aura a helping hand on start up anyway
|
Pundit
Post by neilsan on Sept 19, 2018 7:57:17 GMT 12
Use my herbies mat on both my sp10/2 and my 401.Have decided for now that I've done enough fiddling round trying to hear a difference! Used a soft leather mat for years because I preferred it,now happy with the Herbies.
|
Post by Owen Y on Sept 19, 2018 10:00:36 GMT 12
Hmmm some thoughts... As the vinyl disc sits directly on it, there's a lot of things happening with a platter mat.... - absorption or reflections of stylus/groove energy back to the cartridge - distortion of specific tone/s due to the platter (mat) material's own resonant behaviour - micro-movement/s of the record itself from the stylus 'drag', rotational & up & down movement of the record - ie slippery mats vs sticky mats - flat mats vs dished mats & whether you use a clamp
|
Member
Post by paul300b on Sept 20, 2018 19:47:00 GMT 12
Interestingly I have been reading the Hifi News magazine review of the new Technics sl-1000r turntable. David Price measured it and said " What this graph also reveals is the reduction in noise off the LP, with a through-groove figure of –75dB (DIN-B wtd). This is a full 5-6dB (or half the noise) obtained from some other high-end decks we’ve tested, so there’s clearly merit not only in 21st century direct drive but also 20th century rubber mats... " Half the noise! Whoa. Is rubber so bad?
|
Post by Owen Y on Sept 21, 2018 12:17:37 GMT 12
I'd say that 'noise reduction' isn't necessarily everything. Sometimes the best 'damped' materials or 'quietest' devices, aren't the best sounding - musically. IMHO of course
|
Post by michaelw on Sept 21, 2018 14:30:24 GMT 12
the original sp10 mk2 rubber mat isn't bad, if it's in good condition.
unfortunately mine has warped and cracked.
|
Member
Post by paul300b on Sept 21, 2018 15:54:11 GMT 12
I'd say that 'noise reduction' isn't necessarily everything. Sometimes the best 'damped' materials or 'quietest' devices, aren't the best sounding - musically. IMHO of course It's not everything agreed, (eg, awfully quite but awfully boring solid state amps vs a hissy but dynamic valve amp) but very desirable not having added vibration in a vibration sensing machine IMHO
|
Post by michaelw on Oct 16, 2018 12:56:20 GMT 12
i haz puresound tenuto gunmetal mat
|
Post by Citroen on Oct 16, 2018 14:42:05 GMT 12
Excellent. So what are your first impressions? If you don't like it I could be tempted to take it off your hands, at a cut rate price of course!
|
Post by michaelw on Oct 16, 2018 15:26:13 GMT 12
just got it unpacked. it's well made, not perfectly flat, just a teeny ripple. first record i put on slipped under pressure of my record brush. a bit of static build up too. sonically, it's quite different to my herbies. the tenuto sounds more incisive, spatial, detailed, neutral. more later... you already have one !
|