Record mats, what you guys and ladies using . .

jimdgoulding · « **on:** 23 Oct 2011, 02:36 am »

I use an Oracle mat myself- beats the one that came with my TT nicely- but I've got an old Marcof glass mat around here somewhere with a very fibrous paper cover that I'm itching to play with. What you guys and ladies use, have used, and would recommend? Thanks.

Delta Wave · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 02:42 am »

I use the Funk Firm Achromat, I've put it on three different decks thus far... deep, tight bass & pitch black backgrounds...

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 02:49 am »

I could use some of that tight bass. The Oracle I'm using allows for deeper bass extention than what it replaced but it's a might loose. Thanks.

RPM123 · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 03:47 am »

Herbies mat on an acrylic platter!

*Scotty* · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 05:18 am »

I use an old blue Platter Matter on an 11lb. lead platter.
Scotty

DaveyW · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 08:05 am »

I'm still using one of Bammer's Deer Hide mats on the Sondek.
Key benefit over the std. Linn felt item - No Static charge build up

andyr · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 09:08 am »

Quote from: DaveyW on 23 Oct 2011, 08:05 am

I'm still using one of Bammer's Deer Hide mats on the Sondek.
Key benefit over the std. Linn felt item - No Static charge build up

I also use a leather mat (suede side up - but not deerhide) on my LP12 but I use it because it sounds better than the stock felt mat!

I don't get any static charge, BTW.

Regards,

Andy

orthobiz · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 10:33 am »

Linn felt on my LP12
No mat on the VPI

Paul

Wayner · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 06:31 pm »

I have lots of platter mats. It's interesting how the designs and materials are all different. I think one thing is for sure. You can change the sound of your turntable drastically by changing the mat.

I'm not in the bare platter camp, as I think it's important to have something in-between the record and a hard surface, like the steel platter surface of a VPI classic, for example.

I have noticed that hard rubber mats, like the ones found on many direct drive decks (Technics, Sony), seem to rob some of the high frequency detail, making them sound somewhat "dark". Perhaps, (theory) the heavy rubber mat is absorbing some of the information from the groove. Other mats, like the one on my old Empire 598 are a molded rubber mat, but offer only a rib to support the outer record. This helps with warps and I think it is less absorbent of information, but just a guess here too. I certainly do not like the felt mats. They accumulate static, and are uneven (do not lay flat).

Wayner

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 07:26 pm »

No mat on the SME 20/2.

Laura

DaveyW · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 08:35 pm »

Quote from: andyr on 23 Oct 2011, 09:08 am

I also use a leather mat (suede side up - but not deerhide) on my LP12 but I use it because it sounds better than the stock felt mat! I don't get any static charge, BTW.

Regards,

Andy

Interesting stuff Andy,

Sonically I didn't perceive any real benefit in the hide mat ...... but, I took a pretty radical step some months ago to move my TT and amplification into the adjacent room to my speakers and listening couch principally for furniture layout reasons, a benefit being that it removes any form of air/structure bourne vibration reaching the deck.
It's not proven to be too inconvenient and I've left the set up like this.
This arrangement may be influencing the level of impact an alternative platter mat may make

I'm using it suede side down as I found it easier to clean any dust that may land on it (using a Carbon Fibre brush).
Will try flipping it over when I next get a bit of spare down time and see what it gives.

Cheers
Dave

Photon46 · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 12:02 am »

After trying carbon fiber and the stock felt mat that came on my Acoustic Solid (very heavy and thick aluminum platter), I've been been very happy with the graphite 3mm Boston Audio Mat 1. Their mats are on the pricier end of the spectrum, but their products function exactly as advertised in my experience.

BaMorin · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 12:27 am »

My mat looks just like the one DaveyW has...........from the same deer actually

anybody want to try one and give their $0.02 of it?

I'll be home by next weekend.

you can contact me easiest here >>~~~> BaMorin@AOL.com

neobop · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 12:35 pm »

I like acetyl (delrin) mats or platters. These sound more "right" than anything else IMO. The same or similar materials were used by Goldmund platters (methacrylate) and Sota supermat. They are different from acrylic. I have an acrylic mat and I often like it better with another mat on top, usually a woven type. With acetyl I use no other mat on top. It's a little hard to generalize because there seems to be different formulations of these materials, especially acrylic, with different physical properties, like hardness.
http://www.appliedfidelity.com/
neo

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 04:15 pm »

I have a Nottingham space deck and it came standard with an inexpensive looking (cheap?) foam mat. I've used the space deck with and without the foam mat and I prefer the sound with the mat. There is less static build up with the foam mat in place and it sounds more natural to me with the mat.

I purchased a Boston Audio Mat 1 to replace the standard foam mat because that seemed like the logical upgrade for my basic space deck platter. (Nottingham uses carbon on top of their more expensive platters.) I liked what the Boston Audio mat did for the sound but I got tired of the static charge that it created with every play of a record. So, I put the stock foam mat on top of the Boston Audio mat and I seem to have the best of both worlds now. Better sound, no static. I suppose I need to go back and try the foam mat without the Boston mat again just to re-evaluate. It's been a while since I've done that.

Anyway, I'm not sure if it is a bad idea to use a foam mat on top of a carbon mat but it seems to work well in my case. FWIW, when you place the Boston Audio mat on top of the platter, it kind of seats itself onto the platter. It does not move or slide around easily and it appears to become part of the platter. On the other hand the foam mat is ultra light, it works more like an isolator (I think), it can slide around easily without a record on it, and it often comes off of the platter when you flip a record over. It also keeps the static way down.

rollo · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 06:06 pm »

Herbies mat for our LP-12. No static, more dynamic with a purer topend.

charles
SMA

xsb7244 · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 07:03 pm »

I use the KAB Technics Super mat. I like to know more about the Trans-Fi Audio Reso-Mat.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 07:08 pm »

Quiet- I want a Space Deck! I want a Space Deck!

jjc1 · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 08:16 pm »

Clearaudio Performance, NO MAT! Sounds great as it is.

Photon46 · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 Oct 2011, 11:14 pm »

Quote from: Quiet Earth on 24 Oct 2011, 04:15 pm

I purchased a Boston Audio Mat 1 to replace the standard foam mat because that seemed like the logical upgrade for my basic space deck platter. (Nottingham uses carbon on top of their more expensive platters.) I liked what the Boston Audio mat did for the sound but I got tired of the static charge that it created with every play of a record. So, I put the stock foam mat on top of the Boston Audio mat and I seem to have the best of both worlds now. Better sound, no static. I suppose I need to go back and try the foam mat without the Boston mat again just to re-evaluate. It's been a while since I've done that.

I found that using an anti-static brush for a few rotations prior to removal discharges that pesky static
electricity. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Kinetronics-StaticWisk-SW-060-Antistatic-brush/dp/B00009R7XR