billyz
Super Member
Nope. I readjusted VTA every time . Always made certain to use the same lp’s too.
Best turntable mats.
- Thread starter Bob C
- Start date
DeadRock
Ideas Guy
The Funk Firm seem to get a lot of love...my Transrotor came w a stock acrylic...just added a spindle/record weight and it sounds just fine to me...
Cheers!
David
Dudeman7
Well-Known Member
I have made several mats out of various materials. Cork, leather, felt and various types of rubber/plastic. They all have their own contributions to the overall sound of my records.
My favorite is a 10" rubber mat that I found online. It was cheap, fits on my Dual 1019 perfectly and it is the correct thickness for single-play VTA without having to shim the cartridge in the headshell sled.
Interestingly, it says right on it that it is a 12" mat but it is clearly 10.5". Otherwise, it would hang over the platter on my turntable.
Soundwise, I think I prefer it to all of the others because it is much denser material. Combined with the heavy platter and a record weight, it provides a super stable platform for the record. I seem to notice more subtle things in records when using it but it still sounds very full and rich.
My favorite is a 10" rubber mat that I found online. It was cheap, fits on my Dual 1019 perfectly and it is the correct thickness for single-play VTA without having to shim the cartridge in the headshell sled.
Interestingly, it says right on it that it is a 12" mat but it is clearly 10.5". Otherwise, it would hang over the platter on my turntable.
Soundwise, I think I prefer it to all of the others because it is much denser material. Combined with the heavy platter and a record weight, it provides a super stable platform for the record. I seem to notice more subtle things in records when using it but it still sounds very full and rich.
doctor fuse
Super Member
I just received a spindle extender in the mail for my Lenco L70, to stack a glass Rega platter on top. Now that I have done this (with a cork mat between the two platters) my Music Mat - which sounded a bit dead and over-damped with the stock single platter - now sounds really nice. Go figure…
Nope, at least not in my experience as I have VTA on the fly with my arm and set to the same VTA adjusted per the mat being used yielded different sound with each one.
Audiofreak71
Never changed a stock mat in my entire life. I might be listening to records wrong all this time. There are others thing's I'd rather spend my money on and then try and convince myself it sounds better to advocate the purchase. I'm not "grumpy old mannin' this", it just sounds like it when typed.
doctor fuse
Super Member
I wish I could just let well enough alone, like you.
Dudeman7
Well-Known Member
If my primary table wasn't a changer, I wouldn't have added a mat. A platter mat of the correct thickness helps the record sit at the right height, relative to the tonearm on that particular player.
Never used anything other than the stock mat on any of my other turntables.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Folks that haven't tried anything but the stock mat need to invite friends over that have different mats and give em a listen. See if you can hear a difference. Since the best may be different on different tables or the table may not change sound based on a mat, gonna need to do this on each system of those that show up and bring a mat. Really easy, they will bring over records and beer anyway and a mat tucks in nicely with the records.
Bob C
Active Member
I can always put the rubber mat that came with the Technics turntable and listen.
Bob C
Active Member
I’m told getting tattoos is addicting, well Music equipment is my addiction now.
I've tried a bunch. Minimal difference in any of them. I've wound up using felt which is cheap and works as well as any other. Mats are really little more than another weird phono side hole to spend/waste time and energy. I go through periods during which pursuit of minutiae can be appealing but am aware that they are a waste of time and money.
Schroedinger
Cars and Guitars
Just curious- which two mat materials are perceived to sound the most different from one another? It would be a worthwhile experiment to just compare those two to see if I can detect or measure a difference. Something soft (felt) vs. something hard (leather)?
Sgt Shultz
Addicted Member
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kyle
Super Member
I have the same experience with my Nottingham table. I use a Boston Audio graphite mat and it is both a noticeable and repeatable change for the better. More detail, better sound stage. I have had a number of people that were skeptical change their minds after switching the mats between the graphite, felt, rubber and the stock foam mat. It's not a small difference and the sound differences are the same with each swap between them.
Yep you’re 100% correct, it’s a big difference in sound quality. I believe mine is the OMA graphite mat but could be the Boston , I forget. Either way they are exceptional.
Audiofreak71
RunOutGroove
Addicted Member
I wonder what would I get by adding such a thing? My new (to me) Yamaha PF-800 table has a kind of non slip thing that's built into the platter, though I suppose that I could put something else on top of that and as long as I raised the tone arm height a bit to compensate (I can do that with this table) that it would work... I've been thinking more about getting one of those clamps. I notice that I have lots of records with slight warps on them and though this table seems to do a great job of tracking them, there's something that kind of bugs me about that and a clamp might flatten those out. I worry though that with a bit of additional weight that I'd be putting more strain on the thing so that even if the motor is OK, it might stretch the belt, which doesn't seem to be on there with too much tension, and prematurely wear that out...?
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Sound Dragon
Yawns and sets his couch on fire!
I like copper. I like the way it looks to be honest.
Hard to get a copy that’s perfectly flat unfortunately, otherwise great mats I’m sure.
Audiofreak71
