Cork/rubber mat for Dual 1257

[cschaub]

I have an older Dual 1257 turntable and was thinking about using a cork/rubber mat instead of the original rubber one. The original mat has raised rings. I've read a few things about this, but do you think it would be ok to trim a mat to fit? Or do I need to preserve the ring effect? The mat I was considering is just about as thick as the rings on the original rubber. So it means the whole record would be on the mat, not suspended on the rings. Ok, thx.

 

[danj]

IMO, the OEM mat, if still soft, is adequate. I use a good cork mat on my 1229 because the original mat had basically turned to stone. I have acquired another 1229 mat and did a comparison and thought the cork sounded just as good.

Some say the raised rings of the Dual mat are undesirable but I think the Dual engineers know what they were doing. If I were you I would get a cork mat and do a comparison. Choose the one you prefer.