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Anyone Ever Play Around With Turntable Mats?


thebes

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Marty,

 

I have used a double sided suede mat on my table AR-XA and it helps with damping. They come in different thicknesses from 1mm to 4 mm. This one probably cuts down on static the best for me where I live.

 

I've also tried cork, but not really a fan of it on my Dual table. I use it to help with lack of VTA adjustment on a 1019.

 

And I have a cork, rubber mixed mat on my other AR table to see how it sounds. It has more static than the other two do though.

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Thanks Jim. Sounds like they don't cost very much so I'll give it the double-sided a whirl. Say what is millimeter anyway?

 

Is it some kind of bug?  Not going to bring any more bugs into my house then I already have.

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16 minutes ago, jorjen said:

Anyone Ever Play Around With Turntable Mats?

 

Nope, too flat for my tastes.

 

Sorry Marty but I miss Fini dammit, don't you?

I don't know Jordan, the way you played that one even Fini would have done a double-take.  Yeah, some of our more craetive minds are sadly missed.

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As is so often the case in audio, the best <insert tweak or accessory here> is no <insert tweak or accessory here>.

 

Therefore, I'll just say it: the best mat is no mat at all.  At most, a mat simply acts as a band-aid to undo some damage being done by the turntable, platter, arm, cartridge, atmospheric humidity, static electricity, etc.  Once you master your environment, you might find that no mat sounds the best.  But only if you can adjust the VTA/SRA on your arm/headshell.  As stated earlier, mats often raise the vinyl to an appropriate height for playback.  This is one universally acknowledged benefit of mats.  However, as also stated earlier in this thread, a positive clamping system (vacuum, threaded clamping, or mass-loaded weighted) will do more good for your phono playback system than any mat - even the very best audiophile jobs.  I would recommend focusing your attention on clamping your records securely to the platter somehow rather than introducing a layer of (potentially sound-muddying) material between the record and the platter.

 

That said, I realize that some platters might have non-smooth surfaces that could damage records.  So use a mat.  In my experience, cork tends to sound the most neutral although felt and leather are also not without their charms.

 

The new fad in turntable design is vinyl-impregnated platters that require no mat.  My Pro-Ject 2Xperience Classic is one such design.  The engineers over there in Czecho-Austria decided to melt a bunch of old ABBA albums and bond them to the top of the MDF platters on many of their mid- and upper-tier tables (which mostly all use a threaded spindle clamp as well).  I think it's brilliant.  Vinyl likes to be touching vinyl.  If you ever have a chance to check out a (matless) turntable with a vinyl-coated platter, do it.  It's really an ingenious way to put an end to all this debate about mats.

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5 hours ago, Krispy Kirk said:

The engineers over there in Czecho-Austria decided to melt a bunch of old ABBA albums and bond them to the top of the MDF platters on many of their mid- and upper-tier tables

 

There you go Marty. Get a copy of Waterloo, a propane torch, and burn it into the top of your platter...

 

palmtree.jpg

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On 1/10/2017 at 7:45 PM, Krispy Kirk said:

Vinyl likes to be touching vinyl.  If you ever have a chance to check out a (matless) turntable with a vinyl-coated platter, do it.  It's really an ingenious way to put an end to all this debate about mats.

I'm pretty sure what you are talking about is a changer.  I have one like this only with light gray sides.

 

Guess what it has a rubber mat.

 

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oaktreevintage.com%2Fweb_photos%2FStereo_Turntables_CD%2FGarrard_Type-A_Vintage_Stereo_Turntable_Phonograph_web.jpg&f=1

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Vinyl touching vinyl?  I must've been thinking about how it feels to wear my "special outfit" to funny parties...but if rubber is more your thing, wear rubber!  But I digress...

 

Here's what I was trying to describe:

 

PJ Xtension 10.jpg

Edited by Krispy Kirk
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  • 4 weeks later...

Voici la mienne une TN550 TEAC, sympa avec un plateau en acrylique. J'ai rajouté un couvre plateau lui aussi en acrylique de chez TIZO un Delta Device de technologie allemande + un palet presseur Millennium Silentor :P Le résultat sonore est tip-top  :)

 

Here is mine a TN550 TEAC, nice with an acrylic tray. I have added a tray cover also in acrylic from TIZO a Delta Device of German technology + a puck Millennium Silentor :P  The sound result is tip-top :)

 

 

http://www.acrylteller.com/epages/es122814.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es122814_acrylteller/Categories/PLATTENTELLERAUFLAGEN/schwarz

 

https://audio-reference.de/millennium-audio-vision-silentor/

 

http://www.colab.be/2-marque-45-71.htm

 

 

 

981711DSC0123.jpg

 

993214DSC0129.jpg

 

 

 

 

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