Well here goes another one maties, from the land down unda, although not made in Aus but made in the land of the rising sun, Japan!
A very good mate of mine, who also happens to have CLX's with a fine analog rig consisting of Allnic phonostage, separate power supplies and the fine Linn LP12, fitted with the Candenza Black and SME arm, highly recommended this particular TT mat from a company called 'Spec'.
Made in Japan, with research and engineering based in Japan, I was a bit weary not because of the make at all but rather the price! At nearly 500 smackers, what on earth can a Mat do...?
Just picked it up this arvo, dropped it in, replaced the high grade carbon fibre mat that was used previously, costs only ,$80... plonked this one in, and oh my! Is this voodoo or science? I don't really know but something's going on here big time!
I'll try to summarize much as possible, since I've just finished listening to some very fine LPs and now it's nearly 6am!
1. The surface noise, soundstage depth, tonality, remains the same. So LPs that are in pristine condition will sound extremely quiet and the noisey ones will always have noise.
2. The most significant differences are the dynamics, and pick up energy. Such that, the grooves seemed to be read at far greater clarity and definition.
3. The brilliance comes through more vividly, as if a new cartridge is being used. So the clarity improves by quite a margin, not as high as my personal benchmark in performance, which is around 40 - 45%... this particular mat improves the pick up and overall performance by about 20 - 25% or perhaps even 30% on very high quality recordings.
Therefore, is the price tag justifiable? Probably not but what it does on a particular TT may obviously differ from every TT brand or analog rig out there... I would suggest a trial before taking the plunge, although I sort of had an idea of the outcome, based on the feedback from my good mate, I certainly wasn't expecting this kind of improvement!
The Spec Mat is unlike no other, it's not soft, stiff or brittle, rather it's a form of high grade composite material including an aluminum coating, which basically makes it almost like a platter! It's hard, and very rigid, and basically "plonks" down on the main platter. It's a solid piece of machinery or may I add, a finely crafted and tuned instrument that adds the interface between the platter and the LP.
I simply cannot proclaim that this is the best mat on earth but all I can say is that this is definitely the best sounding mat interface I've ever come across and used to date! On my particular system that is.
I've attached a few pics, and will try to do more research on this particular company. As for now, I'm heading off to doze so that I could have another very very late night session once again today, before heading back to the grinder on Monday.
Cheers to Spec and their high end tech, whatever they're using, voodoo or science or snake oil, oh boy have they got this one correct! Very very highly recommended!
Cheers, RJ
A very good mate of mine, who also happens to have CLX's with a fine analog rig consisting of Allnic phonostage, separate power supplies and the fine Linn LP12, fitted with the Candenza Black and SME arm, highly recommended this particular TT mat from a company called 'Spec'.
Made in Japan, with research and engineering based in Japan, I was a bit weary not because of the make at all but rather the price! At nearly 500 smackers, what on earth can a Mat do...?
Just picked it up this arvo, dropped it in, replaced the high grade carbon fibre mat that was used previously, costs only ,$80... plonked this one in, and oh my! Is this voodoo or science? I don't really know but something's going on here big time!
I'll try to summarize much as possible, since I've just finished listening to some very fine LPs and now it's nearly 6am!
1. The surface noise, soundstage depth, tonality, remains the same. So LPs that are in pristine condition will sound extremely quiet and the noisey ones will always have noise.
2. The most significant differences are the dynamics, and pick up energy. Such that, the grooves seemed to be read at far greater clarity and definition.
3. The brilliance comes through more vividly, as if a new cartridge is being used. So the clarity improves by quite a margin, not as high as my personal benchmark in performance, which is around 40 - 45%... this particular mat improves the pick up and overall performance by about 20 - 25% or perhaps even 30% on very high quality recordings.
Therefore, is the price tag justifiable? Probably not but what it does on a particular TT may obviously differ from every TT brand or analog rig out there... I would suggest a trial before taking the plunge, although I sort of had an idea of the outcome, based on the feedback from my good mate, I certainly wasn't expecting this kind of improvement!
The Spec Mat is unlike no other, it's not soft, stiff or brittle, rather it's a form of high grade composite material including an aluminum coating, which basically makes it almost like a platter! It's hard, and very rigid, and basically "plonks" down on the main platter. It's a solid piece of machinery or may I add, a finely crafted and tuned instrument that adds the interface between the platter and the LP.
I simply cannot proclaim that this is the best mat on earth but all I can say is that this is definitely the best sounding mat interface I've ever come across and used to date! On my particular system that is.
I've attached a few pics, and will try to do more research on this particular company. As for now, I'm heading off to doze so that I could have another very very late night session once again today, before heading back to the grinder on Monday.
Cheers to Spec and their high end tech, whatever they're using, voodoo or science or snake oil, oh boy have they got this one correct! Very very highly recommended!
Cheers, RJ