Marigo Labs Aida CD Mat

[Cellcbern]

For those still spinning discs: Has anyone else compared Marigo's latest CD mat - the "Aida" with the earlier "Clear Transformation" mat?

I'm finding the Aida to be a step up in trimbral accuracy and naturalness while also being more resolving (i.e., it is revealing nuance and detail in the music that I wasn't hearing with the earlier mat). It does produce a slightly "softer", more laid back presentation on some recordings, which I'm guessing results from better damping of the disc as it spins and greater rejection of stray light. It joins the Lessloss Firewall 640X filters in helping my system "snap into focus" at lower volume levels. Several of my audiophile friends have said that it makes their systems sound too laid back compared to the Clear Transformation mat.

Interested in WBF posters' experiences (if any) with the Aida mat.

FYI:

MARIGO AUDIO LAB AIDA CD MAT

As the guy who writes for those of you who still play physical digital media, I’m pleased to inform you of another non-stratospherically-priced accessory to enhance your listening experience. My history with CD mats goes back many years, when I purchased a Marigo Audio Lab Crossbow mat at CES...

v2.stereotimes.com

Marigo Aida CD Mat. A Brief and (very) Unscientific Review

Purchased the Marigo Aida CD mat on a whim this week. $330 for a CD mat? Would it be a gimmick or a worthwhile tweak? I'm not usually prone to investing in these kinds of things but there is a 30 day money back guarantee and some good reviews. If it doesn't do anything (or enough to justify the p...

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[TUBED]

Hi, just seen this post from over a year ago. I have 5 of the Marigo cd mats through different time periods of their developments. I've actually just done a comparison of them all including the latest Aida mat. I just listened to one song with all 5, Morning In LA by British group White Lies. The song has a lovely open rhythmic guitar sound, fairly powerful low pitched bass and some closed high hat tapped cymbals. The track is only about 2 mins plus. Honestly it was really hard to tell any of the mats apart. My favourite ones though are the two green mats , the Signature 3-D and the lighter thinner one that followed in production sometime later. Both mats sound (in my system) slightly cleaner sounding, with slightly better bass definition, a crisper hi hat sound, but were wonderfully organic in the midrange. The Aida, the latest mat from Marigo again creates a lovely midrange sound, but I remember when I first purchased it a few years ago being a little underwhelmed by the sound on its first listen. It does indeed slightly dull the sound as your friends have mentioned but maybe sounds a little more analogue. The previous clear mat models sounded the same to me also. There is no night and day difference between any of them to be honest but my preference is definitely with the more substantial and slightly heavier made green signature mat from a good few years ago now. Regards Jon

 

[TUBED]

I've just spent another listening session with 3 of the Marigo mats, the Aida, Clear Transformation and the Signature 3-D. It's the older green heavier Signature 3-D mat that quite clearly sounds a little more open, exciting even compared to the other two. (Again this is what I'm hearing on MY system) This was listening to some Telemann Baroque music, Elton John (Saturday Nights Alright) and Some up tempo Heaven 17. The Elton John sounded fantastic! The seperation of instruments were all laid to bare and very exciting. The two much later generation mats sounded more rounded, more analogue and I couldn't seperate the two, in other words they sounded exactly the same. The Telemann you could hear more detail from the strings, weather or not it was more accurate sounding? Possibly not! I think it will all boil down to which you prefer at the end of the day, purity and accuracy of sound or a slightly more compromised but exciting sound (signature 3-D) and what music you are listening too. If you have both the signature and Aida mats for example you can have the best of both worlds. But as mentioned before its all very subtle.