My Titanium Mat came in the other day and spent the last couple of days listening and tweaking the cartridge setup for the differences. I had to change VTA due to the thickness and azimuth. The azimuth adjustment was quite substantial going from -.4 degrees to +1 on my feickert spirit level. I first setup the azimuth with Adjust+ but have begun tweaking by ear. Need to tweak VTA/ SRA & anti-skate by ear too.
Machining quality was very good, visually perfect. I don't have any tools at home to take measurements.
The 1 degree slope is interesting. Putting the record on the mat, placing the record weight on top, then pressing the weight down slightly... it feels like the record is sucked into the mat. There appears to be perfect contact. Changing records while the platter is spinning is also a breeze now, it feels like it just pops off since there is little contract with the mat without the record weight and the edges of the LP hang over the mat.
I played with both mat directly on top of platter and using the 1mm Fo.q platter mat in between. With metal to metal, the idler wheel is very nearly silent. With the Fo.q in between, it is completely silent. The background of the music is silent, and groove noise has decreased.
The titanium is interesting. I have had a stainless steel mat in the past but preferred the copper top. The copper seemed to have a bit more body, weight and warmth (I hate using this term). The titanium seems to combine the advantages of the stainless with the copper. It almost sounds like the titanium is a more refined version of the copper mat while remaining more neutral. I no longer have the stainless mat, so I can't directly compare.
I am still tweaking the cart setup but so far, mostly positives. One thing I hate, is that I am fully extended on the VTA of my FR arm, but that is a turntable problem, not a mat problem. I am designing a new plinth that I will build next year that will address that issue.
