Actually, there’s no such thing as no mat. The record has to be placed on something, may it be acrylic, aluminium or rubber. There bounds to be a material that contacts the record.
Different contact material has different sound. That’s all.
Platter mat preferences!
- Thread starter Johnny Vinyl
- Start date
Different contact material has different sound. That’s all.
I’m trying the other Herbie's mat, the “Way Excellent 2” at the moment on my Artemis in place of the hard acrylic one that came with it. The results are predominantly positive with more resolution and a better piano tone, particularly if I dispense with the 100g puck that benefits the acrylic mat. Timing doesn’t seem to have been thrown off at all..
There is a wide range of sizes available which works for me as the Artemis platter has a recess for the mat 3.2mm deep with an outside diameter of 292mm and an inside one of 105mm. Herbie’s were able to supply a size to fit wirh a thickness of 4.5mm, close to the 4.4mm thickness of my acrylic mat.
One Rega turntable owner, who moderates another forum I frequent, posted that the Herbie’s mat was a disaster on his P10 but worked well on his Thorens 124, after I’d ordered it I might add, so maybe it’s quite deck dependent.
There is a wide range of sizes available which works for me as the Artemis platter has a recess for the mat 3.2mm deep with an outside diameter of 292mm and an inside one of 105mm. Herbie’s were able to supply a size to fit wirh a thickness of 4.5mm, close to the 4.4mm thickness of my acrylic mat.
One Rega turntable owner, who moderates another forum I frequent, posted that the Herbie’s mat was a disaster on his P10 but worked well on his Thorens 124, after I’d ordered it I might add, so maybe it’s quite deck dependent.
Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
I’m using the Herbie’s mat on my P10 and really enjoy it. What mat is to his liking?
A Way Excellent or a grunge buster? We were discussing the Way etc and the comment was that it made his Rega sound leaden and disjointed in the bass. I think he uses the Rega mat. I’m not finding the bass disjointed on the Artemis, though it does go deeper.
I’m using the Way Excellent. I’m not noticing any issues with bass integration. I feel it is a little more articulate and a touch deeper.
Platter Mats
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The Hanenite mat from Naigai Rubber Industry Co. LTD in Japan (offered by Tokyo Soundproofing as the Ultima Turntable Mat THT-291) is an easy recommendation for high mass systems utilizing underdamped platters. Also works great without additional weights or clamps. ~ 5mm thick & 291mm diameter.
I like the 5mm Achromat for lightweight suspended platters.
I like the 5mm Achromat for lightweight suspended platters.
The Audio-Replas https://www.audio-replas.com/analog.html TT Mats are reputed to be a cut above the competition --No I have not heard them.
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I used the Herbie Audio Lab's 'Way Excellent II Turntable Mat 2mm / 295mm full-size' when I had my Rega P10 With Apheta 3 and it was a big improvement in sound over both the standard Rega felt mat (which was a major duct catcher) and no mat all i.e. a much better and deeper bass (which the P10 lacks), wider sound stage, taming the treble (which on the P10 although great clarity sounds digital sounding) and overall better musicality in particular the music not sounding as flat across the frequencies. It also helped a lot with static which I found my P10 to be like a dust magnet !
This wasn't my experience with the Herbie Ay Excellent Mat on my Rega P10...in fact quite the opposite (just sent a post on my experiences on this subject).
Has anybody tried an after market mat on their Kuzma XL DC and found it an improvement over the original Kuzma XL DC permanently installed / fixed platter mat ?
Curious where I can find info on the Concert Fidelity (VDM? or VTS?) shin’en mat? Seems interesting. Fairly certain the Zander TPM-1 is the same referenced Hanenite mat as used by Luxman these days.
FWIW, I have been using a Puresound gunmetal mat for a few years on my Verdier and love it.
I’ve put a PTP Lenco together and for a while have been using a TEAK Washi paper mat on it. I like it a lot on a heavyweight Lenco platter with a couple of 7mm chord nitrile rubber O rings damping the skirt. The mat has two sides, the grey side has a little more damping effect, I like it white side up the best and no record weight.
