Turntable mats

Different materials make any difference? I'm fed up with the stupid felt mat that sticks to the record every time, bah!

That annoyance aside, any audible difference between felt/plastic/cork etc?

Dave

 

Kevlar cloth is absolutely awesome. A bastard to cut though!

 

i have used rubber , felt isoplatmat and funk and they all sound very different imo

 

I used both Audioquest (sorbothane) andf Herbie's (silicone) mats on my ancient AR Legend TT. Both improved sound quality no end, and the latter was more pleasing to my ears. Both under $100. When I re-installed the supplied felt mat the deterioration was so great that I wondered why I'd bought this TT in the first place.

But my new GyroDec requires no mat at all, after much experimentation. Try before you buy.

 

Different mats of different materials will likely make a difference and often do.

What sort of difference and whether that difference is positive will very much depend on the material and how it works with the platter design/material of a specific deck. So its not one those things where you can say a particular material is best in general, though you can say that differences will likely be heard.

 

I use a modded technics SL1200mk2. On that I have a heavy rubber (not original) mat plus a thin wool felt mat on top plus a small rubber record clamp (The Pig).

Platter material, cartridge choice, overall system balance greatly effects the combination in my experience.

 

Have sent you a great big long PM Dave - enjoy

 

Hmm, basically looks like a good excuse to try everything out to see what suits me best, as long as it's within my budget of course. May report back when I've tried some alternatives.

At the moment I've got a medium rubber mat with a thin-ish felt mat on top, TT is a Garrard 401.

Cheers for the pm, reply sent!

 

I'd specifically ask the question of some garrardistas then as they may have tried various options. Loricraft might be worth asking of. I think they sell a mat developed for use with a 401 which is a sort of rubberised cork. If anyone knows, they would.