Very interesting video, was only thinking today about a new platter mat, I have been considering the Origin live, but i’m now leaning towards the sound deck as that would come within my budget. And not too expensive for the upgrade
I found this review quite interesting and informative. My default Numark mat is fashioned from foam rubber; I imagine any of the mats you included would be an improvement. Two things about it: 1. It extremely soft as well as thick, and 2. It sometimes comes off with the record when change sides or remove it for storage.
I would guess the mat is removed with the record because you're suffering from a bit of static there. You might want to look at a Zerostat for that...theaudiophileman.com/zerostat/
I’ve had these Platter mats for all of my 3 LP12 , they work brilliantly best in my experiences with others I used before felt , cork or paper.&cork Cheers!!
I have not seen an aftermarket platter mat that has an indent for the edge of a 7-inch (45) record to rest in (like the indent for the label), it is not required for the 12 inch records as the edge overhangs the platter. I know most of us do not play 45s but they should accommodate for it, especially at some of these prices. You will see this on any old rubber mat, it also allows to grab the edge of the 7 inch record to remove from the platter.
Spoke to a chap from Rega who said they all have pros and cons (including absurdly prohibitive prices for negligible sound improvements), except wool ones, which only have pros.
So I have a micro-seki built Rotel rp830 manual belt drive turntable I was reading a thread and one fellow was saying in its day the turntable recieved very good reviews however a entry level table the other fella said the entire structure was to resonate? So I was thinking we could fix that! Enter Boom Mat products I covered the underside of the plinth with two layers of boom mat tape almost tripled the weight than coated the underside of the aluminum platter with a thick coating of boom mat spray after masking off the appropriate areas and wow what a difference it's as if I have a detached motor thanks for your inspiration sir
I came up with a very simple but effective demonstration/ test way back when I was repping Kenwood Audio Purist in the '70's and they introduced a set of turntable accessories including a center weight, an outer ring weight and a mat. The mat was silicon filled sintered crystal. Using simple laws of physics. Any sound audible off of the record to the ear is a lose of energy transfer to the cantilever. Simply play the record and listen to the record surface. With the trio of products on the record you literally could not tell what record was playing because no sound came off it. All energy went to the cartridge for reproduction. And no surface echo.
So your saying it's all bs more or less or?.... I'm not a crazy listener.i have cheap but quality gear.ive always wondered if cork would be tge way to vs my rubber/felt mats. The way these things are described, it seems to be all salesmanship. "The bass is faster. The treble sounds more white vs green. The reproduction is more accurate. The position and precision of the focus on the mids is really quick" its just like...wtf are we talking about here
Nice video! Apart from the felt and cork option, which of the mats you tested here could work with a Rega planar 6, considering that the tonearm does not have VTA adjustment.Thanks
As usual a very good review. I recently bought an Oscars audio dual mat which has a layer of cork and rubber bonded to a layer of sorbothane. I purchased this as I have a glass platter on my Systemdek so I thought it would dampen it. I have to be careful with thickness as the Rega RB250 arm is difficult to raise using shims. Reading other comments on this post I may purchase the SRM acrylic platter which is less then £60 but I do have the platter off my old Pink Triangle turntable which I may try first.
Thanks! Speaking about accessories, but relating to the other side of the record, about 18 months ago, I fitted the Origin Live Cartridge Enabler to my ProJect DC Esprit, between the tone arm and a Goldring 1042 cartridge. It made a good improvement to the general sound, tidying up the low to mid frequencies considerably. It's only around £25, so I just thought viewers who hadn't heard of it would like to give it a try. It also works as a kind of azimuth adjuster too, so that's good.
I grabbed one to do a quick test - just for you :) In short? Swings and roundabouts. The Achromat adds air and space and a touch of extra dynamic reach to the upper mids. On the other hand, the Soundeck adds focus and weight to the bass regions and a measure of extra precision to the vocals and midrange areas. If you want a mat that does both - look at the more expensive Hexmat.
@@TheAudiophileMan Thanks for doing the test. I'm using the Achromat currently and very happy with its performance. It also eliminates static build up quite nicely. I guess my next upgrade will be the Hexmat but not in the near future.
Swapping different material mats will (unless you compensate) alter the stylus rake angle due to differences in platter mat thickness. The turntable (ProJect Debut Carbon?) used for illustration doesn't allow you to vary the tonearm height... did you use a different deck for your comparative listening tests? Varying stylus rake angle alone would be enough to make the 'mats' (the record) sound different.
The tests were done on a Funk Firm LSD with variable VTA (I need to put my reference in the Description). The video showed a Pro-Ject. EVO because my LSD was hooked up and in use for another hifi test.
Hia, I was considering buying a fluance acrylic mat from Amazon, priced at £30, but having watched this video you don't mention acrylic mats? I have a project primary E turntable and was looking to replace the original felt mat. In that price range I guess you would recommend leather or cork? Cheers, Andy.
Hi Andy - cork is a good upgrade, cork and rubber is even better, the Origin Live Upgrade mat is better still. This mat is too thick for an E because you would need to mess around with VTA (which I think is fixed on the E?)
Anyway I've gone with your recommendation the origin live, at 1mm it should be similar thickness to the current felt mat. I'm also looking at upgrading the ortofon 1s stylus with an om 10, I read somewhere that it's a better fit for the E tonearm than the 5e.
I recently purchased a cork-it mat and I’m blown away with the sonic improvements over the rega felt mat on my P3.At being just 1mm thick it allows me to use a Michell record clamp-but that’s another argument and subject 👍👍👍
man im glad im readin this. i got a p3 ad just put an acrylic mat on it. i have yet to compare, but it seems good to me. maybe ill pick up a cork too and compare them all.
Speaking to the man who actually invented the acrylic mat, Arthur Khoubesserian (Mr Pink Triangle), his Achromat is designed to work well with an acrylic platter so I'd look at that if you want an upgrade. If you need it, check out the ryred73 comment reply elsewhere here for my thoughts on its relative general performance with the Soundeck.
@@TheAudiophileMan lol "invented the acrylic mat" How do you invent something in which the concept and material have already been established? That doesn't make sense. He was the first guy to use acrylic as a turntable mat, sure.
I have a petroleum bleeder mat on my Technics SL-D1 manual turntable. Any rubber mat of 4-6 mm thickness would be fine for my situation. Cheap options under $20.00 American currency?
So basicaly start with the default rubber mat and save up for the diamond, get the best you can afford. 140 euro is expensive but not a crazy amount of money. But what if i stack two types of mats, say a corc and a felt, or even put the rubber mat on top of this 80 pound mat?
Interesting. I received my Soundeck PM today. I'm not using a terribly common turntable - it's a Micro Seiki RX-5000, a 100 lb platter and steel plinth with a 35 lb motor/pulled. The platter is bronze and 45 lbs. No mat is included. I went through a Rega Planar 10 mat, another felt mat, a $300 secret formula mat (looks like felt and resin, an acrylic mat and the Soundeck. The Soundeck opened up the top end but actually was less articulate on the bottom compare to my choice thus far, the $25 actylic. My description of it would be similar to the one you gave of the Hexmat. The platter rings like a bell when you tap it but can be quickly overdamped. They made a solid copper mat for it but 500 bucks for a 40 year old one is a bit much. Horses for courses, as they say. I enjoy your reviews.
@@grateful86 Yes. You don't need one. A record clamp or weight might be a better investment. Acrylic platters are designed to be used with a clamp to tightly hold the vinyl record against the acrylic platter - which in all cases has a slightly concave matte finish surface, with a recess milled in the surface to accommodate the record label. The first thing that happens is that most warped records are made flatter in this process. The second thing is that the acrylic in the platter is extremely similar in all properties to the vinyl used in the record (they are both in the thermoplastic family), which means that in such intimate contact the two act essentially like one. There is little impedance between them and excess vibrational energy generated from lower compliance cartridges easily passes from the vinyl record into the acrylic platter, which being of much larger mass is an effective sink for that energy.
@@RogerBaswell could you please explain where the matte finish surface is on an acrylic platter, "in all cases"? I also believe Iceni Audio make an acrylic platter to be used with a mat and it has No matte surface finish 😉 Equally Cherry Audio's acrylic platter only has a matte finish at the record label recess. 😉 Origin live advertise their mat as can be used on an acrylic platter. 😉 I'm experimenting with different: subplatters, platters and mats at the moment. I have uploaded a few videos to my channel recently, with more to come. 😉 I know RU-vid doesn't sound like it is in my room but, with headphones you may be able to hear if the sound changes by comparing each video. 😉 Happy listening.
@@jimsregaturntableshifijukebox I'm talking in terms of why the acyric platter was invented No doubt some manufacturers have made changes to the concept. Personally I'm happy and spend any spare money on records.
Probably not, Haim. Firstly, I'm not convinced that the Rega bearings would like the extra weight. Rega have an aversion to stabilisers on their decks, I think for the same reason. Also, you'd need to raise the arm because of the thickness of the Soundeck and that means a hassle for you to sort extra shims to raise the Rega arm (you can buy them from Rega if you wish, though) because Rega likes to make it difficult for Rega tweakers :)
@@TheAudiophileMan thanks a lot I bought the origin live mat and also the Origin Live gravity one. I am very happy with both 😊 Thanks a lot … May I ask one more question ? I still am upgrade sick… I thought to replace my Exact cartridge with Ania Pro. Will it be a smart move? My phono stage is Chord Huei
Did you make sure that VTA/SRA was great same in each case. A lot of people think the difference they hear is more profound than it is because they forgot to compensate.
I wouldn't go there, Joe. Mainly because this relatively thick mat will require you to add a touch to the height of your arm and the Rega arm is going nowhere. I would instead look at the slimmer mat from Origin Live.
On a technical note, the paint is dry, and adhears by an electric/stack force. The oven then "melts" the paint, so it is not dried, but rather cooled. It's a shame it is so thick, i'm near the limit of my VTA as it is.. Does it matter if it is a direct drive vs belt driven? I have a denon DP-75L wich is direct drive.
@@mostirreverent It is, Greg :) But not every top quality product is a fit for you. Some of the best teams on the planet don't contain the very very best players. A different mat might be better for you.
I'm so old I can remember when EVERY turntable came with a rubber mat as standard, the purpose of which was to damp vibration. Economics not having changed between then and now, I can't help but think that today's manufacturers are cheapskates for short-changing the consumer by not including a rubber mat.
Thank you for such an informative video! I want to buy my first turntable setup with 2000$ budget. I’m thinking of Pro-ject Debut Carbon Evo, Sumiko Ranier cartridge, Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 speakers and Audiolab 6000A. Would really appreciate any opinion, criticism or advice!
Yes, all sounds very nice. For me? I'd change the cartridge to something like a Goldring 1042 which will take advantage of the EVO's sonic capacity but the Sumiko is a good start if you choose not to spend extra. I'd also advise spending on speaker stands, a hifi shelving rack and decent cables. QEDs are a good start - available from Amazon.
Hi Paul, great video. I have tried a large number of platter mats on my Logic Gemini two motor belt drive, starting with no mat on my Logic's heavy acrylic platter, felt mats, rubber mats, Monster Cable squishy mat, Hudson acrylic mat, Pro-Ject acrylic mat, Hexmat, leather mat, also recently the Soundeck. Out of all of those i found the Soundeck to be great but the mat I found to be the best mat I have used is the Eon TriPad mat from Canada, circa 1990's. Its a three part mat with a thin acrylic inner sheet, squishy rubber on the underside, and slightly tapered cork on top side with squishy rubber under label. This mat is unfortunately unavailable at present although I have heard it may make a reappearance soon. If I had one spare I would send it to you.......Regards. In response to an earlier video of yours about surfactants, I was going to try a mixture of tergitol and triton-x. The mix was a 50/50 mix, it was not successful, expensive failure. I now use Tergikleen or a 60/40% mix of Tergitol S15.3 and S15.9. I have heard from chems supplier that Triton-x looks like is being banned globally for being toxic.
I wonder if anyone has developed a laminated platter. metal or glass laminated with some deadening rubber or something like it? Seems like the same process could be used to make entire replacement platters for some turntables.
Thanks for the video - nice to hear of companies here in the north east innovating and diversifying - my SAM turntable comes supplied with a 4mm thick acrylic platter mat - would replacing this with a soundeck be an improvement?
Sorry for the delay - that's tricky because I have yet to review an actual acrylic *mat*. I would imagine that they sound good (as long as its built properly and with the best materials). I wish I could be more specific. At a guess. An extremely rough guess and based upon my experience with acrylics in general, it may be around the same sort of quality class as the Soundeck but possibly less confident in the lower frequencies although offering more air and space in the upper regions. Take from that what you will, though :)
