Any thoughts on aftermarket acrylic platters for Rega RP1?

[cjm123]

Hi everyone,

Just read an interesting article in the Sound Organisation (see US Rega Distributor website under News) on a recent interview with Roy Gandy on turntable design. Roy talks about the phenolic platter design and the function of the felt mat. He says its flexible nature ensures a rigid coupling between the record and the platter implying that without the felt mat the coupling over the entire surface of the record and platter would not be rigid thus possibly causing problems.

A couple of years ago I bought a fairly cheap aftermarket acrylic platter and was initially pleased with it as it seemed to tighten up the low frequencies but I am less sure now as Roy's explanation of the function seems to make engineering sense to me. Question, do acrylic platters without a mat damage the condition of the vinyl record?

I would be really interested to hear what experiences or thoughts other AOSers have had with acrylic platters and mats n things?

all the best

Chris

[Yomanze]

I had great dealings with SRMTech, precision engineering with a lot of experience of working with acrylic. You'd have 7 days sale or return if you wanted to try their acrylic platter for Rega turntables.

I used to use an acrylic mat, and no, it doesn't damage the vinyl at all. I would use something like a Clearaudio clever clamp too as it's a bit slippy otherwise.

[hifi_dave]

If you keep the plastic platter clean, you will have no trouble at all. However, do you think that Rega would use relatively costly toughened glass for platters if Acrylic was better ? No, nor do I.

[Oldpinkman]

Question


Do acrylic platters without a mat damage records?

Answer

No - absolutely not. 25 years experience using an acrylic platter only on a Pink Triangle until very recently, when I stuck an achromat on it, which frankly makes only a tiny improvement on a standard PT (makes a far more significant difference on a deck like the SL1200)

Question "Would I use a glass platter with no mat"

Answer "What have you been smoking???? Of course not. GLASS is not a good record termination. "

Question - "If I had an RP1 would I fit a cheap thin acrylic platter"?

Answer - "No. The turntable was not designed for it. I would stick with the glass platter and a thin Achromat"

Having worked for an organisation that sold thousands of acrylic plattered turntables, with many (most?) still in use, Question 1 was hard to take seriously. Hope that helps.

[plastico]

I have a fully modded P3 and I have to say that an acrylic platter is another flavour vs the glass. I tried all kinds of mats on the glass, and while some of them were pretty good; Spotmat, carbon fibre, leather etc.. I found the real upgrade was a Delrin platter. It gives you a more uniform presentation to the music.

[cjm123]

My thanks to everyone for their views. It seems there is consensus on acrylic not damaging the vinyl record but a wide range of opinion here on the sonic benefits of the different platter materials. I guess that is one thing that makes this hobby so interesting. My sense is that different materials give a different presentation or flavour as Douglas put it.

As I can't afford to try out the delrin platter I will have to choose between the phenolic resin, glass and acrylic options.

Thanks again


Chris