Felt turntable mat

[Cas]

If you correct VTA to compensate for the mat thickness, the sound may well change again.

Yup add a mat, any mat and you immediately alter the VTA.

[Barry]

I've tried: [1] no mat (i.e. the bare rubber mat that came with the TT), [2] an additional thin felt mat, and [3] a ~3mm thick cork mat. VTA was adjusted in each case. Can't say I noticed any real difference, so have reverted to the manufacturer's rubber mat, now used with a Mitchell record clamp.

Although I would perhaps like to try a thin leather mat, I'm largely finished with messing about with them.

[Haselsh1]

OK, regarding the Achromat on the old Interspace, I sat down to listen to Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon yesterday and realised three quarters of the way through that I had probably never heard it sound so bad. Very little low bass,
closed in stereo image with no real central focus. Everything was quite toppy and thin sounding. Enough was enough. Out with the Achromat, resetting of the VTA and listen...! Jesus what a difference. Hugely wide stereo image with incredible depth.
Really low bass on On The Run and a much richer midrange with far better resolution of low level detail. So, how bad is the stock Interspace...? Well mine is pretty bad and to my ears, this proves it.

[hifi_dave]

All the Notts turntables were/are designed to be used without any mat.

[DSJR]

The Interspace uses an MDF platter? If so, no mat at all should be just fine but if you must, a 1.5mm cork may be ok sonically here.

I've chatted privately to hifi Dave about mats on NAS decks and we do possibly agree to differ on the Spacedeck only, as I personally preferred the slight 'dampening' effect of the Spacemat *on this particular model.* The bigger decks with graphite platters (including the 'Heavy Kit' I think) will be sonically killed with a mat of ANY kind added, so good is the platter material at 'terminating' a vinyl record placed on it.

I think you can 'tune' a vinyl player 'system' in various ways. You either tune it for a nice sound to 'suit your ears' and hang the absolute standard of truth to the original source, you do as I do with the stuff I have here and try to make the best of a rather compromised lot (loads of cheap fun in this for me if nobody else), or you go all out for the most truthful and 'accurate to the mastering session' reproduction that you can, using the best digital sources and as wide a range of recordings as possible as a reference. This last approach has pitfalls though as it's all too easy to tip the reproduction into 'only' a cerebral experience, the emotions being left behind along the way (I'm thinking in the ancient past of say, a Thorens 125 or 160 with SME and V15 III, which in 1970's form *at the time* could sound hard, stark and uninvolving, where say, a Rega 3 of that period with R200 and a slightly later Shure 97HE made the music more interesting to listen to).

[SteveG]

Ive played with lots of different mats. The stand-out one on the decks I have tried is the Origin Live mat. I can't speak for other people's tastes and I imagine it will be somewhat dependent on the turntable, but I really rate this product.

[Cas]

Origin Live Mat, I suppose if your happy spending £39.95 on a thin sliver of cork dyed or sprayed black then
I really cannot say too much, other than you have been had ( snake oil ).

[Gazjam]

Turntable Mats?
Never catch on.

Tried a couple on my Deck, clamped directly onto the platter always sounded best to me.
Designed that way s'pose.

[SteveG]

Origin Live Mat, I suppose if your happy spending £39.95 on a thin sliver of cork dyed or sprayed black then
I really cannot say too much, other than you have been had ( snake oil ).

It's not cork for one thing. Secondly I've tried it against lots of other mats costing more and its outclassed every one. If better sound comes at £39 I'd hardly call that "being had".

Frankly, I can't stand people who go round assuming their ears and judgement are superior to someone else's. I'd not expected that from here.

[walpurgis]

Frankly, I can't stand people who go round assuming their ears and judgement are superior to someone else's. I'd not expected that from here.

Can't say I agree. My view is that people with a long and wide ranging experience of Hi-Fi may well be better able to judge when something sounds superior or worse.

To suggest otherwise seems to imply that experience is worthless and nobody develops discernment.