It's now time to ditch your Sound Hi-Fi/Herbie's mats...

[DSJR]

In my humble (ahem) opinion, the multi-ribbed Thorens mat that is usually on the 124 (and my 125) is quite good and far better than the mk2 Thorens mat. I should like to try the 160 Super heavy mat once it finally gets here, as this suited the Thorens decks better I understand from memory.

[Marco]

Hi Alex,

...who then sold it to me as part of the SL-150 deal... and now I feel all inadequate!

Lol.... The Sound Hi-Fi/Herbies mat is still a very good mat (jeez, I've been using one for long enough, so it hasn't become crap overnight!)

It's just that the Achromat 1200 is an exceptionally good one, and takes the sonic performance of the Techie to another level.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) things evolve all the time in this thorny hobby of ours, and so one is on a constant learning curve!

Marco.

[Alex_UK]

things evolve all the time in this thorny hobby of ours, and one so is on a constant learning curve!

Ain't that the truth - (sometimes, of course) and thank heavens they do!

[Marco]

Damn right, Alex - it's all about having an open mind and trusting your ears!

As an aside, I see that Dave C is now selling Achromats (along with his stock mat, copper mat and Oyaide), despite having slagged off the Achromat in the past as being unsuitable for his 'holistic approach' to modifying the SL-1200.

How can you possibly have a 'holistic approach' with four different mats - all with varying sonic signatures??

Anyway, I digress.........!

Marco.

[Clive]

It just goes to show there are no absolutes. The Funk mat on my 301 and Salvation are trounced by a simple acrylic mat which in turn is bettered by a mat with a lot of upturned nipples!

These things are very specific to particular TTs/platters. Nipples are good though - at least that's true for the female variety.

[Marco]

Hi Clive,

It just goes to show there are no absolutes.

That is my No1 hi-fi philosophy

And of course, if there are no absolutes, then in turn there is no 'one true path' to anything in hi-fi - including how to modify a Techie!

Marco.

[markf]

I’m not a big fan of faffing about with turntable mats, you could spend a lifetime swapping them,
either find one that looks fit for the job (most probably the one that comes with the TT) and stick with it
or buy a turntable that doesn’t require one.
At some point with turntables you have to move on from the “lets try this mat, lets try that mat phase”

[chris@panteg]

I’m not a big fan of faffing about with turntable mats, you could spend a lifetime swapping them,
either find one that looks fit for the job (most probably the one that comes with the TT) and stick with it
or buy a turntable that doesn’t require one.
At some point with turntables you have to move on from the “lets try this mat, lets try that mat phase”

Hi Mark

Interesting point ' if you find yourself constantly changing mats and generally fiddling with your TT ! perhaps its time to change the TT , is that what your getting at ?

The Achromat does have a slightly different tonal balance to the Herbie's , but i wouldn't have thought it very dramatic , but fancy trying one again as the 309 has such a different sound to the bright and zingy stock arm.

[Marco]

Hi Mark,

I’m not a big fan of faffing about with turntable mats, you could spend a lifetime swapping them,
either find one that looks fit for the job (most probably the one that comes with the TT) and stick with it
or buy a turntable that doesn’t require one.
At some point with turntables you have to move on from the “lets try this mat, lets try that mat phase”

Yep, I totally agree - hence why the Sound Hi-fi mat had been happily doing its job on my T/T for nearly two years. The Achromat thing was totally unplanned and happened as a result of Arthur contacting me to audition his new tonearm.

However I'm glad he did contact me, as from an SPPV point of view, I've now had one of the best upgrades for my T/T ever...

One design factor is crucial for me, and this is that the Achromat shares very similar impedance characteristics with a vinyl record, which for me makes it the ideal interface between the record and the platter, and thus somewhat of a ubiquitous choice in that particular application.

The Achromat could thus be seen as a something with which to partner with your usual mat of choice, simply because of its unique 'vinyl mimicking' characteristics.

Therefore the Achromat will definitely be staying put as my reference 'record interface mat', regardless if I later choose to use it in conjunction with a copper mat, for arguably the ultimate mat combination with the stock Technics platter

Marco.

[Marco]

Hi Chris,

The Achromat does have a slightly different tonal balance to the Herbie's , but i wouldn't have thought it very dramatic , but fancy trying one again as the 309 has such a different sound to the bright and zingy stock arm.

Like I said, as with anything else, the results will likely vary from system to system.

On my T/T in my system, the difference between the Achromat and Herbie's was significant and easily discernable. Given your T/T set-up now, I think you'd love what the Achromat does

Marco.