The gift that keeps on giving!

[sq225917]

I've not done much fiddling of late with the Kuzma, things seem to have settled down and I'm happy with how it plays, though Marco's tonearm wire thread has me considering the possibilities...

But Mark came round bearing gifts today with a 12" envelope full of composite, rubber and particulate cork goodness. I'm the recipient of one of his carbon/nib mats and that has found favour with me so I'm always going to be interested in his musings and latest investigations.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7308714616_560e6c6031_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59684834@N08/7308714616/)

I wasn't expecting anything quite as fully formed as this though. 2 pieces of laser cut 1.5mm cork/rubber turntable mat. It comes in two parts, one full disc and an upper piece with a full depth record label cutout. So on it went and we did back to back listening.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7308735824_6025d0660c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59684834@N08/7308735824/)

There's a quite profound difference between this and my current mat, this really bring the bass and rhythm to the fore, much like a 'tilt' control. It's a remarkably different sound to the minimal contact mat that i use. I'm quite taken by it, time for some Led Zeppelin...

[Clive]

IIRC Mark wasn't too keen on it. Is it just better suited to your deck or are your and Mark's preferences somewhat different?

[sq225917]

I think you might be mixing this up with another mat that you might have seen on the internet, this is brand new one made yesterday. Mark hasn't had a split mat like this before.

[Clive]

I think you might be mixing this up with another mat that you might have seen on the internet, this is brand new one made yesterday. Mark hasn't had a split mat like this before.
Maybe it was the one someone else did with the same material recently....too much going on in my life currently....my brain is clearly frazzled!

Edit - I realised it was Neal's opinion, not Mark's.

[NRG]

That was me, I made one from the same stuff....used a penknife to cut it though, agree with Si the bass comes on leaps and bounds, unfortunately for me on the PL-71 and SP10 it was OTT, the bass is already well defined and tuneful this mat took it over the edge.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/IMG_0186.jpg

[Marco]

Nice one, chaps. Lovely neat work on the mat, Mark (as I'd expect from you), and, Simon, I'm glad you seem to have obtained an upgrade from it :)

It shows you, though, how turntable/system-dependent mats are!

Marco.

[YNWaN]

Lovely neat work on the mat, Mark (as I'd expect from you),..

Marco.

Cheers Marco, accurate to 0.02 of a millimetre :) (apparently it is possible to cut a neat circle from a rectangle ;)).

This mat is essentially identical to the ProMat that Blue Horizon do (I've got enough material to make a couple more too).
_____________

Nice pics Si :).

[Spur07]

mark, where did you get the cork material from mate?

[sq225917]

Marco- different, not an upgrade, choice is a good thing.

[Marco]

Ah, no worries... Yes, I agree! :)

Marco.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Cheers Marco, accurate to 0.02 of a millimetre :) (apparently it is possible to cut a neat circle from a rectangle ;)).

This mat is essentially identical to the ProMat that Blue Horizon do (I've got enough material to make a couple more too).
_____________

Nice pics Si :).

If only I had thought to get out my laser cutter when I was concidering such things ...
Oh well, you love and learn

[sq225917]

yeh, would you believe he carries that laser cutter around with him at all times....

[Reid Malenfant]

yeh, would you believe he carries that laser cutter around with him at all times....
:eyebrows:

6799

[NRG]

mark, where did you get the cork material from mate?

The link was posted in the thread 'how to choose a turntable mat'...its from here:

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/default.aspx?

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-139-cork.aspx

Nothing special, no magic involved, gasket material in a roll 1.5mm thick...the £20 or so charged on Ebay is very reasonable for a finished mat...however you should be able to get three or so from the Woolies roll but what you would do with them is another thing!

[YNWaN]

mark, where did you get the cork material from mate?

Yes, sorry Paul, that's the place (in post above).
_________________

I used a bit of simple CAD and a laser cutter - but one could use a compass and a sharp knife (or even scissors); the result may not be quite as precise, but I'm sure it would work.

[synsei]

Hmmm, how hard is it to cut this stuff cleanly coz I'd be interested in trying this out on my Techie?

[NRG]

Its easy, sharp knife, penknife, scissors or laser cutter ;)

[Marco]

But don't do it naked.

Marco.

[synsei]

:ner::lol:

[Marco]

Well, ya gotta warn these kids ;)

Marco.

[YNWaN]

Yes, easy to cut. When I made an earlier cork mat from a single 3mm thick cork tile I just used a sharp craft knife and found it easy - and this stuff is quite a lot easier to cut.

I was going to laser cut some acrylic templates and cut round them (with a craft knife) but found it was easier to just cut the cork directly.