Wakefield Turntables
09-10-2015, 19:33
Before we start I would caution readers to study my signature to see my equipment list and also to have a look at http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?9568-Me-and-the-1210-are-gunna-have-us-some-me-time to see the mods I've done to my 1210, additionally I still use the original Mike New Aluminium/Copper platter and not the newer ETP platter. OK, here goes.
The Analog Studio Crystal Mat (ASCM) comes in an extremely well packaged box, it's available for ~£73 from eBay from the Analog Studio shop. I decided I wanted to take a punt on one of these after reading various reviews of the Nagaoka crystal mat. The analog crystal mat is an exact copy of the Nagaoka mat but at half the price. I have initially reviewed this mat on my Garrard 301 and could no difference bewteen it and the original Garrard rubber mat. The technics is a different beast however and I managed to get an hour's critical listening to a few tracks this afternoon to write a few notes. I mainly listen to heavy rock/metal and prog on my solid state reference system. My first track was Painkiller from the Painkiller album by Judas Priest. This track has an extremely aggresive opening drum solo. The ASCM managed to convey an extremely aggresive drum solo which to my ears sounded better than any other mat that I have tried on my 1210. I also noticed that the mat seemed to have the ability to deepen the soundstage, Rob Halford seemed a little further back in the soundstage than I'm used to, this is not the first time I noticed this with the ASCM and I have heard this phenomen occur on several different albums. I also noticed that the ASCM seemed to give me back some of the high treble that my old mat (the resomat) had takem away in various guitar solo's. This was not a singular occurance and I noticed this improvement over the resomat in a number of recordings over several different genre's. I used Judas Priest's tracker "Ripper" to assess how high the ASCM could produce treble and I'm pleased to say that it trumped anything I've ever owned before. :D:D
My second track was the accoustic track "Spanish Flies" from the Van Halen II album. The ASCM managed to recreate greater snap to the guitar strings this is a feat that I'd never heard before in any of my older mats. I also noticed end harmonics of various notes seemed to hang around in the air for longer than what I'm used to, again something the ASCM managed to achieve where others failed. Notes also seemed to travel and decay further to the left and right than normal. It would seem that the ASCM is fantastic a replication of electric and accoustic guitar material. The Third track came from the Live After Death album by Iron Maiden, I decided to listen to a track I've known since the age of 13, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Nicko McBrain's cymbal work sounded instantly better in the opening of the track and could be very easily heard and followed in the mix, something I've found difficult with other mats in the past. I noticed Bruce Dickinson's vocal had a greater clarity and definition, again, I've not heard them sounding as well.
My fourth track was "Luminol" from the Steve Wilson album The Raven That Refused to Sing. Nick Begg's plays a reference grade bass intro which happens to be my favourite track to assess bass performance. The ASCM did not disgrace itself and I was rewarded with extra depth and deepness to the bass and the ability to listen to some flute notes floating over my 1210, i could hear the phrasing of each flute note and once again things seemed to hang in the air before they decayed. The decay of the notes seemed to never end, again another :eek: moment as previous mats failed in this area.
Fifth track had to be something by Dream Theater, this time "The Dark Eternal Night" from the Systematic Chaos album. This is my all time Dream theater track so I was expecting great things from the ACSM. This track just seemed to have great timing, drumming was the best I'd heard I even heard fresh micro details from Jordan Rudeness keyboard playing. This track just seemed "together". I listened to another Dream Theater track "Lost Not Forgotten" from the A Dramatic Turn of Events LP. I always use this track to assess a mat's ability to unravel a complex piece of music. This, to my ears is the most complex piece of prog I own. Sadly, it's too complex and it's very very difficult to follow any one particular instrument. The ACSM failed in this respect to better my old Resomat but don't get me wrong the ACSM is just as good as the Resomat, this is the ACSM's first failure in bettering the Resomat.
Finally whilst being in a Prog mood I decided to listen to Fugazi. Well, I got completely immersed in this fantastic album. I thought I knew this album extremely well but I heard new things today. Again I noticed an improved Bass, notes again began to hang around in the air, the organ solo's sounded sublime. Now this is going to be really sad (do I care?). Fish uses the work "Fuck" a lot in She Chameleon, I'd never heard a "K" produced in such detail (told you it was sad) :lol:.
The whole three tracks never sounded so good.
Negatives
----------
Doesn't work well on my 301.
Bass can sometimes sounded blunted (only happened a couple of times) but only very very marginally, I'm nit picking.
Does not improve on the Resomat's ability to unravel complex music pieces, it just equals it!
Cost, £73 might be a tad expensive for some.
Positives
--------
Fantastic with Rock, Metal, Prog.
Fantastic replication of electric and accoustic guitar
The best decay of a notes harmonics I've ever heard.
The ability to make notes hang in the air.
Bass in 99% of the time has improved with an increased depth and soldity.
Fantastic high end trebble.
Improves over the Resomat's ability to retrieve microdetail.
Improvement to the clarity of vocals.
The soundstage seems deeper.
ADDICTIVE.
CONCLUSION
------------
OK, that's it, I think that it's the best £73 I've spent on my 1210. I'd recommend one at the drop of a hat. This is my new reference mat. I have included some new pics over on my http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?9568-Me-and-the-1210-are-gunna-have-us-some-me-time thread.
The Analog Studio Crystal Mat (ASCM) comes in an extremely well packaged box, it's available for ~£73 from eBay from the Analog Studio shop. I decided I wanted to take a punt on one of these after reading various reviews of the Nagaoka crystal mat. The analog crystal mat is an exact copy of the Nagaoka mat but at half the price. I have initially reviewed this mat on my Garrard 301 and could no difference bewteen it and the original Garrard rubber mat. The technics is a different beast however and I managed to get an hour's critical listening to a few tracks this afternoon to write a few notes. I mainly listen to heavy rock/metal and prog on my solid state reference system. My first track was Painkiller from the Painkiller album by Judas Priest. This track has an extremely aggresive opening drum solo. The ASCM managed to convey an extremely aggresive drum solo which to my ears sounded better than any other mat that I have tried on my 1210. I also noticed that the mat seemed to have the ability to deepen the soundstage, Rob Halford seemed a little further back in the soundstage than I'm used to, this is not the first time I noticed this with the ASCM and I have heard this phenomen occur on several different albums. I also noticed that the ASCM seemed to give me back some of the high treble that my old mat (the resomat) had takem away in various guitar solo's. This was not a singular occurance and I noticed this improvement over the resomat in a number of recordings over several different genre's. I used Judas Priest's tracker "Ripper" to assess how high the ASCM could produce treble and I'm pleased to say that it trumped anything I've ever owned before. :D:D
My second track was the accoustic track "Spanish Flies" from the Van Halen II album. The ASCM managed to recreate greater snap to the guitar strings this is a feat that I'd never heard before in any of my older mats. I also noticed end harmonics of various notes seemed to hang around in the air for longer than what I'm used to, again something the ASCM managed to achieve where others failed. Notes also seemed to travel and decay further to the left and right than normal. It would seem that the ASCM is fantastic a replication of electric and accoustic guitar material. The Third track came from the Live After Death album by Iron Maiden, I decided to listen to a track I've known since the age of 13, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Nicko McBrain's cymbal work sounded instantly better in the opening of the track and could be very easily heard and followed in the mix, something I've found difficult with other mats in the past. I noticed Bruce Dickinson's vocal had a greater clarity and definition, again, I've not heard them sounding as well.
My fourth track was "Luminol" from the Steve Wilson album The Raven That Refused to Sing. Nick Begg's plays a reference grade bass intro which happens to be my favourite track to assess bass performance. The ASCM did not disgrace itself and I was rewarded with extra depth and deepness to the bass and the ability to listen to some flute notes floating over my 1210, i could hear the phrasing of each flute note and once again things seemed to hang in the air before they decayed. The decay of the notes seemed to never end, again another :eek: moment as previous mats failed in this area.
Fifth track had to be something by Dream Theater, this time "The Dark Eternal Night" from the Systematic Chaos album. This is my all time Dream theater track so I was expecting great things from the ACSM. This track just seemed to have great timing, drumming was the best I'd heard I even heard fresh micro details from Jordan Rudeness keyboard playing. This track just seemed "together". I listened to another Dream Theater track "Lost Not Forgotten" from the A Dramatic Turn of Events LP. I always use this track to assess a mat's ability to unravel a complex piece of music. This, to my ears is the most complex piece of prog I own. Sadly, it's too complex and it's very very difficult to follow any one particular instrument. The ACSM failed in this respect to better my old Resomat but don't get me wrong the ACSM is just as good as the Resomat, this is the ACSM's first failure in bettering the Resomat.
Finally whilst being in a Prog mood I decided to listen to Fugazi. Well, I got completely immersed in this fantastic album. I thought I knew this album extremely well but I heard new things today. Again I noticed an improved Bass, notes again began to hang around in the air, the organ solo's sounded sublime. Now this is going to be really sad (do I care?). Fish uses the work "Fuck" a lot in She Chameleon, I'd never heard a "K" produced in such detail (told you it was sad) :lol:.
The whole three tracks never sounded so good.
Negatives
----------
Doesn't work well on my 301.
Bass can sometimes sounded blunted (only happened a couple of times) but only very very marginally, I'm nit picking.
Does not improve on the Resomat's ability to unravel complex music pieces, it just equals it!
Cost, £73 might be a tad expensive for some.
Positives
--------
Fantastic with Rock, Metal, Prog.
Fantastic replication of electric and accoustic guitar
The best decay of a notes harmonics I've ever heard.
The ability to make notes hang in the air.
Bass in 99% of the time has improved with an increased depth and soldity.
Fantastic high end trebble.
Improves over the Resomat's ability to retrieve microdetail.
Improvement to the clarity of vocals.
The soundstage seems deeper.
ADDICTIVE.
CONCLUSION
------------
OK, that's it, I think that it's the best £73 I've spent on my 1210. I'd recommend one at the drop of a hat. This is my new reference mat. I have included some new pics over on my http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?9568-Me-and-the-1210-are-gunna-have-us-some-me-time thread.