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

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Originally Posted by jimdgoulding

One small problem that I haven't been able to get around is that I can't seem to get my CD player to play even one analog recording of the many I have. I guess I'm just stuck with it, not that I mind terribly. BTW, I use an old Oracle mat and think that with it my music is appreciably a little better sounding than the mat my Nottingham came with.

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That was an old post clumsily presented and Marco and I have since discussed what I really meant - and I did post an expansion shortly after I believe.

Cutting records is a true art and in the days before the advent of digital and CD in particular, the best cutting engineers seemed to have a "feel" for what they needed to do to get a great sound from records, bearing in mind the losses in cutting and pressing I aluded to in the aforementioned post. As I think I've stated before and since that time, taking a pre-eq'd etc. tape and doing a straight digital transfer as was done in the mid 80's is a total recipe for disaster. By the early 90's, the editing and mastering tools available to a digital engineer were much better and the best analogue-to-digital remasters can be breathtaking. Even LP's cut from these digital source files can sound better too, although I'd question what the point was in doing this..

Anyway, in recent times I've got the Decca singing nicely and have steeped myself in cheap vintage Garrard folklore :lol: I'm enjoying records immensely and don't give a toss whether CD sounds better or not - far too many other things to really worry about right now :)

Thanks, Dave, for your reply :).

My Funky mat has arrived. Out with the Herbie! The Herbie is very good, but the Funk Achromat allows more clarity and rez to the sound - both traits that I value. I feel sure, though, that there are many folks who prefer a more relaxed and enveloping sound who would prefer the Herbie.

What about the £20 approx acrylic mats on ebay??? I think Alex_UK has one, but since he's flush, he may have quietly bought Funk one instead out of his wine budget :)

I find on my decks the 3mm acrylic mats better the Achromat except for a "whiteness" or harshness in the upper mid to lower treble. In the end I find this incredibly annoying. 30 quid gets you ones of Vic's mats (Trans-Fi).

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Originally Posted by DSJR

What about the £20 approx acrylic mats on ebay??? I think Alex_UK has one, but since he's flush, he may have quietly bought Funk one instead out of his wine budget :)

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Mine is one of the eBay specials Dave - this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XTM1-FROSTED-A...ht_2829wt_1139 - I originally bought it for my Pro-Ject RPM4 which worked well, I've recently been experimenting with it on the 401, with varying success - I don't like it on its own on the aluminium platter but putting the Herbies on first (upside down) with the XTM1 on top worked quite nicely. (Currently using the Technics SL-150 mat on its own on the Garrard - until I brave the garage to look for the original 401 mat, which by most accounts (including yours) is hard to beat...)

The latest Achromats are supplied with extremely sticky self-adhesive pads, which when applied to the underneath of the mat, and dotted equidistantly around the periphery of it, Vaseline then applied elsewhere all over, and then after having pressed firmly down on top of the mat, covering the circumference of it, allow the Achromat to bond so firmly to the platter, that it virtually becomes one with it! :eek:

And THAT makes a MASSIVE difference to the mat's effectiveness, the sonic effect of which one can easily hear.....

So, Jerry, please ensure you do the above, and you will *really* hear what your new Achromat is capable of!! Thus used, IMO, (where record clamps are present) I have used no better turntable mat. The results it gives are utterly superb!

Marco.

Oo 'eck - so I still have to brave the wife's curiosity about a Vaseline purchase?

OK. :)

At the moment the mat is held down with 4 strips of extremely sticky but thin double-sided craft tape in a cross pattern from the centre to the rim.
I'll give the lube job with the supplied sticky circles a go. :thumbsup:
... mind you, I tried separating the Funk-supplied sticky pads from their (presumed) covering layers ... I didn't manage to make any headway at all! :scratch: I'll have another go.

Hi Jerry,

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Originally Posted by jandl100

Oo 'eck - so I still have to brave the wife's curiosity about a Vaseline purchase?

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Hey, you never know, she might let you rub some on HER afterwards - the mind boggles...! :eyebrows: :eyebrows:

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I'll give the lube job with the supplied sticky circles a go. :thumbsup:
... mind you, I tried separating the Funk-supplied sticky pads from their (presumed) covering layers ... I didn't manage to make any headway at all! :scratch: I'll have another go.

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Please do, as trust me, the effort is WELL worth it, dude. I had to get Del to do it, as she has long nails, which are necessary to seperate the sections of the sticky pads, so there's another opperchancity to get ya ladeee involved in yer hi-fi geekiness! ;)

Once done, it's pretty easy after that to apply the sticky bits to the mat..... :cool:

Marco.

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Originally Posted by jandl100

At the moment the mat is held down with 4 strips of extremely sticky but thin double-sided craft tape in a cross pattern from the centre to the rim.
I'll give the lube job with the supplied sticky circles a go. :thumbsup:
... mind you, I tried separating the Funk-supplied sticky pads from their (presumed) covering layers ... I didn't manage to make any headway at all! :scratch: I'll have another go.

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I think the 'lube job' really comes into its own over using sticky tape/pads by ensuring there is no air gap at all between mat and platter, giving a complete bond. It really does sound better than tape.