Turntable mats, the good, the crap and the overpriced.

[steve-z]

I see mentioned the Origin Live Upgrade Mat, this thing costs as good as £40 and is just a thin mat of cork dyed black.

Snake oil ?

I would think so.

If you had a hold of one you’d realise it definitely isn’t cork, if it was cork in that thickness it wouldn’t last 2 minutes. Yes £40 seems a lot but you do get a full refund guaranteed so you can try it first, if you think it’s not beneficial send it back, I for one found it to work well.


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[PeteT]

There are so many mats it seems...
I'd been using an SRM 2mm silicon mat for last few years on my DD40, that suits it well and minimal static

I'm currently trying out the MCRU supports that negate the mat completely by lifting the vinyl off the platter...

So far I'd say nice open sound but a bit light on bass.

[Cas]

If you had a hold of one you’d realise it definitely isn’t cork, if it was cork in that thickness it wouldn’t last 2 minutes. Yes £40 seems a lot but you do get a full refund guaranteed so you can try it first, if you think it’s not beneficial send it back, I for one found it to work well.


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I have one here and the edge got torn, looks like cork to me, even the pattern you can see in it looks like compressed cork.

[Made in 1968]

Mats in general have to be high up in the top ten snake oil products..

[enrae8]

I thought the Title of the thread was referring to my record collection

[steve-z]

I thought the Title of the thread was referring to my record collection

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[losepete]

I recently replaced the old (standard Linn) felt mat on my LP12 with an Airbourne cork mat costing just under £14 from https://www.normanrecords.com/record...iABEgLlB_D_BwE

The Wife (importantly), 2 friends, a son and myself all thought the sound was improved by this change - better defined bass and a little more clarity through mid and treble.

A relatively inexpensive tweak that works well with my LP12/Ittok LVII/Kiseki Blue Gold Spot but, of course, may not suit other TTs.

[Scooby]

I have one here and the edge got torn, looks like cork to me, even the pattern you can see in it looks like compressed cork.

Not sure what you have but my OL mat is 100% not cork. Looks more like impregnated felt. And it works better than any other mat I’ve tried. Well worth the money.

[steve-z]

Not sure what you have but my OL mat is 100% not cork. Looks more like impregnated felt. And it works better than any other mat I’ve tried. Well worth the money.

In total agreement, it’s deffo not cork, if I remember correctly reading OLs own info it is made fro a composite material whose composition they are keeping quiet about, I also have found it gives excellent results with various platter compositions, only reason I don’t use it on my Rega is because it’s so much thinner than the standard mat and would warrant shimming the cartridge to get the vta correct.


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[Wakefield Turntables]

Tried many many mats. My two main decks, my 301 and 1210 have had many mat variations. The 301 now sports a Tenuto which disposed the old garrard 301 mat. The garrard 301 mat fended off many challengers before it was usurped. The technics sports a crystal audio mat, I've not heard anything better yet.