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

[Alex_UK]

so there's another opperchancity to get ya ladeee involved in yer hi-fi geekiness!

I presume that statement, doesn't also apply to this one!

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

Oh, you didn't mean those sticky bits! Sorry, my bad!

[Marco]

No, we're not talking about any clots or 'lady juice'!

Marco.

[jandl100]

Well, I'm sure I don't understand what Marco and Alex are on about.


Anyways ... I decided that openness and honesty were the best policy (they usually are in marriage, imho).

"Have we got any Vaseline?" I asked.
"Oh" she repled in concern "Which bit of you is sore?".

"No" I said "it's for my new turntable mat."
"Ah." she smiled. "Yes, in the bathroom."

So ... job done. And yes, the sticky pad things are easy to sort once you get the knack ... luckily I don't chew my fingernails so I didn't have to ask the missus to help.

Bloody hell - the mat's not going to come off in a hurry is it? I reckon it will require a pickaxe to get it off. New turntable? - I'll have to get a new Funk mat!

But yes, it's well worth it.
The immediate and very very obvious improvement for me is a solidity and coherence to the imaging. A small group of chamber musicians suddenly sounds like they are sitting in a concert hall, near each other and playing as a single coherent, mutually supportive musical ensemble.

Yes, the bass is more solid, and the treble a bit smoother and more lucid. But for me the main benefit is a musical one not an obviously hifi one. The playing of the musicians just makes one hell of a lot more sense.

[Marco]

Nicely effective, innit?

Marco.

[MartinT]

Excellent, Jerry. Mirrors my experience.

[Marco]

Btw, Martin, when I was at Nick G's place, having Paul's new silver DC cable fitted (which you MUST do A.S.A.P, as the improvement it makes is unbelievable!), we discovered a novel (if rather unsubtle) way of removing the MN platter, without disturbing the bonded Achromat.

With the Techy completely disconnected from your system, pop it on the floor, then remove the cartridge and headshell from your tonearm, fix the armtube in place with some tape (or whatever), so it cannot move, and then just turn the turntable upside down, near to the floor, give it a quick jerk, and the platter simply pops out (with the mat undisturbed) allowing you access to the PCB, in order to fit the new DC cable - simples!

So, worry no longer about having to prize off heavily-bonded Achromats, to get at the innards of yer Techy!

Marco.

[MartinT]

Thanks, Marco. I'll be doing the PH cable mod as soon as I get back from holiday.

[Mike_New]

Another factor to bear in mind when considering the high bond sticky pads or the double sided tapes. Is that you may require to remove the mat in the future (so that you can remove the platter) and this may prove to be a difficult task when dealing with the Achromat.
This is why I reccomended the Vasselene/Silicon Grease approach way back.
With the grease it is relatively easy to use a thin blade (I used a steel backed razor blade and two credit cards) to gently release the vacuum seal that forms if you did the job properly in the first place.

And much more importantly as Martin says there should be no air bubbles between the mat and the platter, with correctly applied grease this is avoided.

[m10]

Hiya - proud owner of a 'new' (to me) 1210 - currently in stock form with a brand new Ortofon 2M blue. To me it stands as it is as a great deck and I've been enjoying some old and some new vinyl since she arrived.

Didn't know whether to bump this thread or create my own -- I have 95% decided to pull the plug on an Achromat as my first 'tweak'. I was kind of sold on reading this thread, and realising that Mr Pink Triangle is behind it (as a former LPT user - big fan!). The deck currently has the heavy Technics rubber mat (it has a model number on the back).

I have made an aesthetic decision that the platter stays - part of the romance for it (for me - this is purely personal of course) is that the thing should look like a 1210 complete with stroboscope straight from the 70s. If I could afford it, I'd buy that big Yamaha integrated with the VU metres to go with it.

Anyway - my question is about bonding/sealing the Achromat to the Technics platter - as I'm at the start of my journey and as things may be happening 'under the hood' in the coming months and years, I'd like to keep it as easy as possible to remove the mat and platter. Is Vaseline alone enough for a good bond/seal, or does it really need to be the tape as well? How easy is it to remove a taped down mat, and do they come off without damage?

I'm figuring with the nice cart, a tweak with the mat and a nice phono stage - I should be set until I can save for nice example of a 309 or Series IV when one comes up (buy well, buy once). I'm thinking of SME as I find them really nice and secure to operate - as I can be a bit of a Nervous Nelly at the deck. I'm playing with a borrowed Michell record clamp as well at the moment - but would like to try a weight before I pull the plug on a purchase.

[MartinT]

Use Vaseline, not tape. The bond formed is very strong and airtight.