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

[MartinT]

I had turned off my system while away for the weekend. I don't normally ever turn it off and this was a reminder why. Eek!

Several hours later...

I've stuck down the Achromat to the platter with double-sided thin tape. Had a good listen and I can't discern any difference from without tape. However, my Achromat is a very tight fit to the MN bearing spindle and I doubt I was getting any slippage before.

Further thoughts on what the Achromat is doing: wonderful accentuation of fine detail, tiny cues, acoustic of the recording venue and general realism. Highly neutral. Tight bass which can sound light but in fact goes deeper. Just 'more there'.

Now for the PH SR5-21 PSU when it arrives.

[chris@panteg]

Hi Chris, when you say, leaner, tighter sound this is not at the expense of loosing musicality, or a drying out of the sound?

No not a all ' the herbies has a certain thickness in the bass , a little too full ! the Achromat seems to be perfectly balanced .

[Tarzan]

My spelling is getting worse, " what does loosing mean when l am trying to say losing- and that was before a night shift.

[DSJR]

No not a all ' the herbies has a certain thickness in the bass , a little too full ! the Achromat seems to be perfectly balanced .

On the TD125, no bass at all and a smeary lightness in the treble. The Spacemat on the 125 is better, although the old "124" mutli-ribbed mat is best so far.

Interesting this, how different products work with some decks better than others. A bloomin' headache for the rest of us though

[chris@panteg]

Dave ' yeah it is most odd , and i have decided to keep the Soundhifi/Herbies mat as an alternative and interestingly it works on my SLQL1 .

[worrasf]

Have you used the double-sided tape and bonded your Achromat now to the platter?

Marco.

Continuing my slow but inexorable SL-1210 mods I secured my Achromat to the platter with 4 strips of double sided sticky tape tonight - definitely better with than without. Even more definition and focus.

Steve

[Marco]

Nice one, Steve - glad it worked. It does for me, too

I've been testing the Achromat against the rather more expensive copper mat, both on their own using the stock Techie platter, and it has compared very favourably with it so far, although I haven't reached a conclusive opinion yet.

Next week it'll be Oyaide and customised Mike New platter time!

Marco.

[worrasf]

Hi Marco - I look forward to reading your thoughts on the copper mat & Oyaide because I have been thinking of getting one but was reluctant to punt all that dollar unheard. I'm trying to get hold of one of the Applied Fidelity "screw down" platter mats which look like they ought to sound stunning but am having transatlantic comms difficulties as the moment

Steve

[MartinT]

So - I managed to purchase a large tub of petroleum jelly from the baby aisle of Morrison's without any dirty looks

Spreading a thin but complete layer of Vaseline onto the Mike New platter wasn't too difficult, using a knife, starting from the centre, spinning the platter gently and working outwards. I would say I coated the platter with a layer approximately 0.5mm thick, leaving the very centre and edge clear to allow for spread. I put multiple records and the Bruil weight on top to help the Achromat bond tightly to the platter. This combo isn't going to separate easily.

Now, I wasn't sure what to expect and, as previously noted, self adhesive tape hadn't helped at all. I believe this to be because tape only helps with slippage and I wasn't getting any. However, Vaseline forms an airtight bond which is very different as the mat is now a composite with the platter and damps it as well as correctly coupling the vinyl.

Wow! The bass is back in spades, everything is tight, tight TIGHT. Dynamics are superb and the soundstage is even more finely defined. Music is vivid and infectious and just sounds right. This feels rather like I've just hooked in the Paul Hynes SR-5 PSU but I haven't received it yet!

I can't speak for the Technics original platter but if you have an MN platter and fancy buying an Achromat I can't recommend this combination highly enough. For the price of some Vaseline (there's plenty spare for other uses...) you should try this out. I don't think you'll be wiping it off in a hurry

Afterthough: this now renders my Herbies mat entirely redundant. Surface noise is also impressively low.

[Marco]

Great stuff, Martin. Others should now follow your lead.

I've always known that bonding mats to platters works, but of course it helps if you use the right substance to do the bonding....

Now you know why I asked Mike to bond (anneal) a copper mat to my platter (the effect is similar, although even more pronounced)!

Enjoy, matey

Marco.