Mike New platter, Oyaide MJ-12 mat & STB-MS stabiliser arrive at Marco Towers...

[Tarzan]

Review, review!

[Marco]

Fret ye not, it's coming very shortly!

Marco.

[Marco]

Hi Andrew,

My Mike New platter arrived today with Copper top plate, it's a thing of beauty!

Yes, isn't it indeed! When you've had a good chance to listen, please add your thoughts to the thread later

Marco.

[Marco]

Hi Guys,

Ok, having thoroughly tested all the mats and platters at my disposal, I've now arrived at my final conclusions. Please bear in mind that the following information is based only on results obtained in my own system - results with the same items used in other systems may (and most likely will) vary.

Consequently, I haven't awarded an outright 'winner', but rather have outlined what I consider are the sonic characteristics of the mats in question, in order that others can read my observations and judge things for themselves.

What I would say though is that both the Oyaide (with stabiliser) and Rubato copper mat offer superior sonic performance to any of the better, more affordably priced mats on the market, such as the Herbie's and Achromat, as indeed they should do given the difference in cost.

Therefore, with those provisos in place, here are my conclusions:


*Best mat for the SL-1200/1210 (with stock Technics platter) is the.........


Oyaide MJ-12 (with matching STB-MS vinyl stabiliser).


*Providing you like the sonic presentation it gives and that it suits your system.

The combination of the Oyaide mat and stabiliser allows clinically precise insight into recordings, with minimal coloration of the signal, giving a very neutral, detailed and precise, if slightly 'cool', musical presentation. And the novel way that the stabiliser flattens out warps in records, by evenly distributing them over the surface area of the slightly 'dished' shape of the MJ-12 mat, is a masterful touch - and no doubt is instrumental in the superb sonic results obtained. TBH, it's worth buying both solely to have flat records to play!

However, both items MUST be used together in order for the full sonic effect (and warp flattening capabilities) of the mat to be realised. Using one without the other simply dilutes their combined effectiveness. Sorry, there's no cheap way out here.

Fitting the Oyaide MJ-12/STB-MS combo results in laying not only recordings bare for inspection, but also any set-up or presentational anomalies of your T/T and/or system. If you like your music presented 'warts & all' (and if your T/T and system are set-up and performing optimally to cope with this level of honesty) then results with top-notch recordings can be breathtaking.

The Oyaide and stabiliser combo in that respect thus cannot be beaten, other than when a Mike New Copper Composite platter is used on its own with a suitable record weight, such as the Bruil, which although does not flatten out record warps, combines with the former to offer their very own special brand of musical insight.

Let me be absolutely clear, though: the sound that the combination of the Oyaide mat and stabiliser offers is not at all clinical or sterile, although as the turntable mat (and record weight) are influential interfaces in the signal chain, those whose T/T and system already verges on the 'cool' and slightly bright side, in terms of sonic signature, may find that adding the Oyaide and stabiliser takes things slightly too far in that direction (by simply 'telling it as it is'), and so may prefer the balance offered by the tonally richer and more 'organic' presentation of the Rubato copper mat.

However, my view with these things is 'don't shoot the messenger', therefore if the Oyaide and stabiliser show up deficiencies in recordings and/or your T/T or system, then it's far better to apply a fix at the source of the problem (other than the recording, of course, which one can't do anything about) than use your choice of turntable mat as a 'bandage' to paper over cracks elsewhere. Remember what 'high-fidelity' means!

One final word, however, about the STB-MS stabiliser...

Yes it is expensive, but to hold one and use one is, quite simply, to want one! It is undoubtedly a genuinely beautiful piece of engineering, and combined with the flexibility it offers in terms of 'mass tuning', it will act as a well-sorted and final solution for anyone in the market for owning a top-notch record weight - of that there is no question.


*Best mat (option 2) for the SL-1200/1210 (WITH STOCK TECHNICS PLATTER) is the...........


RUBATO COPPER MAT.


*Providing you like the sonic presentation it gives and that it suits your system.

In some systems, the musical presentation the copper mat gives will be preferable, as whilst to my ears it doesn’t mask any information (quite the opposite, in fact), it undoubtedly doesn’t 'push' that information at you in the rather exuberant fashion of the Oyaide combo, so one could say its presentation is slightly more 'relaxed' but not in any way in a dull or muted sense.

What’s also become obvious from using the Rubato mat (and also my own Mike New Copper Composite platter) is that whenever copper is in the equation, music reproduced takes on a wonderful depth, texture and openness, and in the process loses a slight veil that seems to superimpose itself on proceedings whenever a 'copper interface' between motor and platter is absent.

This could possibly be due to, as discussed previously, the shielding of stray eddy currents (or magnetic field) from the motor underneath, interfering with the sonic response of the cartridge, especially when considering the 'delicate', and thus easily affected, signal emitting from low-output MC cartridges. The Oyaide T/T mat, despite its undoubted talents in other areas, does NOT address this particular problem.

I have no doubt that sonic interference from eddy currents is a genuine phenomenon in audio and one that’s sufficiently detrimental to one’s enjoyment of music (especially when experienced whilst listening to music on a truly wide-open high-resolution system liable to highlight this effect) to warrant the permanent inclusion of some form of copper plate/mat interface between the record and platter (and the motor underneath) to help ameliorate this effect.

Therefore, for some, these benefits may be of sufficient importance to negate the sonic advantages offered by the Oyaide combo’s record warp flattening abilities.

In fact, listening tests clearly showed that using the Oyaide mat and stabiliser in conjunction with the Rubato copper mat, yielded the best results with the stock Technics platter, where the former combined with the Rubato’s eddy current/magnetic field shielding abilities to superb effect, making for a rather beguiling musical presentation, whilst of course taking into consideration how the design and mechanical deficiencies of the stock platter influence the overall ability of the SL-1200/1210 to accurately portray musical information on records to maximum effect.

And this is now where the 'ultimate solution' of a whole new specially designed and engineered platter comes into the equation............

Having the other day briefly returned to using the stock platter, with the Oyaide mat and STB-MS stabiliser, after having used the Mike New Copper Composite platter for a number of days, I can confirm that the latter considerably 'raises the game' of the SL-1200/1210, to the extent that it highlights the significant latent potential still to be realised from the superb (and highly accurate) Technics Quartz-controlled direct-drive motor unit.

Don’t get me wrong, for most people, using the Oyaide combo (or Rubato copper mat) with the stock Technics platter, and hearing some superb sounds in the process, it would be very difficult to imagine how things could get any better, thus it would make perfect sense to stop at that point and just enjoy the music.

However, to do so would be to deprive oneself of the extraordinary way in which the Mike New Copper Composite platter moves the Techie forward into an entirely different sonic league, resulting in some of the most convincing and musically rewarding sounds I’ve heard to date from the humble vinyl record. Yes, for me, the effect of the MN platter is unquestionably that fundamental!

Having considered all of the above, however, I would also ask you to bear the following in mind:

Fact: no mat, no matter how good, can fix the inherent mechanical deficiencies of the stock Technics platter.

And trust me, they *do* exist (don’t let anyone with a commercial agenda tell you differently) - and as such become immediately apparent once cured by the highly effective design principles of the MN platter. Ultimately, I guess it depends on how far you want to go.

In summary then, for those who truly want to hear what their SL-1200/1210 is capable of sonically, the use of a Mike New high-precision bearing and Copper Composite platter, in my opinion, is mandatory, along with a suitable high-current capability PSU, such as the Paul Hynes SR5. Failing that, the MN bearing and an SR5 PSU with the Oyaide mat and vinyl stabiliser, retaining the stock Technics platter, will get you 95% of the way there.

As ever though in hi-end audio, it’s often that last few percent which defines the difference between merely 'good' and genuinely 'great' - and from experience I can say quite categorically that in terms of the sonic capabilities of the SL-1200/1210, the Mike New Copper Composite Platter delivers that last few percent.

All enquiries regarding the Copper Composite Platter should therefore be made to Mike by email: mhnew@bigpond.net.au

If you really want the best from your Techie, then quite simply you owe it to yourself to own one!

Marco.

[colinB]

Nice one Marco. Fantastic to get in house reviewing on AOS. Much appreciated.
One small point of detail. Did the bruil weight work at all with the oyaide platter at all. Im not looking for the cheap route but personally i would want to buy the mat and then at a later date buy the stabilizer.

[John]

Lovelly write up Marco
I shall pass this onto Vic and try and get him to try this on the Salvation platter

[Alex_UK]

Nice one Marco. I must admit the Oyaide mat also looks superb, and a mat/stabiliser would be the only option with other models of Techie (and other DD) turntables, where an after-market platter isn't available (however as my SL-150 is "just" a stand-in, I'd be better off investing the money in my 401... if it wasn't for bills and Christmas... I wonder how the Oyaide would affect the Garrards and other idler drives - certainly the former have platters with similar "characteristics" to the Techies - (i.e. they ring like Big Ben...) Anyway, thanks for the write up. (Pinches himself to make sure it wasn't all just a dream! )

[MCRU]

I will be trying the Oyaide mat and clamp on a Lenco if it takes the weight and hopefully a Garrard 401.

[John]

Nice one Marco. I must admit the Oyaide mat also looks superb, and a mat/stabiliser would be the only option with other models of Techie (and other DD) turntables, where an after-market platter isn't available (however as my SL-150 is "just" a stand-in, I'd be better off investing the money in my 401... if it wasn't for bills and Christmas... I wonder how the Oyaide would affect the Garrards and other idler drives - certainly the former have platters with similar "characteristics" to the Techies - (i.e. they ring like Big Ben...) Anyway, thanks for the write up. (Pinches himself to make sure it wasn't all just a dream! )

It should help but be good to hear David results

[MCRU]

Its quite exciting for me because I have the Lenco which I refurbished and decided to sell as I have 4 more anyway, my Rega P3 is on e-bay and my good friend Tony who used to own Select Audio but has now retired has a mint SL1210 Mk2 which he is letting me have, he has a full cardas re-wired RB300 which is not the ultimate arm for the Technics but it gets me up and running, just need to decide which cartridge to put on it now!

Must admit the Technics looks damn cool with the Oyaide mat on doesn't it!