Mats

[Paul Barker]

You might have accidentally discovered a sort of rubber ringmat.

Is that a wine cork on the tonearm? Damp resonances?

[Shane]

It is. And it does. Had a massive resonance at about 150Hz, which the cork has largely cleared up.

[naimbrain]

I've just put my 401 mat on my LP12. Initially there was no obvious difference over the felt mat, but then I noticed the Garrard mat was only supporting the label (the Garrard mat is thicker in the central area). A quick improvisation to raise the edges was eight 10p pieces equally spaced under the outer edge of the mat.

This resulted in a clear improvement in bass, but I should point out that I didn't adjust VTA, so read into these results what you will.

Would it not be a better idea to cut the record label portion of the mat out completely? Except it precludes use of record clamp.

[Greg.]

The pizza mat idea was published in the letters pages of July's HFW. The Ikea mat works well but on my 401 the midrange was a little muddled. I've not tried glass and Jonno Noble advocates a double mat with perspex and something else. All the other options I have tried are clearly beaten by the 401 mat on its own. If anyone wants a free Ikea mat to try (I have two), PM me your address.

Best wishes,

Greg

There seems to be a few companies making these at the moment, all with suposed glowing reviews.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MM-57-NON-FELT...QQcmdZViewItem
Is it my imagination, or is this just the stuff you put under rugs on wooden floors to stop them sliding about?
Looks identical, if so, its very cheap to buy.
Could be worth a try?

[NealG]

Yes, it's the non-slip mat stuff. Extreme Phono used it for their basic mat some years back. Works well as demonstrated at the Phono shoot-out. I think Richard H found a source for it.

[david counter]

I got some from my local diy shop,
I use it as a router mat, never thought about a mat for the t/t

[Gerry]

Yes, Neal put it on my SP10 in place of the Archomat and it seemed to be better.
but Greg persuaded me to just use the original mat and I've not looked back!
I think it is the same stuff they use on shelves to stop items slipping/moving.

Regards

I thought so, that stuff is readily available and dirt cheap! I cant believe they just cut it to a mat and charge so much money!
Robbing b******s