I'm a Dummy, Tell Me About Turntable Mats

It was not intentional.

@fsonicsmith  I didn't get the impression is was. I just though I should point out the issue, since the 'table is quite different if you have a good arm on it.


As far as the mat goes, its pretty easy to demonstrate with nothing more than a few different mats and a turntable that you can hear differences. You don't need amps or speakers for that. What a weight or clamp brings to the 'table (if you see what I did there...) is helping to keep the LP in contact with the mat so it can more effectively control resonance in the LP. Vacuum works even better, but the vacuum system I had damaged a lot of records (ticks and pops due to dirt pressed into the grooves on the backside of the LP; this was over 20 years ago) so on that account I've stayed away from vacuum systems.


The problem as I see it is that many aftermarket platter pads are no better than the one that they replace. So you get variable results. But if you hear one that actually does what its supposed to (as I described earlier) then there is no going back.

I can’t define tracking noise but I know it when I hear it. Except I’m not even sure of that.

@lewm Make sure you turn the volume all the way down, so you can only hear the mechanical sound of the cartridge playing the vinyl. The quieter it is, the better the platter pad, in a nutshell.


@fsonicsmith  You have mis-characterized my comments about the Technics, just so you know. I think its a very good deal. But I have a Triplanar on mine, as I feel the machine's weak points are the arm and the platter pad. Equipped with the Triplanar and a very different mat, it does an excellent job in comparison to my master tapes.

I pay no attention to it, because my listening seat is far enough away from the turntable that I never hear it while I am trying to concentrate on what is coming out of the speakers. What’s the big deal?

Anyway, I view it as a "problem" endemic to vinyl reproduction, and it probably varies all over the place based on the tonearm design and construction and the cartridge design and construction,

@lewm

Its a problem due to poor platter pad design, because most people don’t have an idea how important the role of the platter pad actually is. People do seem to have noticed that they change the sound; since that is true it follows that there is something going on that’s worth actually applying some engineering time to sort it all out.

I’ve explained what’s going on with this any time this subject has come up. The resonance of the LP as the stylus tracks it **has** to be controlled, else the system simply won’t be neutral! The stylus has to get things right- you can’t fix it downstream. If the LP resonates as the stylus tracks it, that energy talks back to the stylus, reducing clarity and increasing harshness. IOW the platter pad is pretty important to getting things right, much more so than most people seem to realize.

as I understand it, you put them on with adhesive.

Some do, some don't. One of my favorites, the pad made by Oracle, uses an adhesive.


The function of the mat is to control resonance generated in the vinyl by the act of the cartridge tracking. If you can hear the cartridge tracking the vinyl with the volume all the way down, that's a bad sign, and also a way to let you know how effective your mat really is. The mat should also therefore be able to damp the platter as well.


If the mat is too hard or too soft, it will introduce a coloration. The correct durometer is that of the vinyl itself. This is why felt and metals both do not work right, although felt is often used because it can act like a clutch during DJ work.