I'm a Dummy, Tell Me About Turntable Mats

I think Ralph would opt for replacing the stock G series tonearm (are they all the same tonearm, regardless of cost?) with a Triplanar, if he had his druthers.

what this discussion suggests is that most don’t like heavy floppy rubber mats, most prefer either a metal mat (copper or other) or a mat that attempts to match the energy impedance of vinyl. I have 5 TTs up and running. I use metal mats on 2, copper or SAEC SS300, and Boston Audio graphite mats on the other 3. The latter approximates vinyl. SQ is mainly sensitive to cartridge choice and tonearm, not to the particular mat. But that’s because I’ve already gone through the process of selecting mats for each, I like to think.

I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who uses a Resomat or similar.

I think this is like what the Supreme Court justice said about pornography. To paraphrase, he said he couldn’t define it but he knew it when he saw it. I can’t define tracking noise but I know it when I hear it. Except I’m not even sure of that.

Mijo, You wrote, "It is not really record noise. You are hearing the mechanical system of the record/stylus/cantilever/tonearm vibrating."  How does that contradict anything I wrote?  Moreover, your statement itself is a bit contradictory internally (to say it is not "record noise", which was your term, not mine, and then define it as in part due to mechanical energy due to the record, along with the other factors you name).  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, and I have better things to worry about. Is there any test or are there any measurements that correlate SQ with reduction of this "noise"?  In other words, if you believe it to be undesireable, what does one do to reduce it, and does that result in better SQ?

If your definition of record noise is “a high frequency copy of the music” then we’re probably both talking about the same phenomenon. I find it varies in audibility in relation to cartridge output voltage magnitude. I have always felt it comes with the territory, and 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?

Mijo, This "stylus noise" to which you refer, are you talking about the faint echo of the musical signal that one can often hear if your ear is close to the playing surface?  That's the only noise I typically hear, and it's due to the microphonic nature of a cartridge.  I am guessing you are talking about some other type of noise, but I don't know what.

Then there’s the Resomat, which suspends the LP in air above a solid surface, supported only on the tips of rubbery points that are fastened to the mat surface. The result is pretty much the exact opposite of the philosophy of absorbing resonant energy from the LP. The LP is left to deal with the resonant energy on its own. Many users swear by that.

If your goal is to absorb all resonant energy from the LP, then you want a platter surface and/or a mat that most mimics vinyl in its physical characteristics.  For that, Delrin is a good choice.  But other materials work too.  However, if it was as simple as absorbing and dissipating resonant energy in the LP, then everyone by now would have agreed that vinyl-like materials are indisputably the best.  As you can see, this isn't the case.

In my own opinion, you have to try a variety of different mats made of different materials, and then decide for yourself.  I daresay, the same mat might affect the sound of one LP differently from that of another LP.  Worrying about that would be a nightmare.