TW Acustic Turntable Mat


From Highwater Sounds Facebook page, Jeff Catalano posted a pic of the new TW Acustic turntable mat - sourced from Japan. It looks pretty substantial. I can always email Jeff on info, but hate to bother him about a turntable mat. Anyone else have any info or cost on this new mat?
philb7777
Syntax, your comments sometimes are not called for on these boards. We all
have things we like and value in regards to not only sound, but equipment.
Much of it is based on opinions and sonic preferences.

For one, the TW-mat made a significant difference in sound. At first I wasn't sure
I liked it as it made my bass so robust that it thickened the sound. I this was
even after I reset the VTA to a comparable level from which the millennium mat
was set. Only after experimenting: lowering the VTF from 1.950 to 1.925g, and
decreasing the anti skate by around 30% from previous settings, did I find a
sound that was much improved over the Millennium mat.

The take home message is that the TW-mat definitely changes the sound
dramatically, and only when you re-calibrate your table do you find the sound
much improved over the Millennium (and yes, I did go back and use less anti-
skate and VTF with the Millennium prior to making these observations).

In closing, my non-solicited advice to you is be more open minded and objective
upon this hobby and what other people may see as improvements and quality
equipment. I think your system based on Micro-Seiki, Lamm and your custom
home-made loudspeakers are really cool and top notch. Not my cup of tea, but I
can certainly see why you would use it as a reference for yourself.
Syntax

TW told me retired Pope Benedict did him a favour and blessed a bunch of the mats for him. So no need to have to get any audiophile approved Holy Water.
The appropriate mat can make a difference - to the good side. Don't forget to fix the mat on the platter as a kind of hard coupling. never leave it loose on the turntable - you will not hear an integrated system but two components. Don't use holy water for fixing...
Thuchan
Sent you a mail on the Wavacs many moons ago.
Apologies to the OP for digressing
Has anyone heard the mat with a Raven One? How does the mat impact the sound? I use the 10.5 arm and XV1s.
Musichead, I have an XV-1s, TW 10.5 arm and a Raven AC. I my opinion, compared to the stock Millenium mat, the TW mat added a sense of ease and flow to the music, made the sound more musical without sacrificing detail, and added more bass impact. With the TW mat thickness, adjusting VTA and anti-skate was a must. All in all, I am very happy with the TW mat as an upgrade compared to the Millenium mat.
Thanks Philb7777

I am not using the millennium mat just the bare platter. Curious did you have to reset the arm or did you just use the VTA adjuster?
I actually did it both ways for a trial. I stayed with the arm about 4mm on the set recommendation of 4-6mm and just used the VTA. The thickness of the matt is about 5 mm, so you have to elevate the VTA quite a bit to get the VTA/SRA back to where you want it. It's worth the trouble though!
i have used a matt for 3 weeks and tried with both an ortofon per winfeld as well as a lyra skala and can report significant improvement in background silence,image stability and a small improvement in clarity across the frequency spectrumÂ…this is a worthwhile improvement to my ac-3 tw t/table
I have a Raven one and I have one on order. I will post my findings as soon as I get the mat in my table. From feedback here I believe this mat will take things to the next level.
I've had one on my Raven One for a few weeks now. Really like what I hear, bit frustrating as it forced me through adjusting my XV-1s settings again. At first it was a shift in sound, darker richer but after adjusting my settings it was like a preamp upgrade, lower noise floor, more relaxed, blacker backgrounds, richer tones, same level of detail just presented more naturally. I figured it made sense because in theory the Raven One is the most compromised TT in the TW lineup so it potentially had the most to gain. The improvements are not subjective and are noticeable across even every record I have spun.
I have been living extremely happy with my TW Raven 2 TT for over 6 years. For me, this is a "go to the grave" piece of audio gear. Love it. Then I started some upgrades:

TW AC Motor Controller - It should make a difference, but it is huge. It should be standard.

Next was the TW Raven 10.5 arm - Had a great arm. TW's arm is stellar! My only fear s this is TW's first arm, I know he is going to figure out away to take the Raven to a Black Knight level.

Last was the TW Mat- My general thought on mats is why? I don't want to say I was forced to buy this mat, but I was! $500...Really? How many record could I get for $500? The thought was that when it arrived I would play some favorite albums with and without the TW mat and go back and forth. Then call Jeff and send the Mat back.

I listened to the group of albums without the mat. Then with the mat. Then I was supposed to go back and listen again without the mat...THE TW MAT WAS NEVER LEFT MY TT PLATTER! I am just not going back without it. I did make the call to Jeff at High Water Sound to tell him he was right...again!

For me, the mat helps to better create a live performance in my home. Love the way the TW mat connects the vinyl to the mat and the platter.

What don't I like about it? Dust likes it too! I am not quite ready to turn my listening room into a "clean room" but I have thought about it.

If you are shopping for mats go for this one.