...a second listen

The mat is a pretty important part of the turntable! It controls resonance in the vinyl caused by the tracking of the cartridge. If not controlled, the resonance can talk back to the needle and so mess up the sound.

The proper mat will be of the same hardness as the LP itself, so as to prevent any reflections of energy at any frequency. So they can affect the tonality!! No mat at all will be too bright and a soft mat like felt or leather will be too soft (and some oils will be imparted to the LP surface, allowing it to gather dust a lot easier). Felt mats are only used by DJs to act as a clutch between the platter and the LP surface. Mats of this latter type are not predicable sound-wise- they might also be bright and trashy, simply because damping is almost non-existent.

A good mat will also serve to damp the platter to some extent. This is a lot to ask of a mat which is why its a good idea for the platter be damped on its own. Two mats that I favor are the one made by Oracle and the Vibro Stop. I'm sure there are others but when examining the issue keep the principles I've outlined above and you will save yourself some cash.

Atmasphere you make a good case for the need of a mat but is that across the board with all tables? I ask because I certainly prefer no mat in my system.

Dear Ralph,

You make a good point about leeching...

Here’s a mat related DIY horror story and an important caution… ;^)

I recall the case of someone who decided to make a DIY mat from rubber off-cuts. The rubber was smooth on one side and diamond patterned on the other. The experimenter preferred to use it diamond side up.

He left an LP on his turntable for a prolonged period (perhaps using an old LP as a makeshift dust cover). When he finally lifted the LP off and inspected the underside, the rubber diamond pattern had leeched onto the LP itself(!)

This is similar to what happens with natural rubber feet such as those used on many items of equipment, from T/Ts to tape decks.

One example was the old LP12. Placed on a table, eventually the rubber would “bond” itself to the object in contact. After a time it became more difficult to move the T/T because it was effectively “glued” to the table. Once moved, one could see the familiar black rings on the table where rubber feet had left their mark.

With suspended turntables this wasn’t good news. The strong coupling bond between one massive object and another led to the turntable’s performance being affected adversely. The solution to this (and a simultaneous turntable upgrade tweak for Linn, etc) was to place 1” squares of paper under each of the feet. The feet then “glued” themselves to the paper but not the supporting structure. ;^)

It caught on and for many years, there were thousands of T/T owners with bits of paper under their equipment feet. :D

Where mats are concerned, I guess the moral of the story is that we should try to anticipate bad things when experimenting with materials. The mat is easily replaceable but the vinyl may not be… ;^)

FWIW: Here is an excerpt from my Classic 3 manual, "We recommend bare platter listening but it is an owner's choice to decide".

While I enjoy no mat, I've wondered about trying some.

atmasphere: Thanks for listing two you enjoy. I've often wondered about the Funk Firm 1mm mat. Ever tried that one?

atmasphere:,

How do your findings relate to a tt with a vacuum sealing function?

If this sort of tt has a metal platter w/ the vacuum sealing function, does the metal platter make any noticeable difference?

If one has a metal platter with an outer ring and a weight...??