Technics SL1200/1210 owners - which mat?

I use a Funk Achromat on my 1210 M5G. I haven't tried the thick Technics rubber mat though because my table only came with the felt DJ slip mat. I was using the felt mat in combination with rubber drawer liner previously and the Achromat is an improvement over that. Current the rubber liner under the Achromat provides the best sound.

As to why mats change the sound of a table, I think that they all affect damping and resonance to some degree. Small vibrations from the bearing, platter, and air/speakers can travel through the record and into the needle. Because the principle of operation of a cartridge is on such a small scale, vibrations tend to be more damaging in a turntable setup than in digital. All I know is that mats do alter the sound to a degree that is not insignificant, for better or worse.

The Funk Firm's 5mm Achromat does it for me.

Thanks Solman- That makes sense- I am going to try some different mats and see the difference, I'll try flipping the stock KAB mat also.
Thanks you guys

It's out of production, but I found a used Oracle Groove Isolator for $10. It's sorbothane, but unlike the current $99 Audioquest mat, it's not sorbothane *gel*, so it's not sticky and doesn't overdamp the music. It seems to weigh about as much as the Technics 17 oz. "Supermat."

Recently I tried adding the Technics felt slipmat underneath the Groove Isolator and I like that even better.

Flicking the platter with my fingernails before and after, the felt/sorbo mat stack dampens the ringing out of the platter more than the sorbo mat by itself, and I noticed a small improvement in liveliness and clarity when playing LPs after I made that change.

I think finding the optimum mat for the Technics is more of a challenge than for the MDF/glass/acrylic-plattered belt drive turntables, because their platters are already pretty inert, and the mats for those turntables only have to drain the LP of resonances and isolate it from noise from below.

The SL12x0 platter, however, literally rings like a bell, so the mat has to kill that ringing as much as possible while doing all the other things that mats do. I think that's why you'll often find multi-layered mat approaches to the Technics.

I've certainly found that putting the felt slipmat on first, with a heavy mat on top, kills the ringing the best of anything I've tried yet. However, I haven't tried a Herbie's (which is dual composition), Iron Audio, or Funk Achromat, all of which have gotten thumbs-ups from various SL12x0 owners.

05-11-08: Zenblaster
I am going to try some different mats and see the difference, I'll try flipping the stock KAB mat also.

Try flipping it and putting the felt mat underneath as well.