Thorens TD 160 Super - Herbie's or Achromat? - krenzler

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Thorens TD 160 Super - Herbie's or Achromat?

Hello fellow inmates.
I'm posting this question on behalf of a friend of mine.
He's the lucky owner of this lovely (and classic!) analog frontend:
Thorens TD 160 Super (modified to emulate an "Ambiance" amongst other things).
SME Series IIIs (CA-1 armtube).
Shure V15 III (fitted with a Jico SAS stylus).
I've allowed myself to post a picture of it (without asking permission!) for you all to enjoy its niceness. Hopefully I'm still a friend of his tomorrow! :-) Admittedly the picture is not of the best quality but still...
He's on the lookout for a new turntable mat. The one he's using now is a Nottingham Analogue Spacemat (as you can see from the picture). He's very happy with this setup but as you all know: There's always room for improvement. On the top of his list is a Herbie's "Vintage Ultra-Thick" (5mm). The other mat that he's considering is TheFunkFirm's "Achromat" (also 5mm).
Herbie's seems to be a no-brainer if taking into account all the positive feedback it has received from forums like this one. Feel free to sing its praises anyway - the more feedback the merrier. :-) How does it affect the performance compared to other mats that you have tried?
There doesn't seem to be a lot of first hand experiences with the Achromat to draw upon. There must be some inmates who have tried it? The few comments that I have read all seem positive. So those of you who have tried it: Please chime in. :-)
Any other recommendations (cork, acrylic, carbon, sorbothane, Spotmat - you name it) will be received with gratitude. Just as long as it's not prohibitively expensive. A thickness of around 5mm is prefered. The Spacemat (at approximately 3mm) is almost too thin for him to achieve correct VTA as it is right now (he just manages). Don't let that keep you from recommending a mat that is only available in something like 3mm thickness though. :-)
Experiences with Herbie's or Achromat on suspended metal platter turntables like Thorens, Linn and AR are very welcome of course.
So: Herbie's? Achromat? Or...?
Thanks in advance.

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Topic - Thorens TD 160 Super - Herbie's or Achromat? - krenzler 18:48:04 07/21/06 (1)

There must be some of you out there who has tried one of these combinations? (or similar) (nt) - krenzler 18:59:53 07/22/06 (0)

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