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In Reply to: RE: Turntable Mats? posted by Self-Inflicted on November 21, 2022 at 17:42:57
Thanks for the responses, guys. I was thinking I might well try Herbie's mat, but then I read the website for it and realized that it was expected that one would buy a mat of the same thickness as the stock mat on the turntable. Since my Clearaudio Performance DC Wood tt has no stock mat that thickness would be zero. I am extremely pleased with the sound of my turntable, Tracer tonearm, Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartidge and Passa Labs XP 17 phonostage as is so this might be a case where leaving well enough alone is the best course to follow.
I dream of an America where a chicken can cross the road without having it's motives questioned.
Follow Ups:
I use Herbie's Donut mats on my Michell Gyro SE with thinner LPs to keep them at the same surface height as the thicker LPs. The Donut is made of an elastomer that is pretty much benign as far as sonics go but does seem to help with minimizing resonances from thinner LPs. The 0.5mm thickness mat might be something to try. You might find that you like using it even with 180g records. I recommend getting the washer to use with the mat. See link below.Tom
Edits: 11/23/22
far be it from me to criticize a guys happiness, but I own a gyro player so am somewhat familiar with the features and benefits. if you look into the design principles , the material of the platter was specifically selected for its characteristics to optimally interface with the vinyl record.
I realize you might already be aware of this feature, and the benefits of getting the tracking angle right might be more important than using the as designed platter surface, but thought I might mention it, just in case.
I use the Michel arm, and just kind of Mickey Mouse the adjustment by simply loosening the threaded post ring nut on the bottom of the post to allow twisting the top threads to lower or raise the arm , and then once I hear the sweet spot, I tighten the bottom ring nut. I generally only do this for critical listening, and mostly just use a ball park general adjustment for records of normal thickness.
I suppose most rega post mounted arms would allow this, but you have to be able to reach the bottom ring nut to secure the post against vibrations during play.
I like the materials that Michell uses in their platters for the reasons you mention. For the thicker LPs it works well. In fact, I upgraded the spindle on my Gyro SE so I could use the Orbe clamp. It definitely helps to couple the record to the platter.
I did find that the 0.5mm elastomer donut mat was at least benign for the thinner LPs and in some cases, especially high energy vocals, brass instruments, and piercing guitar riffs, that the mat helps to keep the sound from becoming harsh and brittle. The mat tames those resonance distortions.
The benefit of keeping record surface heights consistent is admittedly subtle, even with fine line stylus profiles, but after years of experimenting I've found it can make a difference, so I use them.
Probably a smart decision Don. Over the weekend I made the mistake of reading too many past posts on cartridge setup and alignment. My Scout/2M Bronze sounds so sweet and balanced but I thought, I wonder if I can squeeze a bit more out of the combo. So I get out my protractors and scale and find settings as they were 6 months ago as they should be. I like to align the cantilever with the grid lines as exact as I can with a small magnifier. After checking and re-checking I see it is dead center between the grid lines with any of the protractors, paper ones and mirror types. Finally a bit of common sense took over and I said to myself, leave the damn thing alone, it sounds so good as is.
Now a mat swap is no big deal like a cart re-align is as you may never get it back exactly as it was.
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