Audiophiles - Turntable mat question - obviously NGC

[LaMojo]

I thought it would be simple to replace the less than supple and cracked rubber mat on my late '60s 10.5" dia. turntable with a new one.  Wrong.  I see aftermarket mats made out of cork, fiber (wool, felt), leather and used rubber ones for various makes but nothing as a new direct replacement.  Any one have experience in the aftermarket ones?
Thanks.   

[dan_s]

Most turntables come with felt or soft rubber mats to reduce resonance but leather is definitely more erotic

[mauriceetjeannine]

Hello,

I am using a cork one on my DIY slate turntable and I am happy with it.

Regards,

[sib]

Slate?  Slate?  Real audiophiles use nothing less than pure 100% osmium metal.  The platter has to weigh at least 200 lbs and take 15 minutes to come up to speed.  As far as a covering goes, real audiophiles suspend their records on a cushion of pure helium injected between the platter the the record.  And, we don't let anything as crude as a diamond stylus contact the record.  No, we use an atomic force microscope probe that hovers a few tenths of a nanometer above the groove.  You can really tell the difference in the sound, especially when playing heavy metal music with lots of guitar splatter distortion.  Pure bliss.

Oh, sorry, my mistake, I now see that the OP was referring to audiaphiles, and I misread it as audiophiles.

[Mark West]

Google DIY turntable mat and you'll get plenty of ideas on simple things you can make yourself. If you go with a rubber compound, it should be anti-static.

If you want to get serious, post on the site below. Make sure to tell them the make/model of TT, the kind of music you like, the rest of your system, your budget, and whether you hang to the left or right (joking about the last one).

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html

[Kiwi Dave]

As far as a covering goes, real audiophiles suspend their records on a cushion of pure helium injected between the platter the the record.

Doesn't this make their voices go squeaky?

[pehayes]

I have a Guzzi friend in Italy who runs a specialty audio business.  He wants to sell me one of these for $125,000 and says it is a steal at that price.

:-(

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[screamday]

I have a Guzzi friend in Italy who runs a specialty audio business.  He wants to sell me one of these for $125,000 and says it is a steal at that price.

:-(

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

   Whoa......I don't have any vinyl worth playing on that thing.

[TodkaVonic]

Felt if you're one to leave an album on the player for days on end, cork if you're good about putting them away. There's really no need whatsoever to spend more than $30 either way.

I have felt on both of my turntables.

[Waltr]

Home depot has round cork that you can punch a hole in that will work. I have just purchased an Acromat mat for my rig.  Works very well.  Turntable and the whole process of playing records is about resonance and the simple effect of the needle in a groove causes the record to vibrate if you can drain off and dissipate that energy you end up with clearer sound.  That pic that was posted of the turntable for the 1%ers has a thick acrylic platter.  That material works very well to drain energy from the record--same principle as the Acromat.

[Dimples]

GRAPHITE?

http://oswaldsmillaudio.com/mat

[HardAspie]

Bubble wrap!

[PJPR01]

Bubble wrap!

  That will at least simulate the warping which occurs when the LP is left out in the sun too long!   

Watch the needle go up and down, up and down, and around we go!

[Zoom Zoom]

http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=turntable+mat

I've mentioned these folks before. Been dealing with them for some time.

John Henry

[Dean Rose]

GRAPHITE?

http://oswaldsmillaudio.com/mat

are $340 which includes shipping in the continental United States.

[molly]

I have a Guzzi friend in Italy who runs a specialty audio business.  He wants to sell me one of these for $125,000 and says it is a steal at that price.

:-(

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

I bet my Sex Pistols albums would sound like Pink Floyd on that thing.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Home depot has round cork that you can punch a hole in that will work. I have just purchased an Acromat mat for my rig.  Works very well.  Turntable and the whole process of playing records is about resonance and the simple effect of the needle in a groove causes the record to vibrate if you can drain off and dissipate that energy you end up with clearer sound. That pic that was posted of the turntable for the 1%ers has a thick acrylic platter. That material works very well to drain energy from the record--same principle as the Acromat.

Some of the best steel mill oiler nozzles we've built were made from acrylic, but the customer didn't like them. "Looks cheap." <shrug>
That sucker doesn't look cheap, though. 

[LaMojo]

I ended up taking the mat off and treating it with CRC silicon spray over the last three days; leaving it in a sealed plastic bag between treatments.   I can already tell that it is more supple than before treatments and if it don't work, I can use some left over felt used to recover the pool table.   Yeah- I'm Guzzi cheap.