Felt Turntable Mats

I tried various mats on my Linn...........ended up going back to the stock mat, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

I used several different aftermarket mats for a while (week or so each) on my Regas, did some comparisons, and realized the stock Rega felt mats sounded best. Done.

 

I once asked on this site or another if it would be ok to spray the cork mat with a flat black latex paint just to take away its ugliness on an otherwise decent looking table. The only answer I got was that the poster felt the paint would take away the benefit of the cork. I know somewhere online I did see black cork mats with and without rubber in the composite - in fact I've seen cork mats of many colors. I've also read/heard a lot about deerhide and how good they are and those come in about every color Crayola does!

 

Stock Thorens mat here. Been thinking about maybe getting cork. I like the look of the Moo Mats.

 

It seems that many others here also prefer cork. I purchased on ebay.com from amacher-cork-mats | eBay »

In my experience, the spot mat is more effective at reducing static than a standard flat cork mat & also benefits from using a turntable weight or clamp

 

Love the look of that cork man. The design (lifting spots) seems like a good idea.

 

Interesting! I haven't seen those in the past. Thank you for your input.

 

This

 

I got tired of having to peel records off my turntable's stock felt mat because of static, and that's why I switched to this one:

 

The Herbie's away Excellent II lives up to it's name. I have one on a Music Hall MMF-7 and another on a U-Turn Orbit Plus.

Herbie's Turntable Mats »

 

Thank you! I'll check it out.

 

For the Auditorium 23 Mats check out Charlie Schnyder@ Stereo Haven. The Merrill Mat is wonderful check George Merrill out at www.hifigem.com or www.sleevecityusa.com

 

Great! Thank you.

 

Cool video man!dig the cork

 

I've found that mats made out of cork to be the best. Going back to my radio station days, often times our TT's had cork mats. I always wondered why. After going from rubber mats to felt mats at home, I noticed that records, especially those made of vinyl, had a tendency to develop static electricity. After switching to a cork mat, I understood why many of the old professional turntables had the cork mats, NO STATIC ELECTRICITY!

 

I would certainly stick with the Rega, the felt mat just isn't an afterthought, I'm sure they have good reason to supply it!

JG

 

The possibility always exists. But in all honesty, I think that DJs are the only people that can find some advantage or convenience on a felt mat. Static can become very irritating at times.

 

The Dishwasher felt mat that I use is much sturdier than the Rega mat that came with the turntable. The two are starkly different in their appearance and consistency. To be fair, I didn't give the Rega mat a try, so perhaps I should at least give it a listen before I make up my mind. Thank you, everyone, for your input so far.

 

I agree that you should give the Rega mat some time - I used my 2 Rega mats for several years before I tried the cork experiment which ended my search. Keep in mind, too, that your cart isn't even barely broken in yet - I don't know what the break in time would be for that cart, but it could be as much as 100 or so hours?! While you're pondering this, Massachusetts, I'm going for a run! LOL

 

Thank you for your input, and enjoy your run. I'm doing the same in about 45 minutes. Nice weather here today!

 

I also settled on a Herbie's mat with my Pro-ject Carbon DC. I started with the stock felt mat, but I was getting really bad static and it would stick to the bottom of my records when I took them off. Then I put an old Kenwood rubber mat on, but it was too thick and messed up my VTA alignment... So I made a cork mat, but I didn't like the sound of it (seemed harsh or pingy to me)... So I saved some dough and decided to invest in the Pro-ject acrylic platter upgrade. It eliminated static, but the friggin thing was off-center/lopsided! Luckily I got it at a retail store and they agreed that it was warped (they said it was the first one they've ever seen like that, and they've sold hundreds... Hmm). So they give me store credit and I try the "official" Pro-ject cork mat, which was very cheaply made and left cork particles on my records, so I return that! Frustration is building! I do more reasearch... I take a chance and order a Herbie's mat (which comes in a custom thickness for my turntable) And I dig it! It's kind of a strange material, but no static problems & it's the perfect thickness, and it doesn't do anything negative sound-wise.
My two cents.

 

Hey, thanks for the input! I'll check it out.

 

Huge fan of leather mats - tried rubber and cork but the leather/suede sounds the best and completely cuts static in my experience. Take a good hard look at leather.

 

Thanks. I'm glad to hear it. I've read both good and bad comments about leather mats and static.