Antiskating on AudioTechnica ATLP120XUSB

If you look at the arm when it has a 3mm mat you'll see it slopes downwards with the cart tail-high. With a 6mm mat it's parallel, as it should be.

This is because AT (or Hanpin or whoever) copied the Technics SL-1200 with a 6mm rubber mat on it.
When AT brought out the X model they removed the arm height adjustment.
So the only way to get the arm parallel is with 6mm worth of mat.

It sounds better because the cart is parallel. You really should try it.

 

Definitely interested in a 6mm mat, but they seem rarer than hens teeth here in the UK, unless I'm looking in the wrong places.

Found this one, any good? NEW SRM TECH 6MM AREZZO PLATTER MAT - INTRO. OFFER FREE £19 PLATTER DAMPER !! | eBay

 

What you want is either of these part numbers...

Technics 6mm Rubber Mat:
Old part number... SFTG172-01
New part number... RGS0010

They're the same thing. Hope that helps.

 

You could also out 2 3mm mats on top of one another...

 

Thanks, the search continues

 

Those are ridiculously expensive, unless one finds a bargain on a second hand mat.

 

Well, yeah, I agree. I bought mine on ebay.

 

This.

 

Again, why not just add a basic 3mm mat on top of the one that came with the TT ?

 

You dont even need to do that, VTA can never be perfect anyway, its a moving target.

Exposing the VTA myth? [English]

 

I got rid of the felt mat. It's useless really. No platter damping and static city. I stack a 4.75mm cork mat(Turntable Toys 3/16") AND the thinner 2mm Technics rubber mat(do a search) for a total of 6+mm. This gets the VTA is better shape but more importantly the platter/rumble is reduced nicely. Still plenty of spindle left and the record weight goes on fine(AT618). I tried the Turntable Labs cork/rubber combo mat but it was still static city. Another good option would be to order the Herbies mat with at least 5mm thickness, but that's going to be upwards of $85. I hear it works well though.

Edit- I realized you have the 120x which doesn't have arm height adjustment. You might want to be more conservative and stick with 4-5mm total height.

 

Having seen the RGS0010 going for north of £40 on ebay and no shops having any for sale, I came across one on Facebook of all places, £8 delivered. It looked ok from the photo so took a punt.
It arrived today, quick rinse to get rid of the dust and it looks brand new.

 

Nice.
Yeah, I think I paid 16 quid on ebay. And I thought that was a bargain. So you've done well there.
The 6mm mat looks cool too.

 

With my Technics SL-1210GR, which is supposed to be a more precise machine (and actually I think it is) than the AT120, if I set anti-skate to 1.5 to match the 1.5g VTF I use, the stylus jumps inwards in the lead-in grooves and sometimes even skips the first notes. If I set anti-skate to 2, it moves inwards gently and doesn't skip anything.

 

I've settled on a tracking force of 2g and anti skate of 1 on my AT120x, seems to work ok so far.

 

Sound is definitely sharper and clearer with the 6mm mat. Who knew 3mm could make a difference