Low cartridge VTA adjustment

Probably only pay around $5 per kilo for the aluminum (or duralumin), or maybe a little more for the smaller billets, but not a big part of the cost.

 

correct

 

That can be recycled.

 

F1 tech making a headshell.

 

I'm with ya on that!

 

Your Technics should take at least a 5mm thick mat and still have room left on the spindle. Or find the older version of the Technics rubber mat that is 6mm.

I like the SH-4 Ortofon headshell but it definitely rides high and puts the cartridge tail up on a Technics 1200. I moved the OM to a spare Technics headshell so I wouldn't have to mess with spacers and mats.

 

Yeah - the DL103 is a not a very tall cart but needs the mass of the Sumiko. I have the classic heavy Technics mat. My platter also sits a bit high.



Thanks.

 

Heck I've seen Gaylord boxes of "drops" larger than those at metal recycling facilities.

 

Purchased HERBIE'S AUDIO LAB mat. Save 5$ in cable company and free shipping
hope it works fine.

 

Anybody smarter than me here? Is two mats (the stock mat plus a Way Excellent II) a reasonable trade-off to get a parallel tonearm? I can't seem to find the suggested VTA/SRA for the Nagaoka JT-80BK. I've never been too anal about being parallel, but am certainly curious now.

 

I have this mat too. It's excellent. If you need spacers the Oyaide carbon fiber ones are hard to beat.

 

i would be concerned with overdamping and possibly taking some energy and micro dynamics out of the sound which is why i picked a 4mm herbies.
easy enough to test but it does happen.

 

of course but it is quite inefficient including additional shipping, labor for setup, dunnage material, waste handling and scrap disposition.
because it is low volume high margin they can manage the costs.

 

I was initially concerned with this aspect, but after stacking a 3mm cork, then a 1mm Washi paper mat underneath the stock mat I must say that if anything the sound has improved.

I actually think it would take a lot to 'over' dampen the sound with regards to the platter, at least from what I've observed.
I also have just a wee amount of fluid in the Kab damper as opposed to what is 'recommended', this combo works excellent with every cartridge I play on the deck.

 

I'm curious, why would you stack the cork and washi paper under the rubber mat, I'd think the sound would be better with them on top? The rubber mat to record interface is usually the one we are talking about being overdamped, and why there is so much experimenting with mats, you didn't really change much from the stock mat. But whatever works best

 

I guess my rationale is that the intended interface to the record ends up on top, I actually forget if I tried it the other way around .
I think having the added mats underneath the stock just adds a neutral (air?) gap that is neither here nor there damping wise. I was playing around with different combos at the time and this one just hit the nail on the head, I think it has to do with slippage as well because If I recall correctly my thinking was that the rubber on top was more conducive to a lack of slipping between the layers with the heaviest mat on top.
I should revisit trying them in different placements.

 

Yea, usually the idea is to get away from the soft rubber mat under the record, they were always used in the old days to help damp the cast aluminum platters but they tend to absorb too much from the cartridge side as well, better to have something more neutral, and closer to air, such as the popular Herbies silicone foam mat our friend @avanti1960 uses, or some of the other more dense rubber alternatives. Lots of ways to go, not saying you are wrong, but I would revisit it, that washi paper seems like a nice interface material, but I've never tried it. Felt seems almost ideal too, the way the fibers provide a uniform support for the record, but a lot of problems in actual usage.

 

Don’t do spacers, it negates the whole point of getting a fancy high rigidity headshell.
Get a 6mm rubber mat (Technics RGS0010A).

 

Yeah, I think the air gap of the cork coupled with the Washi pretty much floats the rubber mat so it no longer has any reaction to being interfaced with the aluminum.
It does stand to reason that the rubber absorbs a bit too much from the cart energy, FWIW most of the time I have a VM740ml on this deck and whatever damping is happening helps that cart. with it's upper register somehow -it sounds full bodied and right.
I should play with the rubber on the bottom sometime though, when I switch carts next I will.
My other deck has an acrylic platter and I just have a 1mm Origin Live mat on that, which seems just right.

 

It's good stuff, very flexible in how it can be used, and very neutral.
When I was playing around with platter mats for stacking or otherwise I picked up one of these:

I think it's a good product, it's a carbon fiber mat about 1mm thick, probably ideal for stacking.

I use this and all my extra mats (felt, cork & rubber and otherwise) as a dustcover for the Origin Live mat.

 

Eye candy at best, IMO I also have a 1mm carbon mat that gets used when I'm too lazy to change tonearm height.

 

great, cork is fairly hard which probably helps. i would be concerned with an overly thick foam mat like a herbies though.

 

It might be too thick for a G which has that brass layer but for the GR this setup still leaves enough spindle for the KAB clamp to grab onto and work.