Felt Mats or ???

Nrenter,

Great insight and an interesting spin. Clearly a mat could be combined with a clamp to provide a coupling system. That isn’t the way mats normally get used but on the right table that’s no reason not to try – and you may have exactly the right table.

As an example of the wrong table, consider my old H-K/Rabco ST-8. Its noisy bearings (#1), motor (#2) and multiple belts (#3) all precluded clamping. I tried it and it seriously raised the noise level. Letting the LP float in isolation on the mat sounded best.

Your much better rig addresses issues 1-3 well, so the biggest remaining challenge from my list is indeed #4. We’re agreed that acrylic alone does not effectively control intra-vinyl resonances and those are very destructive of good playback, as George Merrill’s, Ddarch44’s and now Dopogue’s results all attest. (Dopogue’s platter is also solid acrylic, so his preference for a mat is consistent with all this. Apparently VPI should be selling Ringmats, not clamps!)

So, using your clamp to couple to a mat could provide valuable resonance dissipation, while your table’s good behavior on #s 1-3 prevent any of the potential downsides that lesser tables might suffer.

Put a mat on your holiday list!

Just for the, er, record my platter is metal. Zinc, I believe. The TNT lost out to the Lenco some time ago.

I'm not sure I'd try to clamp a graphite map (Boston Audio) because of its composition/fragility. But then I wouldn't try to clamp anything :-)

And oh boy does it save time and eliminate the danger (ask me how I know) of dropping a clamp on an LP! Dave

Dave,

That makes sense. Zinc probably wouldn't be so good for resonance control either. I doubt anyone clamps directly to that platter, especially not "bareback".

Good warning re: not clamping a Boston Audio Mat. If Nrenter decides to try he should MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE REFLEX WASHER (or drill out a bigger hole in the mat, heh!). I actually cracked an LP in half once with my Teres clamp. I'd put two reflex washers on the spindle by mistake and couldn't figure out why the *&^% record wouldn't flatten out. I tried one more turn and SNAP! - it went from un-flat to really, really un-flat. Idiot...

Of course the biggest danger is swinging clamps around near mega-dollar cartridges. I consciously developed a movement drill so the clamp never passes over, under or near the tonearm. Taking out a $5K arm plus an $8K cartridge in a single dumb move is too scary to contemplate.

Doug

I'd really like to try the Mat-2 (5 mm thick) but I don't think my threaded spindle would support that thick of a mat. 3 mm is probably doable based on my tests. Perhaps I'll have to stack some old, unloved LPs and test later tonight.

The Mat-1 will probably be on my list sometime after the new year. However, I really want a Loricraft, too. :)

Hey Guys!

Did you forget about me? very humor

My MMF5 should I use cork or the felt.

I find the cork to be more stable or is that my imagination?

Thanks as always

Kev