Technics SL-1200GAE or VPI HW-40 or …?

I think to @pindac point, some do work…. and listening and experiment is how you reached your conclusions….. 

@tomic601 A friend of mine (who now works at ARC and has been there 25 years or so) worked for about 10 years on a platter pad project. His ultimate product was excellent, but not cheap- the last one I saw for sale about 10 years ago went for about $1200.00. But it was the most effective platter pad out there, years before anyone else seemed to pay attention to the product.  He told me many times that the platter pad had to be the same durometer and the vinyl in order for it to damp vibration properly at all frequencies.

The difference is very easy to hear. But that pad hasn't been made since sometime in the 1990s. So we went on a quest for a platter pad to support our model 208 turntable. I have LPs i recorded and so have the master tapes- very useful as a reference. The Oracle is the best we've seen so far and in most cases by a wide margin.

@atmasphere Ralph…. suspect that same guy listened to both my ARC line and phono before it left the factory. A good dude ! i will try the Oracle on the Denon split platter.

Best to all in music

If you are still looking at weights and mats, I tried a bunch of weights on my 1210G and somewhat surprisingly came away most impressed with the Origin Live Gravity One--which weighs the least of any that I tried.  It's really impressive, everything was positive with no negative side effects--which I find is unusual in this hobby.  My least favorite by far, was the MoFi Superheavyweight, which took the 1210s natural dynamics and stole away with them like a thief in the night. 

My Mat is the Stein Music Perfect Interface, which I also really like (but it's not cheap).  Origin Live also has a new one that I have not heard that has gotten some raves.

@atmashpere

Yes, if you can't find the Original (Goldmund Relief Mat), the next best thing is the Oracle hard mat. 

I used to recommend just using another record - under your record - as your mat. I was laughed at, until clearaudio introduced Their record mat, which was (yes you've guessed it), -a blank grooveless record.

The (built in) mats found on SME turntables are also very close to the properties of a record.

PS: the Atmasphere 208 was a wonderful table.

PS2: there's no need to spend 10 years on developing a mat.

Agreed. I've recommended using a 10" record as a mat for years. 

I used to recommend just using another record