TT mats

@lewm I guess each *system* to its own then. It's not a taste issue. It can't be. I know when the leading edge of a snare strike sounds correct verses a muted facsimile of one. Or the subtle ambient chatter of an audience muted to the point of being inaudible by a damped mat. To answer your question about my source, it is an AudioGrail Garrard 401 in a slate plinth on maple with a modified 12" Jelco and paratrace tipped Decca SuperGold. Tube amps. I've another 401 in a ply plinth. Same deal. 

no mat for me either.....(VPI Superscoutmaster/Rim Drive/Classic Platter)

I use a 1" graphite slab, don’t see how you could call a 1" piece a mat. It damps the 45kg cast iron platter down to dead dull; it sounds just wonderful, alive without undue emphasis.