Turntable Mat question

I have a Clearaudio turntable. It has no mat when purchased. The dealer/shop/owner frowned at me when I asked about a mat, he said not nessessary. After I got it I have tried a cork and a felt and a lp record. I find it best without a mat. I do use a light weight. I supose if a mat was a needed part it would be supplied?

Absolute correct, no mat is best. I have a VPI Prime Signature. VPI recommends no mat. I tried several of them and they all deteriorated the sound. 

Those platers were specifically designed to use w/o a mat but to couple the record appropriately to the plater you have to use a clamp and a ring
(for another $1000). The ring is a PIA. SOTA, SME, Kuzma and Walker have much more elegant solutions to that problem. There is no such thing as a flat record although properly pressed 200 gm records come close. With any pivoted arm you are going to get warp wow unless you flatten out the warp. That is something you can actually hear. And, an appropriate mat should sound like absolutely nothing. All good mats should sound exactly the same unless you have a problem with your platter ringing. Tap to find out!

@browndt So do you place the LP directly on the metal platter on your Prime Signature? I have a Prime Signature too. Do you use the included record weight? How about an outer ring?

I’ve tried a lot of mats on my SL1200, and ended up going with a Herbies Way Excellent ll Mat. You can get them in basically any diameter and thickness to suit your particular turntable.