Turntable Mats: Rubber, Felt or Cork.

@lewm
I agree with your comments and others should also be aware of the default subjectivity of my notes.
Some additional notes. First off, I have an almost eidetic and long memory when it comes to the senses. I can’t help it. I also prefer a brighter, transparent and airy sound. Second, my grading of the mats is obviously based on my system and how I hear the mats. I noted in my post that it was non-scientific. I also used the 10 point scaling to denote the differences with more granularity.
Third. I stand by my comments on the BM2. Damped the hell out of the music. Lastly, while I did comment on Slaw’s MyMat, and suggested it sounds pretty good, it is not my intention to promote it. That’s why I made the disclaimer in an earlier post that Slaw sent me a mat to try. It simply is one of the few mats I had to make some comparisons. Certainly, the OP should try other mats. Nowhere did I suggest that more expensive mats like the gunmetal suggested by Chakster would be inferior or not options. Thanks.

Joscow, I have a highly modded Linn lp12 that I find the felt mat on the rough side sounds better. I also have a table like yours a Linn Axis with an Ittok on it. I tried everything I could get my hands on I did a Merrill cork, metal, rubber hybrid. Rubber, leather, and so on everything has a sonic signature but went back to the dusty dirty felt mat. If you do use a felt mat try both sides I do hear a difference some may argue and if you like make sure it is a Linn mat that may make a difference also.

hopefully all this accumulation of wisdom is helping the original poster in the search for musical happiness!

I love the detail this topic is receiving.

If the OP learns anything here, it ought to be that he has to try a few different types of mat for himself, and then decide for himself which is best.  On the scale of the cost of audio things, that is not such a very expensive experiment to do for oneself.  In one way or another and over a period of years, it is how each of us arrived at our own preferences.