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Remember the Ringmat? You should!

One of the most affordable and best upgrades to my Woodsong Gerrard 301 is the British made Ringmat!
Man, I had almost forgotten about mine. It was still on my old TT (Kuzma Stabi Stogi). It was a great improvement back then but I thought I didn’t need it on my new 301 since it already had the cool Puresound Tenuto gunmetal mat. That was $400. The Ringmat is under $100. But the difference in sound is huge!
everything just came into focus and it is punchy as hell. Why did I wait so long to check it out!
mglik
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,105 posts
 
@lewm ,

I guess I could say the same thing for any difference one perceives in any one TT design.
dover
2,231 posts
 
Turntable mats are like seasonings on food. They certainly make an important difference, but no one of us is in a position to say whether the perceived difference that one guy hears is right or wrong. Like salt and pepper, it’s a matter of taste. Or as Frank Sinatra said about his favorite bourbon, I’m for whatever gets you through the night. Especially during these times.

Excellent post

I guess I could say the same thing for any difference one perceives in any one TT design.
No. 

The difference is that a turntable is designed by an engineer who knows the parameters of a vinyl record.

When someone designs a mat, unless it is designed for a specific turntable and the underlying platter structure is known, then the aftermarket mat will always be a lucky dip - or seasoning as Lewm calls it.

I have heard the ringmat on many turntables - it does not support the record properly, its only use is to paper over the cracks of a poorly designed turntable, or turntable that is low in resolution.
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,105 posts
 
Try a MyMat.
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,105 posts
 
BTW, the MyMat completely supports the lp by way of hundreds of tiny inverted 'dimples'. These also help to decouple the lp from the platter/bearing.
rossb
185 posts
 
When I bought my first Linn LP12 about 25 years ago, the guy selling it demoed the turntable with a Ringmat. It sounded awful - thin, lightweight, no midrange. I was disappointed and asked him to put the stock felt mat back on and suddenly the LP12 magic returned. It sounded great and I bought the turntable - with stock mat (that TT is now sadly long gone).
Years later I bought a Ringmat to try myself and had exactly the same experience with a few different turntables.

It was one of those tweaks that became popular for a few years and got good reviews - as happens often in the faddish world of hi fi - and then thankfully disappeared without trace.

To the OP, live with the Ringmat for a while. My guess is that in a few weeks or months you will remember why you put the Ringmat away years ago.

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