Mat for Rega P10

@sokogear,
Sorry I didn't see the 2nd page of this thread or I would have responded sooner.  I bought my Teac mat off Amazon (Prime) so it was no cost to return.  I was wondering how your Tru Lift could mount to the P8 but now you say they have a specially designed Lift for P8/P10 owners.  That's good to know.  I'm using the Apheta 3 cartridge.  I had a Apheta 2 on the RP10 and my dealer gave me a really good deal to trade up after 4 years of owning it.  I think the new stylus on the Apheta 3 along with the improvements Rega made to the tolerances of the bearing in the new tonearm have made the P10 much better in terms of its tracking ability.  Records that I thought were bad pressings because I heard distortion with my RP10 now track perfectly with my P10.  Thanks for the info on the Tru Lift.  

You're welcome @smatsui. I am enjoying the Herbie's mat. Hey - did you ever consider the Funk Firm Anchromat? It was more expensive and they said the model that fit the Rega was not as good as the other one (3 vs.  5 mm) so I ended my search after the Herbie's got rid of the static cling problem.

You'll like the Tru-lift. Only problem I have is usually once during a given listening session I forget to reset it and then 5 minutes into a side its starts repeating. But it works smoothly once it is set up right and the anti skating is turned down. For some reason Rega is big on anti-skate, but my cartridge recommends a really low setting as does Integrity Hifi.

@sokogear, I didn't consider the Anchromat but I just took a look at it on the Funk Firm site.  The one think I don't like about it is the thickness.  The Anchromat is 3mm thick and that's double my stock felt mat.  I think that would affect the VTA.  I'm completely happy with the Herbie's mat because it got rid of the static issue and it sounds better than my leather, stock and Washi paper mats to my ears in my system.

I have a P10 and have A/B compared the Washi mat vs. the Rega OEM mat and to my surprise and in my humble opinion the OEM mat sounds better. I really wanted the Washi to win because I too am concerned about it being a magnet for dust. The Washi seemed like the right contender because it is nice and thin much like the felt mat. To me the Washi seemed to suck the juice out of the record, having a toning down effect, compared to the more lively sounding felt mat. Seems Rega knows what works best with their creation. To help solve the dust issue I use an acrylic Hudson mat in between usage which I just place over it. This Hudson mat which is much thicker was my first experimental mat used with the P10 and again to my surprise this caused a feedback issue! When I I finally realized it was the mat that was causing the feedback problem is when I realized that the P10 is a very sensitive instrument and is not something to be tinkered with. The same properties that make this table so great are the same properties that stymie the use of any conventional band aids used to enhance other tables short comings. My next experiment is trying a clamp and so far the heavy aluminum clap I used to use with my VPI doesn’t sound as good as no clamp. So I purchased a lighter weight delrin clamp specifically made for Rega tables. Will this be a waste of money, is yet to be determined as for now I’m feeling like no clamp is going to win due to the experience I had with the other clamp. Besides, things are sounding really incredible with the OME felt mat and no clamp. 

Rega is pretty clear that their design does not benefit from a record weight or clamp.  It's based on low mass, so increasing is actually detrimental. For high weight tables it is probably beneficial.

Also, I ended up with Herbie's mat (see above posts) because the Rega mat would lift off sometimes when changing records. I didn't listen closely but I would say the SQ is at least a wash. @smatsui compared  them in a very detailed fashion along with some others and he preferred the Herbie's. He has a P10 and I have a P8. I think the Herbie's is even better for my platter than the P10 ceramic, so I'm sticking with it.

If the mat doesn't lift off when you change records due to static, I would just use the Rega one - they know what they are doing. They may even make a thicker one - I think mine is that one that I upgraded on my old P5.