I'm a Dummy, Tell Me About Turntable Mats

I have the utmost respect for Ralph of Atma-Sphere on most topics, but I do tend to disagree with him on vinyl playback. IIRC, Ralph thinks a top version of a Technics 1200 with stock arm is pretty much as high as one needs to go with a turntable. Contrast that with Harry Weisfeld who's made some more ambitious decks (admittedly I am no longer much of a VPI fan) and he advocates for no mat at all on his massive aluminum alloy platters, even with his relatively unstable unipivots! I have tried a ton of mats with my Reed 3P's and various high-end cartridges. On my aluminum with copper top Steve Dobbs platter on my 301 I have found that no mat is just as good if not better than any mat. Copper has good qualities of it's own which explains why some platter mats are copper. On the massive platter being used on my TD124 I have a carbon fiber mat that I have kept on for no particular reason-the same deck sounds just as good with no mat. I bet I have five other mats that no longer see any use at all from Merrill, Herbies, and others. 
I think of Malachai-the on-again and off-again apprentice of Mike Fremer who with his humble Pro-Ject deck has repeatedly exclaimed the value of his various mats. https://www.analogplanet.com/content/malachis-mat-mishegas-felt-mats-rega-pro-ject-and-audio-technic...
For. those that don't know basic Yiddish, "mishegas" means craziness. 
The idea that a record resonates due to a tiny stylus modulating in a groove and that said resonant vibrations feed back into the stylus as the stylus continues to trace further into the groove-further than the creation of the inciting grooves/vibrations-is just that-an idea. An unproven mental pre-conception. 
As I said before, mats will change the sound. The issue is whether they improve the sound and that is subjective and system dependent. In general a mat is going to somewhat deaden the sound, but by only a very slight degree. I have found-and this is just my humble opinion-that when a platter gets incredibly massive and is coupled with a somewhat "cushy" mat, record weight or clamp, and periphery ring, all these things will slow down the sound, turning it from lively to anything but. For maximum liveliness/dynamics/propulsive punch, go naked. Record right on platter, no other mishegas. 

@fsonicsmith, most people would think this is all mishegas, even those of the not so Jewish persuasion. 

Just why do you think mats change the sound? Could it be because they dampen the record in differing ways? If so would they be dampening some sort of resonance? Where would you guess that is coming from?

Turn off your amp and play a record. Put your ear down next to the rim. What do you hear? Is sound vibration? What is the job of a phonograph cartridge? Is it not a vibration detection device?

Sei Gesund,
Mike

Just why do you think mats change the sound? Could it be because they dampen the record in differing ways? If so would they be dampening some sort of resonance? Where would you guess that is coming from?

I knew I would get this type of response as I was typing what I typed. Substitute "deaden" for "dampen" and I can answer your question. Too heavy of a platter vis a vis the motor and bearing deadens the sound because of they-the motor and bearing-are over-loaded. Imagine a diesel tractor chugging up a hill with a heavy load. The same applies to adding too much weight and sound absorption with a cushioned mat and weights. 
You can insist in calling it "dampening" if you wish. Speaking of vehicles, imagine a Porsche 911 loaded up with four 350 lb occupants. Besides the grotesqueness of the mental image, would you call the driving quality-besides being blatantly dangerous-"damped" or "dead". 

I think Ralph would opt for replacing the stock G series tonearm (are they all the same tonearm, regardless of cost?) with a Triplanar, if he had his druthers.

what this discussion suggests is that most don’t like heavy floppy rubber mats, most prefer either a metal mat (copper or other) or a mat that attempts to match the energy impedance of vinyl. I have 5 TTs up and running. I use metal mats on 2, copper or SAEC SS300, and Boston Audio graphite mats on the other 3. The latter approximates vinyl. SQ is mainly sensitive to cartridge choice and tonearm, not to the particular mat. But that’s because I’ve already gone through the process of selecting mats for each, I like to think.

I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who uses a Resomat or similar.

I can’t define tracking noise but I know it when I hear it. Except I’m not even sure of that.

@lewm Make sure you turn the volume all the way down, so you can only hear the mechanical sound of the cartridge playing the vinyl. The quieter it is, the better the platter pad, in a nutshell.


@fsonicsmith  You have mis-characterized my comments about the Technics, just so you know. I think its a very good deal. But I have a Triplanar on mine, as I feel the machine's weak points are the arm and the platter pad. Equipped with the Triplanar and a very different mat, it does an excellent job in comparison to my master tapes.