What are the audio differences you hear with turntable Mats.

@atmasphere 

The Oracle acrylic mat sounds interesting to me.  

However, when I read a description of it, it said ".....The acrylic mat is machined with a slightly concave surface which helps flattening of the record more efficiently when using the Oracle record clamp."

I don't use a record clamp with my turntable as it is not recommended (it's an LP12) so I wonder how this mat might work with it having the concave surface with out using a record clamp?  Any thoughts or ideas you could share with me?

Thank you and best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets , My Nantais Reference Lenco II has the Oracle mat adhered to the platter. Jean said it was the best-sounding of the many he tried. It works perfectly well with weights and clamps other than the one made by Oracle. Personally, I like the Origin Live Gravity One (out of many I’ve tried), which weighs almost nothing but sounds terrific on the Lenco.

It’s an interesting question.

I’m no expert but seems to me the mat helps isolate the stylus from any physical noise or vibration that might be transmitted by the motor to the stylus while playing. Just the way I look at it. I suspect felt pads are popular for that reason.

My direct experience of a substantial improvement over a Felt Mat on a Linn Deck has been when a 5mm Thick Forex Foam Mat was used.

Forex Foam is a mat made from the same material used for the Commercial offered DAT Mat.

On the day the Forex Foam was selected, there was approx' £1000 in value of Mats to be demonstrated, with a few Mats retailing between £300-£500.

The Forex Foam Mat as part of a Group Buy and one of Four Mats purchased for the GB (2 x 3mm and 2x 5mm) had a cost of £30 for all four mats purchased.

It is well worth looking to acquire a Mat made of this material, as the cost will not be a concern, and the end result of using it, might just be what is desired.

Atmasphere’s explanation makes perfect sense, and that’s where I’d begin if I were a beginner. But with his hypothesis as a model there is still wiggle room. Which is to say there are other materials that approach the suitability of acrylic and which might be preferred after audition. Whether you also use a clamp vs a weight and the mass of any chosen record weight, these also affect results. I have never liked rubber or felt mats. I do like the now unavailable Boston Audio graphite mats which probably are similar in hardness to acrylic, and yet I don’t like acrylic. I guess if there were only one best answer to this question, we would all be using the same record mat, and there would not be such a big market for such a wide variety of them.