Questions Regarding Installing a Wheaton Triplanar On A SOTA Cosmos

I would think that the cartridge itself is vibrating secondary to the movements of the cantilever. Not all that energy is delivered into the vinyl; what you are hearing is sound created directly by movement of air molecules because of motion of the cantilever. Of course it’s going to be more or less evident, depending upon the compliance of the cartridge, the effective mass of the tonearm, the composition of the body of the cartridge, and the degree to which energy is transmitted into the arm wand and thereby nullified. What energy is delivered into the vinyl to be absorbed by the mat is what’s left. So, while I don’t doubt that there are differences in the intensity of the "music" you can hear with your ear close to the LP, I do doubt that it is all about the record mat. (By the way, this one reason I avoid dust covers while playing LPs; that energy put into the surrounding air by the cartridge gets trapped and can cause resonating of the dust cover. But let’s not re-hash that argument.)

The needle talk test is one variable of many how i and a few others have arrived at the Triplaner / Lyra combination…. Of course…i’m not so arrogant ( well maybe )… to suggest it is the only way…. in fact, my ancient Dynavector probably equals it in that singular aspect….

Always good to check in with the OP…. are we helping any ?

Lord..not the dust cover swirl again…. although i believe one would approximate a snare head quite well…..

Changing a Platter Mat that is a single Mat only from my selection to be used, is quite simple, as they are all between 4.5mm - 5.2mm, no difference to changing an Album or Spindle Weight.

Note: I have made it known within this forum I swap out my ESLs to Cabinet Speakers to listen to Blues Music, as I like the Colouration of the Cabinet, it brings back strong memories of when I first was listening to Blues in small venues. Surely of I had the opportunity to further tweak the Richness of Tone to blend the Colouration why not.

 If I am entertaining guests with listening to the HiFi as the sole agenda, I will certainly select the bulk of the music to work with a Mat I intend on using.

If the guests bring a different music type along, I will make it known a different Mat will be potentially a improved experience.

As said on other occasion, the listening experience is a activity to entertain, and the value of the sound side of the entertainment is very much aligned to how the individuals Amygdala is stimulated by specific sound and is producing chemicals that are rewarding as a stimulus. 

In the same manner I understand other stimulus, I have developed a n understanding of this one to, and how mood/feeling can be changed by minute changes to the sound being produced. 

The listening experience impact on a person, extends far beyond the sound arriving within the ear, it is totally associated with the hierarchy of Wellbeing and Mind, Body, Spirit.   . 

And yet there are those devoted to mats that barely make contact with the LP, like the Resomat or certain cork mats. There’s no accounting for individual taste and rule making is futile.

@lewm , @mijostyn was spot on with his comments about the platter pad. I’ve been telling people exactly the same thing for years. I didn’t make it up either :)

Its not a taste thing as well, since its very easy to know if the platter pad is doing its job as laid out in mijostyn’s post. There’s not taste associated with that, more of a ’yes’ or ’no’ thing. Platter pads cannot be made to favor a certain genre of music any more than a loudspeaker or an amp can.

The Tri Planar will not fit on a Cosmos, not even close.

I know Tri Mai and he’s told me that people do indeed install Triplanars on the Cosmos (I had one myself) so it can be done, albeit with a few spacers.