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The amazing new Marigo Evolution Signature Mat

I want to share my amazingly positive experience with the new Marigo Evolution Signature CD Mat. I have used Marigo's CD mats over the years from their very first offering, I believe about fifteen or so years ago. The Evolution Signature mat is the fourth iteration of the Marigo mat. Each successive "generation" had wrought positive improvements from my Mark Levinson Reference 31.5 transport. (While the top loading Levinson comes with its own CD clamp, I have ordered parts from Levinson and have made my own CD clamp, substituting their carbon fiber disk for your Marigo mat.) The latest Evolution Signature mat's improvement is so substantial that it is a larger "jump" in performance than from the standard Levinson clamp to the last generation "3D Signature V2" mat!
I hear a startling increase in the focus of imaging placement within the sound stage. The focus of everything in that sound stage is both tighter and possesses a three dimensional body that most digital simply lacks. Tone saturation is richer. The bass not only goes deeper, but is more tuneful as well. The highs are better defined and extended. The mid range is the icing on the cake. Voices are much better defined and clarified, combined with the improvement in density of tone and harmonic texture now sound shockingly real and alive. The sense of space and performance venue is greatly improved as well.

Overall the music has so much more of a relaxed quality to it similar to that of master tape analogue that allows me to simply listen to the music and not work as hard having my brain trying to connect the "digital dots". The increased resolution, focus, dynamics, detail, sense of space, articulation, and what I would call a "continuousness" of saturated tone, all combine to literally transform my digital playback to a level that I have never experienced before! I know that this must seem like hyperbole. The overall improvement is SHOCKING!

In the context of my high end system the $200 that I had paid for Evolution Signature mat that replaced the Reference V2 mat, was the cheapest money that I have ever spent for the most improvement in my system!

If anyone has a Reference V2 mat, they may be loathe to replace it, as it is most excellent. I can tell you from first hand experience, that the new Evolution signature mat is on a whole different and much higher level of sonic improvement.

For anyone has never tried a Marigo CD mat or any mat for that matter, this is the one to have. This is not just a simple "tweak", this is an essential and basically "give away" priced in terms of the substantial sonic upgrade that truly must be experienced to be believed. In the context of my high end audio system, this is making an improvement that I did not think possible and at a price that was ridiculously low. Based on my listening experience, this may be the biggest bargain in audio today!
coopersark
badwisdom
145 posts
 
Im actually talking about the concept itself which i find ridiculous.

Just like those Acoustic systems Resonator pieces you hang on a wall which magically transform a room's accoustic's.

Audiophile's are really devoid of any common sense sometimes and give the rest of us a really bad name. It's sad.
chayro
3,029 posts
 
Badwisdom - In the case of the CD mat, aside from all the magical benefits, real or imagined, one very tangible thing a mat does is stabilize the disc, which is something that most transport makers agree on. The Esoteric transports employ a full-disc clamping mechanism, other players employ "spider clamps" that clamp the periphery of the disc. The sound of a CD player is the result of both the mechanical disc-spinning and the electronics inside. This stabilization factor may or may not be an improvement, depending on what you're starting with, but it is something beyond voodoo, IMO. That said, I don't think I can hear an improvement using one of the older Marigo discs, but that's me.
spectron
130 posts
 
Thank you Cooper for great review - I could feel genuine enthusiasm. I know Ron Hendrick from early 1990's and he always made great products.

I got this mat from Marigo Lab for my Transport (Esoteric VOSR) yesterday and in a few seconds I could hear rather dramatic changes you describe.
Since everybody makes different emphasis - for me most dramaric change was in detail and image focus.

For its price, its clearly one of the best if not the best products on market, today!!!

Simon
rgs92
974 posts
 
Isn't there some chance of damage if you put a foreign object on top of a disc?
There doesn't seem to be much space for anything in my EMM transport.
I've always wondered about this with these mats.
coopersark OP
16 posts
 
Spectron,
As you must know "your mileage may vary..." Some of the posters claim not to hear anything, and based on their experience, they may be right! The simple fact is they have not heard the new Evolution Signature mat, which is a SIGNIFICANT improvement over Ron's previous designs. The other fact is that not everyone' systems are that high in their resolution.
I have two audio systems. One in a dedicated purpose built and professionally acoustically treated listening room with a dedicated separate electric feed that houses an ultra high end system that has been carefully matched and assembled over the years. It's total price is in the stratosphere - well into the six digits. I will admit that in the context of this laboratory grade playback system the improvements are exactly as I had described them above.

The other system is in my basement workshop. That system is basically Audio Research electronics throughput with Magnepan loudspeakers, Shunyata Triton and King Cobra CX power feeding the system on dedicated lines, with Transparent Audio cabling. This is the much more down to earth system that is closer to what most guys will be using. There are improvements to this system, but nowhere near on the level as those on my reference system in my sound room. Even in the context of this more modest system, there are the gains in both the detail and image focus that you mention and is well worth the $200.00, but again in the context of my reference system the gains are MUCH more apparent, as I think the "sonic microscope" is set to a higher power of resolution in that room.

For fun try burning a couple of your best disks into your computer using the mat and them burning copies from the computer again using the mat. I think that you will be astounded with what you hear. Yes, the copy sounds better than the original, especially with image, sense of venue and space, as well as an analogue sense of ease. As you know, the new disk is not much thicker than two sheets of paper, so it will easily load into any player or computer without any problems. It would be instructive for others if your reported your finding of this on this thread! Have fun!!!
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