It's out of production, but I found a used Oracle Groove Isolator for $10. It's sorbothane, but unlike the current $99 Audioquest mat, it's not sorbothane *gel*, so it's not sticky and doesn't overdamp the music. It seems to weigh about as much as the Technics 17 oz. "Supermat."
Recently I tried adding the Technics felt slipmat underneath the Groove Isolator and I like that even better.
Flicking the platter with my fingernails before and after, the felt/sorbo mat stack dampens the ringing out of the platter more than the sorbo mat by itself, and I noticed a small improvement in liveliness and clarity when playing LPs after I made that change.
I think finding the optimum mat for the Technics is more of a challenge than for the MDF/glass/acrylic-plattered belt drive turntables, because their platters are already pretty inert, and the mats for those turntables only have to drain the LP of resonances and isolate it from noise from below.
The SL12x0 platter, however, literally rings like a bell, so the mat has to kill that ringing as much as possible while doing all the other things that mats do. I think that's why you'll often find multi-layered mat approaches to the Technics.
I've certainly found that putting the felt slipmat on first, with a heavy mat on top, kills the ringing the best of anything I've tried yet. However, I haven't tried a Herbie's (which is dual composition), Iron Audio, or Funk Achromat, all of which have gotten thumbs-ups from various SL12x0 owners.
Recently I tried adding the Technics felt slipmat underneath the Groove Isolator and I like that even better.
Flicking the platter with my fingernails before and after, the felt/sorbo mat stack dampens the ringing out of the platter more than the sorbo mat by itself, and I noticed a small improvement in liveliness and clarity when playing LPs after I made that change.
I think finding the optimum mat for the Technics is more of a challenge than for the MDF/glass/acrylic-plattered belt drive turntables, because their platters are already pretty inert, and the mats for those turntables only have to drain the LP of resonances and isolate it from noise from below.
The SL12x0 platter, however, literally rings like a bell, so the mat has to kill that ringing as much as possible while doing all the other things that mats do. I think that's why you'll often find multi-layered mat approaches to the Technics.
I've certainly found that putting the felt slipmat on first, with a heavy mat on top, kills the ringing the best of anything I've tried yet. However, I haven't tried a Herbie's (which is dual composition), Iron Audio, or Funk Achromat, all of which have gotten thumbs-ups from various SL12x0 owners.