Nickomoff - If you are using a weight or clamp to secure the album then any slight deformity in the mat (like felt) would probably be eliminated, but the mat may still effect the overall sound.
With the upgrades I have purchased, I found that eliminating all mats provides the best sound - the old plastic Rega sub-platter was dull and listless compared to the ISOsub GT 2 upgraded sub-platter, especially when used with the SRM/TECH acrylic platter.
I found that using a mat reduced the ultra fine details in the recording venue acoustics and had a more confused image.
If you have the glass platter on the rega I would recommend an acrylic one - take your pick, there are many, or the GT Delrin platter that Doug has, reviews indicate they are extremely good
I found the glass platter, whilst great for consistent speed, seemed to present an image that was not very accurate when compared to my acrylic platter I now have and the bass was not as tight and detailed as it is now.
Strings also sounded quite shrill. Almost as though they were distorting.
I tried many things to fix this...
- gluing cork to the underside of the platter
>>> this helped a little with the bass and the shrillness
- a couple of different mats - felt and Mission(sorbothane)
>>> all matts seemed to take the pace out of the music and made it less dynamic.
- getting the acrylic platter was the one thing that worked
Hope this helps
With the upgrades I have purchased, I found that eliminating all mats provides the best sound - the old plastic Rega sub-platter was dull and listless compared to the ISOsub GT 2 upgraded sub-platter, especially when used with the SRM/TECH acrylic platter.
I found that using a mat reduced the ultra fine details in the recording venue acoustics and had a more confused image.
If you have the glass platter on the rega I would recommend an acrylic one - take your pick, there are many, or the GT Delrin platter that Doug has, reviews indicate they are extremely good
I found the glass platter, whilst great for consistent speed, seemed to present an image that was not very accurate when compared to my acrylic platter I now have and the bass was not as tight and detailed as it is now.
Strings also sounded quite shrill. Almost as though they were distorting.
I tried many things to fix this...
- gluing cork to the underside of the platter
>>> this helped a little with the bass and the shrillness
- a couple of different mats - felt and Mission(sorbothane)
>>> all matts seemed to take the pace out of the music and made it less dynamic.
- getting the acrylic platter was the one thing that worked
Hope this helps