Details about  'RESO-MAT' TURNTABLE PLATTER MAT FOR TECHNICS SL1200 / GARRARD 401

Many of us have been following the school of thought that clamping the record solidly to the platter is a good idea, giving a more solid bass & flattening out warps. I myself have been guilty of the same.

However, there is another school of thought that says clamping is NOT a good idea. Clamping to a rubber mat deadens the sound too much making the record appear dull & lifeless, and clamping to a solid mat or surface, like acrylic, causes energy from the stylus to be reflected back into the record, thus colouring the sound.

I have always maintained clamping to acrylic gave the most dynamic & clean sound, but when I recently increased thickness of my 3mm acrylic platter mat  to 12mm, I noticed a hardness creep in, perhaps due to frequencies being reflected back from the acrylic. I decided to experiment with the other school of thought & decouple the record as much as possible from the platter. This inspired me to develop  a mat which represents the antithesis of all that is right with clamping.....and you know what......it works!

Let me start by dispelling a few myths about clamping:

First, a clamp is needed to flatten out warps. Well, it may flatten mild warps at the center of the record, but the outside will still be wavy unless you also use a periphery clamp. What actually happens in practice is you get voids under the vinyl, so some parts of the record are in contact with the platter, other are not. In any case, forcing a warped record flat is bound to strain & distort the shape of the grooves so you will get an inconsistency across the record. I find most good setups will play moderately warped records with no problem.

Second, clamping is necessary for good bass. For those that may say clamping a record improves bass, I say think again. Bass is more bloated so may appear increased.  Again, all you are hearing with a clamp is colouration & reflections.

Third, a clamp is necessary to prevent record slippage. I had set up a measuring device to test this theory, played a whole record side @ 2g with a Paratrace stylus (much drag) to find to my surprise no movement occurred.

Enter the Reso-Mat. The idea with this mat is to have absolutely no influence on the record. It sits on cones with minimal contact with no clamping. Vibrations from the stylus are free to dissipate in the open air with no reflections. There is nothing to dampen the record either.

The net result is a super clear dynamic portrayal of the music with extreme detail retrieval. Treble that seemed harsh or sibilant on some recordings is greatly tamed. Modern recordings done in the digital domain are rendered listenable....& I have a pile of those which I am now rediscovering!  Bass becomes cleaner & more distinct. If a deep bass note is present, and your system is capable of producing deep bass, the floors will still shake.

Another effect of this mat is to increase the noise floor. Not only are the cones stopping reflections from the record, but also minimising noises from the environment & drive mechanism of the turntable, be it motor or bearing, from getting through to the stylus. Less external noise has the effect of opening & widening the soundstage.

I have to say this mat represents a good time spent in R & D with different cone materials. Wood was rejected, for instance, as the bass disappeared! Softer materials such as rubber & cork were also rejected because the damping they caused resulted in a loss of detail. The polyvinyl used for the Reso-Mat cones is similar to the vinyl the record is made from & gave the best results. Some testimonials below:

Garrard 301

I received the Reso-mat today. I'm not a fan of hi-fi hyperbole but the improvement over the Garrard mat on my 301 was immediately obvious - improved detail and more natural tone, more air, better separation etc. - in short it made everything sound more like real life and, like I said, the difference was big enough to make itself clear within a few seconds of listening. Many thanks

- the platter really rings without the rubber mat but only rings little when tapped on the side with Reso-Mat & record in place.  My instant reaction is that the sound is so much more like my Salvation reference deck........ this is with a Shure M95ED! Loads more clarity, much tighter, bass is much more correct (not bloated) and detailed.  A serious upgrade.  I've played with loads of mats over the years but always ended up back with rubber, your new mat has transformed the deck.

Garrard 401

Hey, Vic! I think this is a fenomenal tweak! There is so much more detail! It is a big upgrade indeed! And now I have the silence of a belt drive too! The best of both worlds.

Salvation

.......your new reso-mat is a perfect combination at least in my system. It is now easy to hear the position of the instruments without the drawback of a "separated" sound. A strange thing happened: listen to speaker with no time alignment and you will feel that the soundstage is sort of tilted with the lower octaves right in front of your listening position and the highs way back. A good time alignment will sort this out with the position of bass right under the high frequencies. This is exactly what reso-mat did. Articulation of bass is very clear and timing is just perfect. I think it has to do with coloration of the mat as you stated. Thank you, really a big improvement.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The mat will add 5mm to the surface of the platter & replaces the original mat.  With most mats being 3mm or so, this mat will effectively add 2mm to the overall height. Please ensure your are able to adjust VTA on your setup to accomodate. There is also a 12mm version developed exclusively for my Salvation deck, but available if anyone is looking for a tall mat. The 5mm version will be sent out as standard unless notified otherwise.

Platters with a dish under the label area & lips around the edge may need a small amount of packing. You will need to improvise here. Feedback from clients would suggest that the Reso-mat retrieves more detail from the record when in direct contact with the hard surface of the platter. Metal washers or coins under the mat will work fixed with double sided sticky tape. Alternatively, the mat can be used spikes down which has the effect of increasing the bass slightly, but with a marginal reduction in focus.

The Reso-mat is professionally engineered. The cones are CNC'd to my specifications & are fixed to a thin polyethylene laser cut mat by means of retaining O-rings. 

The mat has been extensively tried in the field, & all testers have rejected their traditional rubber/acrylic/cork/whatever mats &
clamp in favour of the Reso-Mat.

Of course, being a realist, if you find the mat does nothing for your setup, please return in original packing within 7 days for a full refund less postal charges.

The cones are of the same hardness as vinyl, so will not scratch it.

Colour (SEE PICS)

Available with both white & black cones. Please add a note in PAYPAL or email me your preference from the following options:

White Cones/ Black Mat (WCBM)

Black Cones/ Black Mat (BCBM)

If no preference is stated BCBM will be sent as standard.