As my cork one is about to crumble to bits!

Looking for a replacement, just wondering if there is much difference between cork, felt, or other materials etc.?

Which is best to go for in your humble opinion, recommendations?

Been looking at this myself. Currently got the standard one that came with my Dual turntable. Read reviews on cork, etc. Apparently leather is a good one to go for. Not cheap though. Although is possible to make your own.

Doesn’t the mat just stop the vinyl from slipping? Or is this going to turn into another directional speaker cables “discussion”?

Thanks porlus, a leather one is new to me 😉

I use Butter Rugs and the plastic bit in between the slipmats and decks for even less friction. You are scratchin’ aren’t you? 😆

Been looking at this myself. Currently got the standard one that came with my Dual turntable. Read reviews on cork, etc. Apparently leather is a good one to go for. Not cheap though. Although is possible to make your own.

Just make sure the grain of the leather follows the direction of rotation of the platter, otherwise noticeable ‘slurring’ of high notes could occur.

Rega do one. I think it’s felt and £20?

To be fair, I trust the Rega brand so I use one of them on my turntable (Thorens TD166 mk2) instead of the thick rubber one that came with it.

That’s free trade, free range, organic kangaroo leather, of course! 😀

When I swapped my felt mat on my Manticore Mantra out for a paper/cork mat from Ringmat it did make a large difference for the better.

The flet mat would probably have been similar to the Rega felt mat as the Manticore Mantra was pretty much a souped up rega 3 and had a deeper glass platter.

http://www.ringmat.com/

I haven’t tried any other mats but the ringmat was definitely worth the price.

Those Ringmat people call all of their products “solutions” therefore I am out.

I use a felt mat on my Sondek. Works fine for me. Definitely reckon there’s an element of snake oil/directional cables in this kind of stuff

Those Ringmat people call all of their products “solutions” therefore I am out.

what are they supposed to call them ?

stick with your felt mat then, but that cork mat made a significant difference compared to my felt mat. The record seems to be much more solidly supported on the platter as well.

The price of the ringmat is silly compared to the materials in it, but not for the results.

There might be a differences with the Sondek platter being steel whereas the mantra was glass.

Ringmat are actually good. I had one on my Rega turntable and it did make quite a difference. I’ve got a different turntable now, but my friend now has it and he’s pretty sceptical of such tweeks.

One thing to consider, is if you have a cheapish turntable and you are replacing a thick rubber mat, then have you got any VTA adjustment on the tonearm? Your new mat maybe thinner (or thicker) and you cannot adjust the angle the cartridge tracks at. So some sort of spacing maybe required.

Some of the acrylic mats are supposed to be good as well – I think it is something to do with sinking energy from the record into the mat and/or controlling vibrational energy and reflections within the record.