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WT Versalex Turntable Platter Mat

Mr Magoo

Hello. How are you?
Hi All
I’ve just about finished tweaking my system to get the best performance I can from it. I’ve added an improved power supply to my Versalex, a dedicated headphone amp plus a phono stage to replace the amp’s internal phono. I have good quality cabling throughout (Chord Shawline), isolation for the turntable in addition to the Quadraspire stand, and a couple of power cords to replace old ones. Nothing fancy, but decent quality.

Before I finish my tweaking project, I thought I’d ask whether aftermarket platter mats were worthy of consideration. And more specifically, on a Versalex? Any recommendations welcome.

Does anyone have any thoughts on other potential tweaks I could/should consider. My system is:

WTL Versalex with Dynavector 17D3 plus MCRU power supply to replace the wallwart supplied.
Sony TA-F870ES with Musical Surroundings Phonomena Phono and dedicated PS.
PMC Twenty 23 floorstanding speakers and Shawline cabling.
Fidelity Audio HPA100 headphone amp and Beyerdynamic Amiron headphones.
The dedicated listening room is quite small at 3.5m x 2.6m.

Many thanks
Peter
 
Yes, a platter mat will make a difference. More so than other tweaks for the reason that you are changing the physics of a mechanical device. Will it be better? Nobody knows, so have fun experimenting with glass, cork, felt, rubber...
 
It is an interesting subject and I'm sure that there are some improvements to be found. I've sort of skated around the edge of the subject. I agree that on the face of it felt shouldn't work, but in practice it seems to make a good interface between the record and the platter. In my collection of record players, I use the following mats:

Lp12 - the original felt mat, tried other mats, no improvements thus far.
Michell Hydraulic Reference - Obviously no mat.
Modified Stanton ST.150 (wooden plinth/Sorbothane feet/Rega arm) - GA Audio Soundisc (glass) topped with felt mat
Lenco 88 - GA Audio Soundisc, topped with Spot mat (Lenco Heaven)
Garrard 401 - Loricraft two part cork mat
 
Felt mats are a no no on this deck.

The Auditorium 23 mat is liked by many uses.

Never heard anything better than the stock mat on this table , also recommend no mat at all.
 
Auditorium 23 as mentioned above or, if you really want to push the boat out (and you can find one), the SPEC Analog Disc Sheet AP-UDI.
 
Best sound on my Simplex is no mat but if you want to use a mat I would be surprised if anything is “better” than the supplied one.
 
Thanks to you all for your ideas on this. Just giving Dave Brubeck a listen without the mat supplied. I’ll play again with the mat straight after. The one thing I’ve noted is a greater presentation/positioning/pinpointing of instruments within the overall soundstage.

I did some research on the Auditorium mat, but will park that suggestion for now while I evaluate the tt without a mat. The Auditorium looks interesting.

I use an Okki Nokki RCM and Nagaoka inners, so am rarely bothered by static cling. Not entirely exempt though.
 


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