advertisement


Best Mat for Ceramic Platter Regas

DimitryZ

DimitryZ

pfm Member
Has anyone found one consistently better than stock felt?

I have used leather, Herbie's grungebuster, with and without graphite speedmat, and currently a 2mm acrylic job with a machined label depression.

Will probably go back to felt...
 
But are there not different thicknesses of felt from my Rega days? Related to plater thickness
 
Last edited:
Funk Achromat is the best I've tried, mainly because the Linn or Rega felt ones would stick to the record when lifting it off.
 
I've not tried it on a ceramic platter but the Origin live mat is the best I've used on any deck, it's thin, perfectly flat, grips the record firmly and doesn't lift off the platter with the record... it looks good too.
 
whatsnext said:
But are there not different thicknesses of felt from my Rega days? Related to plater thickness
Click to expand...
When Rega switched from the radially ribbed rubber mat of Planar 2 and early Planar 3, the former deck, with its 10mm glass platter, began showing up with 6mm thick felt (IIRC), whereas, the Planar 3 with its 12mm glass acquired a 4mm felt.

I remember purchasing the odd mat for Rega decks that came in on trade with massive rubber slabs on and the Rega ones came in two different cardboard record sleeves, one with a large '2' printed on, the other a '3'. Once in a while a '3' mat came in a '2' sleeve; which came in handy for when taller cartridges were to be installed on a 2. What with import duties, exhange rates, and distributor margins over here back then, Planar 2 outsold 3 by a large margin. The funny thing was, many 2s ended up having spindly Grace G-707 and G-747 put on, which put the cost of ownership well past Planar 3 level. I never thought the Grace sounded anything like as good as the Lustré or R200 did on those decks. Also, there was a problem with putting a Grace on a Planar in that they stuck so far out the bottom (and had a straight in arm lead connector) that one had to elevate one's Rega on blocks such that the arm pillar/cable didn't foul the siting. I blame the Linn dealers, as they were ramming used G-707 down Rega customers' throats back when the Ittok LVII came along as the must have upgrade.

Eventually, both models came with the same thinner felt, which has since been made thinner still (and in lovely colours).

That old Planar 2 felt certainly was thick...

1631478-rega-planar-2-r200-denon-103r-near-mint.jpg
 
Last edited:
On my P9 I've tried the stock P9 mat, the slightly thicker felt mat from a Planar 3, a Funk Achromat, and a My Little Pony mat that Claire sent me. All are slightly different. Sonically, the stock mat is best, visually the My Little Pony mat is awesomest.

Most of my mat experimentation was to try different VTAs, as you can raise a Rega arm with spacers but you can't lower it.

Joe
 
Dimitry,

It's not that expensive to experiment, but the Achromat wasn't as good as the stock Rega mat in my opinion.

My advice is to stick with the felt mat and put the money towards some records or a mountain gorilla.

Joe
 
Joe P said:
Dimitry,

It's not that expensive to experiment, but the Achromat wasn't as good as the stock Rega mat in my opinion.

My advice is to stick with the felt mat and put the money towards some records or a mountain gorilla.

Joe
Click to expand...

Good advice...i got an open box special at a good price. The old style power supply is a real pain to turn on and off with the tiny speed buttons, so hopefully the achro will stay put during record changes.

Soundsmith cartridge is new to the setup, wbich is why i am experimenting. Stock mat was a very good match to AT-F7 MC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top