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Collaro Turntable Mat.

Chris Harris

Chris Harris

Active Member
Having decided to try the Collaro Audio turntable mat after hearing many positive comments. But what was to come was totally unexpected and a real surprise in its performance. Having spoken to Colin Dent at Collaro he explained the philosophy with both the construction of the mat and the reason for starting production back in 2018 in what seemed a crowded market place for turntable mats in allsorts of materials, His desire was to greatly improve the mat for the Linn Sondek LP12 having found after close inspection the Linn mat varied in both size and construction and he felt with the cost of Linn upgrades his remit was to improve greatly on the mat and importantly improve it's sonic performance. So having spoken to it's maker I was looking forward to some listening tests to see what it had to offer. My original plan was to do a shootout with other mats I had to hand, but after a listen to the Collaro in place it became academic as it was offering so much more that I had never experinced before. So down to the nuts and bolts - I played one of my go to reference albums Barry Reynolds - I scared myself (Island Records) which just comfirmed my opinion with Sly and Robbie just playing in front of me and hearing lovely extra detail never heard before. So this Collaro Mat really is like a major component change in the system which is a dramatic statement to make but that's what i'm hearing. The Collaro price - Red precision cloth £99.00 / Black precision cloth £120.00 and I can happily say this is the Audio bargain of the century in all what it brought to my system on my Well Tempered Simplex 2 with a Dynavector XX2 m/c cartridge. But I am sure many Linn / Rega owners will greatly improve their existing vinyl playback using the Collaro, and I am looking forward to trying the mat on my Townshend Elite Rock which Colin confirmed that it is suitable. And just to confirm how well the Collaro is thought of, The Uk's largest turntable manufacturer has ordered a large quantity of mats to be included with their new high end deck which is available later in the year so good news for the company. The finish is of the highest quailty hand made and specially produced woven and treated pure wool precison cloth made in England and even the printed logo is rather well done and tasteful. And you get that pride of ownership with this fine product and I would like to state that i have no connection with Collaro other than one very happy end user.
 
I've had a black Collaro mat for about a year maybe? I'm not using it.

I've tried loads of mats from Linn, Rega, Funk, cork etc and of all the alternatives no doubt the Collaro is the best. It's an easy thing to swap over and straight away I noticed the extra body, clarity etc.

But I always like to swap back and forth when possible to see if you miss the new addition, very easy with a mat. What I found was that I got into the music more with the Linn mat. Not as good in hi-fi terms you might say but when not paying attention to those I just enjoy the tunes more. The Collaro mat has been in my little pile of mats for months now.

I've never seen anyone else express this opinion, the Collaro seems pretty university liked, so I wouldn't let it put you off. I do think it's ridiculously expensive for what it is but audiophiles are suckers so that's up to you. I did buy it myself so I can't say much ;0)

I also think that if you use an Ittok or especially a Basik arm the Collaro will be a perfect match as it will counteract the deficiencies of those arms. I can also see why it's a good match for the Rega for the same reason. I didn't have the Collaro when I had the RP10 unfortunately.
 
Mr Pig said:
I've had a black Collaro mat for about a year maybe? I'm not using it.

I've tried loads of mats from Linn, Rega, Funk, cork etc and of all the alternatives no doubt the Collaro is the best. It's an easy thing to swap over and straight away I noticed the extra body, clarity etc.

But I always like to swap back and forth when possible to see if you miss the new addition, very easy with a mat. What I found was that I got into the music more with the Linn mat. Not as good in hi-fi terms you might say but when not paying attention to those I just enjoy the tunes more. The Collaro mat has been in my little pile of mats for months now.

I've never seen anyone else express this opinion, the Collaro seems pretty university liked, so I wouldn't let it put you off. I do think it's ridiculously expensive for what it is but audiophiles are suckers so that's up to you. I did buy it myself so I can't say much ;0)

I also think that if you use an Ittok or especially a Basik arm the Collaro will be a perfect match as it will counteract the deficiencies of those arms. I can also see why it's a good match for the Rega for the same reason. I didn't have the Collaro when I had the RP10 unfortunately.
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I agree. I’m currently back on the linn mat, because it seems more tuneful. The Collaro is sidelined for the time being.
 
Alex S said:
Does the Collaro mat disable the return key?
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£140 for a turntable mat, £20 dearer for the most common turntable colour - help me on wi ma new clothes! It should pick ma record, put it on, take it off and clean it whilst putting on the second choice.It’s the bargain of the year! FFS, get one off eBay and give the remaining £130 tae UNICEF children.

Nae offence tae the OP but that looks like an Amazon review. Gushing prose at £1 a line.
 
I have one on my P10 also, sounds better than the one it came with.
Mind you, I do use the Collaro mat upside down
 
Tried it , was much worse than standard, didnt pursue it further.

Worth mentioning that the Collaro is much thinner than stock and can result in the record sitting on the lip of the platter.
 
Canton said:
I agree. I’m currently back on the linn mat, because it seems more tuneful. The Collaro is sidelined for the time being.
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I had two! The first one I thought was am improvement but ended up playing less and less vinyl so sold it. Then I ended up with another one a few months later and still didn't like it.

Back on Linn matt. Much more tuneful and engaging.

Obviously mileage varies and only my opinion.
 
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david ellwood said:
Worth mentioning that the Collaro is much thinner than stock and can result in the record sitting on the lip of the platter.
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This pic from the Collaro site would appear to back that up, David. Even if the Collaro doesn't compress quite as much as the standard felt (which isn't a lot, mind), the thicker outer lip of an LP is bound to touch metal.

mat-black-on-a-Linn-LP12-with-tangerine-audio-stiletto-MK1-plinth.jpg
 
Mr Pig said:
No, it doesn't. The record does not hit the raised lip on the platter.
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Good to know, thanks.

I do wonder whether "Mat Black" and "Precision cloth turntable mat" (i.e. maroon) are the same thickness, though. In this pic one can see the lip of the platter all the way round the other side. As it doesn't appear to be otherwise undersized, this makes me wonder if the specific mat in the photo wasn't perfectly round and/or had an off center hole. Either way, a poor showing for 120 quid.

mat-black-on-a-linn-axis-mk1.jpg
 
Craig B said:
Either way, a poor showing for 120 quid.
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I don't think it's badly made but I do think it's very expensive in material terms. Linn, who are not famous for their bargain pricing, only charge twenty quid for theirs. I bought a black one direct from the website and it was pitched as a special edition which cost extra at £120. After I bought it I discovered that Loud&Clear had the black ones in stock all along for the standard price of £100! So yeah, I think there is a bit of price gouging going on.

I suspect the mat is some type of snooker table baise, which would explain why the first ones were maroon. Green would be too obvious. I simply do not believe that they got cloth specially made for a turntable mat.
 
tricky1 said:
How thick is the Collaro mat?
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It's thinner than the Linn mat. I recon the thickest is the standard Rega mat, the Linn mat is next, then the P10/RP10 Rega mat and then the Collaro but there is not a huge difference from the Linn to Collaro. Certainly nothing to worry about.
 
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