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Completely flat platter/mat.

Sure, one may be able to increase contact footprint with extremes like clamping at the label or periphery, but no way in hell would I let anyone play any of my vinyl on such a system! Just way too much risk of clamping a hard bit of dust into the playing surface (I’ve seen it done).

I quite agree, Tony -- and further, I can't imagine faffing about with a clamp or vacuum-hold system every time I flip over a record. Just a total non-starter for me.
 
Thanks Naimlover. I've bookmarked that link for future ref.

Would you consider putting the felt mat back on just out of curiosity?
 
Thanks Naimlover. I've bookmarked that link for future ref.

Would you consider putting the felt mat back on just out of curiosity?

I've never made a proper comparison (chorus of "lazy sod!"). I initially bought it because I thought the felt mat was transferring dust from record to record, and there seemed to be less static generated on the record when using it.
Given the fact that my dealer has probably set the Ittok up using the felt mat, for all I know I've been playing records the wrong way for years (although the Ringmat isn't unduly thick or thin). Thanks for the suggestion, I may try it o_O
 
I used to clean my felt mat with one of those sticky rollers the wife uses for getting fluff off clothing.
 
Following our chat today, I put the Linn felt mat back on my LP12 with my brown paper and cork studs on top. Didn't bother to adjust the arm height but the difference was enough for me to do that next. I'll do that before we talk at the weekend.

At the start I thought that things had softened up, especially the drum kit but on playing different lp's I decided that it had to be the recording, Kenny Burrell - A Night At The Vanguard as the rest of the discs I played were anything but soft. Sonny Rollins- The Bridge, Duke Ellington- A Drum Is A Woman, very precise and detailed. More listening is required, possibly the same set up on the 401 . Also I was surprised at the Linn I actually had a sound stage which I've missed for a long time, some fettling is required elsewhere.

As an aside that Hana that I'd used today isn't as advertised, it certainly NOT a mono cartridge, I had instruments spread all over the place, piano hard left, drums and saxophone central and bass overlapping, vocals towards the right. Please don't tell me that it was an illusion and that I'm imagining things, we all know that stereo is an illusion don't we?
 
Hello Dougie, yes I thought it might be interesting to put the felt mat back on underneath your own mat.

As for the Hana, some mono cartridges are not true mono. A bit of googling might tell which one the Hana is.
 
Not long ago I was treated to a bling test of a very expensive red thing vs standard Linn felt thing. They both had the same i.e. soft and flat, but the expensive red managed to produce a very noticeably worse sound, no idea how as the only difference I could see was the colour.

I use an Origin Live mat in preference to the standard Linn thing for no other reason than it attracts less static. There is no difference in sq
I bought the (expensive) red mat, it's actually made from cloth rather than felt. I initially thought it was an improvement but not much time went by until I realised I much preferred the sound of the bog standard Linn mat as it no longer sounded like the Linn house sound which is what I like so much about it.
 
I use a Oyaide BR-1 and a BR-12 mat set on a Lenco, they're 1mm and 5mm thick respectively and are made of grippy rubber and damp the platter well. They seem well made and have improved the playback of my turntable imo.

If I remove the platter and mat from the turntable and put them on a hard surface and push down onto the record grooves with a finger there doesn’t seem to be any movement that suggests the record isn’t in contact with the platter for the first 40-50% of the playing surface but after that all the way to the end of the grooves it noticeably has no contact with the playing surface and it does have a label recess.

Using a light it’s easy to see the movement (or not)

I always used the clamp supplied on the Gyro and Rock II I owned and never really thought about adding a mat.

I have always left the last record played on the platter anyway regardless of the turntable and it’s easy to keep the acrylic/glass platters clean, a swipe with a felt brush and occasional wash should keep them in tip-top condition.

I do remember with a some records on the Gyro and Rock, if they were printed FLAT and you looked level with the record/platter you could see only the centre labels touching the platter! Not using the supplied clamps on those decks could seriously wreck your records.

I’m not a fan of felt/cork mats at all, they can retain dirt and grit very easily, much better to use a non-porous material.
 


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