If you still don't have Turntable Mat or only have low quality Mat which include with the turntable, try the ExremePhono None-Felt Mat Mk. 2. You will hear Details that never before heard emerge effortlessly. Extension goes higher and deeper. The macro dynamics grow stronger, yet the micro-dynamics are clearly delineated and startlingly real. Percussion, voice, and instruments have impact, body, but the micro-dynamics that tracks with no lag and no overhang makes the music alive. The improvement is close to a cartridge upgrade (say, from Lydian to Helikon). Yet, the tonality remains unchanged from the original felt mat. It does not bring fatigue, does not elevate the high-frequency as a false-sense of air and detail. Relax and listen into the inner detail, the melody, and the timing (i.e. PRAT).
Stereophile Recommended Components
Extreme Phono None-Felt Mat.
Both version of the None-Felt Mat (with and without center cut out) are
made of the same rubbery mesh and are said to be washable. Unlike with felt
mats, ST did not find the sound to be warm or fuzzy. Nor was it lacking
definition or detail: "Compared to the Ringmat I'd been using, I heard a
richer, fuller sound, with less emphasis of detail and less surface noise.
" In addition, there was almost no tweaking to be done. ST was relieved:
"For lazy me, the Extreme Phono None-Felt Mat just did it - The mat sounded
very , very right in my setup with a minimum of fuss." (vol.25 No.8)
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Features
Static-controlled material. It creates a grounding conduit for static to dissipate. Works well in high-dryness region where records like to cling to the mat.
Tacky and non slip. It remains stable on the platter, just be careful changing records without stopping, you need to lift the record faster, if not, the friction between LP/mat/platter can stop the spin.
Extremely flat surface. Felt mat is not exactly flat, and the wool bumps up the record surface with irregularities. Flat surface allows stylus to track better, and maintains consistent VTA. In most instance, you may find that the VTF can be reduced by 0.1g as the tracking is improved (also less wear to the stylus and record).
Washable. I happened to be one of the chap that shrunk my felt mat to 6"! My mat can be easily cleaned by soap/detergent/VPI cleaner.
The "Speed" - Carbon Graphite Turntable Mat
It took us hundreds of sleepless night to develop the 'Speed' - Carbon Graphite turntable mat. Extremephono discovered the use of carbon graphite material as an ideal audio material for its unique energy-dissipation quality, and we had been promoting the use of carbon graphite as part of our LP12 modification (no longer available).
Nevertheless, we want to lower the cost, simplify the installation and offer a significant improvements to every vinyl lovers. And the 'Speed' is born. We named it the 'Speed' due to carbon graphite is the 'fastest' material in the removal of vibrational and interfering (i.e. the "bad") energy.
Carbon graphite fabric is extremely stiff, which means it transfers energy from one end to another extremely effectively. By keeping the fiber as thin as possible, and bundling up thousands of them, at least 1000 fibers per centimeter square, carbon graphite composite absorbs and dissipates undesirable energy such as from the stylus/groove interaction and air-borne acoustic feedback. The energy gets dissipated and becomes heat rather than be trapped by mass and radiated back to the transducer over time. The highly conductive nature of the carbon graphite also eliminates static completely, and provides extra shielding for the sensitive cartridge coils.
The Speed is extremely thin (no adjustment to VTA), 0.47mm, to be exact. It can be laid over any turntable platter or any mat material (None Felt, Felt, Rubber, whatever) and it offers a tremendous performance boost. The most significant changes include: expanding the dynamics, the bass drops deeper, and the treble is now cleanly defined and extended. It seems like the Signal-Noise ratio of the system just expanded, as the volume control can be increased at least 2 notches yet without feeling too loud - the soundstage just gets wider and deeper. With the "Speed", the vinyl playback becomes extremely accurate and very precise. The attack and decay are fast and furious.
To our ears, the improvement is as significant as upgrading the phono stage! Positive reports from users of turntables ranging from Rega P3 to SME20, in between, we have LP12, VPI TNT, Basis Debut, Wilson Benesch, Avid, Thorens, Technics, Roksan TMS, etc.
How is this accomplished? To start off, we use 100% pure carbon graphite fabric consists of 3K fibers. The same fabric is used in the most demanding aerospace and defense industries. The fabric is impregnated with resin selected for stability and good sound. To keep the "Speed" extremely flat with no wrinkle requires special clean room and high-precision press. The final mat is individually precision-cut using an extremely high pressure cutting tools that can sears off the edge and simultaneously cold-welds the the edge to retains it's shape without fraying fibers.
The Absolute Sound
Extreme Phono None-Felt Mat.
For the price of a single audiophile LP, replacing your felt mat with either of these babies - Linn and other turntables with felt mat should benefit hugely too - will get you that much closer to the music. (Wayne Garcia , TAS, Feb/04)
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Speed Donut None-Felt Mat Mk.2 is the BestBuy Turntable you can find in the market. Perfect for your top class Turntable system.
Picture above shows Speed None-Felt Mat Mk.2 in action. Place The None-Felt Mat with the knobby side down and place The Speed with the glossy side face down to the Platter.
Remark.
- The Extremephono None-Felt mat seems to have compatibility issues with Nitty Gritty record cleaner (the fluid, not the hardware). If you are using Nitty Gritty record cleaning fluid, make sure no fluid residue gets to the None-Felt mat. Otherwise, the None-Felt material may be broken down. With the use of the Speed with the None-felt mat this becomes a none-issue. There is no known problem with any other cleaning fluids.
- Mk. 2 versions, the None-Felt material could no longer come in contact with LPs. Carbon fiber do not react with LP in any circumstances.
- The None-Felt Mat surface is uni-directional. Bottom side is the knobby side.
- The Speed is uni-directional. Bottom side is the glossy side.
- Thickness of the mat is 3mm. Rega felt mat is thinner, and Linn felt mat is about the same, but because of the flatness of Extremephono non-felt mat, slight adjustments to VTA, VTF, and even anti-skating (because of the improved resolution, you can dial-in the anti-skate more precisely).