Just don't use sandpaper.

This is an honest, impressive review! Well done sir.🎉

Some test records come with a 1-inch or so section in the middle that is free of all grooves and can be used to check and set anti-skating.

I love that you are using the Audio Technica given that their instructions say to only use the mat that comes with the turntable.

My fav slipmat is cork on one side and rubber on the other. I always use the cork side up. 2nd fav is an acrylic platter.

Was looking to get one of these but didn't know much about them. Helpful video.

Thank you for sharing this. I actually have 2 platter mats. One felt mat from my new LP60 and a rubber mat from my previous turntable 1200 Lab. I like the rubber mat better. The only problem with that is, like you said, it's a dust attractor.

I have the LP3 in black, but seeing yours in white with the white acrylic mat has me drooling! It really does look sleek! 👌

The Platters. "You've Got the Magic Touch." "Only You." It is very dry, especially in the winter, where I live. That means static. Even with an anti-static brush (AudioQuest) I still had a problem with static. I was not pleased. I have an acrylic platter mat and I decided to get a leather mat. Jake's Platter Mats on Amazon has them. Acrylic mat below, leather mat (suede side up) on top. The pesky static is gone, no slippage and an increased bass response. (Records from the '70s and '80s because they used a thinner vinyl are particularly vulnerable to slippage.) I would suggest that anybody (that includes you!) who cares about what your TT can do, should get one. Stay safe, my friend.

Good video- you are a bit of fresh air compared to the audiophile view I engage in as an audiophile. Comical, and light hearted with a care-free attitude. My inner snob was yelling...NO!! when you were playing and knocking that stylus all around. One thing a good platter material will do (as I have) is an anti-static mat, so the vacuum does not attract dust to the vortex and also the record, which translates to the stylus tip. Thanks for posting.

Very interesting. I know there are many different platter mats and slip mats out there, I'm not really sure if one particular type of mat would be better than another, I think it just comes down to personal choice. The mat I use on my Technics turntable is a cork/rubber mat. It is cork with rubber bits in and I love it. I think slip mats are different to platter mats. Slip mats are made of felt and are used by DJ's. What they do is they allow the DJ to let the platter rotate while holding the slip mat until they want to start a record playing. A lot of DJ's use this technique, it allows a more accurate and precise way of mixing records.

You could use an old scratched-colored vinyl album as a cheap replacement for a platter mat.

The number one reason turntable manufacturers use felt is because it’s cheap. There’s nothing wrong with felt, it will do its basic job. But it’s far from the best material out there. If you are in the least bit interested in getting the best sound quality from your setup, it’s best to look into other materials. For the longest time, I had a cork mat on top of a rubber mat. I did this because I found it was the best of both worlds: the rubber mat is good for deep bass and the lows, while the cork mat is good for the highs of your record’s sound. If I were to do this today, I would get the combination rubber/cork mat so that I would only have to use one mat instead of two. So what mat do I use? The green lit acrylic mat, that’s what. I use it for all the reasons you mentioned. And it looks incredibly cool with my AT LP 140x with the blue strobe light! It’s a light show every time I turn it on!

I have gone through them all but I have found cork to the best

I use a cheap cork mat from Vinyl Style that I bought from Fry's Electronics last year. I use it with the record clamp that came with the turntable.

I’ve dropped my needle off the edge of a record a few times.

Slipmats are what DJs used, they are different as they have to be slippery so they can hold the record still while the platter is still spinning. Lots of DJ friends and the first thing they did on their SL1200 was toss the rubber mat for a slippery mat.

While I had tried various materials on my other turntables such as Denon and Dual back then, but my main turntable, a SOTA Star Sapphire has to use the OEM platter mat (& reflex clamp) to achieve an adequate vacuum level. One less accessory to think about. 🙂

The static reduction properties are important as well. Rubber isolates the record from the platter in a way that doesn't allow static to transfer out. It can build up on the record. Many of the other types allow static to drain off.

I like the felt mat as it seems to keep rumble to a minimum.

I have a cork mat and the felt mat that came with my LP120. Since I like the cork mat I haven't tried anything else. I have heard deer hide mats are really good as well.

Great video. At the moment I have felt matts. Dust magnets hence the need for new ones.

I think the carbon fibre is upside down, given that the felt side is recessed at the centre to accomodate the LP's central raised hub.

I have a number of different mats including: - Typical rubber mats - Rubber mats with rectangular slots for turntables equipped to automatically sense the record size and set the speed accordingly (which can be overridden for 7 inch 33 rpm records). - A green acrylic mat by Hudson Hi-Fi which I haven't used yet, but a lot of people swear by them. - Cork mats which I've heard some people complain about regarding static electricity build-up and static cling to the records. - A deer hyde leather mat which I haven't yet tested, but it's supposed to reduce static electricity and improve sound quality a bit. :)

Great show I use the rubber one .😎👍

I use the cork/rubber mat and on top of it a thick leather one. It works excellent, but you have to adjust the arm height.

Noticed a great improvement going from rubber to acrylic

I have felt put aside and bought one of deer-hide leather. I am not good a critical listening though. Happy to have it anyway. A couple rare times it 'stuck' to a static-y record. Also is on a nice solid acrylic platter (that is, the belt is on the outside around it) . So perhaps I do not need any mat. Thank you for your video as always and glad you give tips to those who could benefit most.

Hello to Record-o-logy!! This is an excellent discussion on platter mats what everybody should know I always liked rubber mats they got adhesion they can reduce static that's what I always had with every TT my C-10 came with an felt mat but on a metal platter it slipped a lot when cleaning records and since these are usually ment for DJ's to mix and scratch I don't like them and when I switched my platter to a acrylic platter on the C-10 the felt mat too slippery I bought a very thin cork rubber mat to fit platter this fits just right without changing the tonearm vertical position any other mat was too thick and would of changed my vertical tracking. , the LP 120usp TT I have it being almost like a DJ style TT came with a felt mat I changed it to a cork/rubber mat cause it also let my records slip when cleaning and static from records would lift the whole mat off and before I realized it would fall behind my system and had to play fetch my mat game got tired of it ,I don't know if there is a sound difference with different mats I did noticed when I switched the metal platter on the C-10 to an full acrylic platter the bass sounded to me anyway a little softer but not muddy but very clear and it looks nicer almost like the C-20 but anyhow this was fun and I did not know they made a carbon fiber mat that's new looking forward to your next vid JRo

Thanks for showing the anti skate. That's the same problem I've always had with my AT LP120. I was hoping they'd fixed it.

I switched from felt to rubber immediately after getting my LP120X. Felt is just for DJing.

I use a translucent red acrylic mat on top of a rubberized cork mat, both from Hudson Hifi. I didn’t like the look of the metal platter under the acrylic, so I got the rubberized cork mat. Under an LED light, I think this combination looks great. Functionally, this was the right combination to keep the tonearm level and the acrylic platter is easy to keep clean. As far as sound, I detect a slightly deeper bass response.

I have a U-turn acrylic platter sounds great, however I prefer the Rega glass platters...

Blast from the past! This was my old record! Currently using an atlp5x for usb and 78s ❤

Late to the vinyl here.. nice vid, I like the rubberized cork look. My Pioneer mat is rubber but has hardened up years before I got it recently and the thin rubberized one is going to look great. Nice compare, thanks!

In 2017 I embarked on a project to develop a better sounding turntable mat. The results were interesting. There was very little sonic difference between felt, cork, most rubber, foam, and leather mats. There were differences between some of the rubber mats. The worst being the concentric ringed Technics Sl-23 rubber mat. The best was an original Oracle mat. The majority of the mats under test dulled the lower midrange on all the records played. Next up for test were 2 layer mats. A cork mat with small circles glued to the base layer and a rubber/cork glued to neoprene mat were tested. Same sonic signature with a overall dulling of the sound. On to the three layer mats. An EON Research Tri-Pad was used. This has a thin rubber/cork top, PVC centre, and a thin closed cell bottom layer. The midrange cleaned up. Now on to the experimental mats. Top layer was solid cork, middle layers varied from 113-160 grams of PVC to 360 grams of ground rock in a binder, and the bottom layer was a closed cell foam. The PVC centred mats provided a very noticeable improvement over the single layer mats. The midrange cleared up, the bass was fuller and deeper, and the overall clarity improved. There was a fullness to voices with the most dramatic being Ella Fitzgerald. Solo piano recordings sounded like the piano was changed out for a better sounding one. There is a slight improvement with the ground rock centres. A rubber/cork top, rock centre, neoprene bottom mat was tried also. No sonic difference but the 600+ gram weight makes for a nice flywheel and should provide more rotational stability (less wow and flutter). The conclusions were that the turntable mat is the weakest link in a vinyl based music reproduction system and that most of the mats currently in use degrade the sound of the records being played. It didn't matter if the turntable used was a plastic based belt drive with a conical stylus or a Linn Sondek LP-12. They all sounded better with the improved mat. For the record, the setup used for the development test consisted of a Rotel RP-850 belt drive with the stock Jelco arm and an Astatic MF-100 cartridge. Speakers used were Yamaha NS-690 Series II's. There are people who think that records sound better than CDs. I beg to differ. It is now possible to have your records sound as good as a CD. The improved mats are slated for market introduction later this year. A comparison CD is also in the works. They will be marketed as the "Better Sounding Turntable Mat"

i always prefer rubber but thats what i have been using for decades

Slip mats are more for DJ mixing of music between two turntables. Main use to allow fast starts for mixing. I’m looking for mats for my pair of turntables but I’m not a DJ.

I like the look of the carbon fiber one but rubber is good I have neoprene platter mat which a spongy rubber and it works well.

I have a bit more of a challenge - Picked up and refurbished a Micro Seiki RX-5000 turntable with a 45 lb brass platter. Very sensitive sonically to mats. In fairness I have a pretty high end system. They made a solid copper mat for it (!) but they're about $600 if you can find one. Doing acrylic right now but sounds better with no mat. However it has a static electricity problem that way. Hmmm

My Sony PSX-55 has a Mat that contains holes in sections to allow the Auto 33-45 select function to work but today I cannot find another mat that has the same holes in it so I can only use an current rubber mat that is solid. Yes my old mat had the Oily problem when it got old.

I prefer to use the rubber, especially with records I am not very familiar with (:

I use a soft leather mat with 1.5 mm thickness on my PLX1000. Looks amazing on the platter (gives a somewhat organic look & feel that goes well with the analog vinyl experience) and sounds pretty good, too. Just don't expect leather to be good with static. If you have the luxury of adjustable VTA, there is nothing holding you back from experimenting 🤓

I am currently using an acrylic mat because they are fantastic at eliminating static, but for the best sound I prefer cork because it really is the best at accentuating bass. Rubber is great for aluminum platters, because of it's deadening properties. Felt doesn't really affect the sound at all. That's my opinion. Take care...

I use a straight corkboard mat all the time and I feel it’s anti static. Just my opinion

I never realized there are so many different kinds. On old Magnavox that were once more plyable rubber, could they be restored with glycerine like other rubber products? They have channels in them with a metal plate with the logo so I'm not sure a new mat would work without eliminating it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Hi To Mr. Record-o-logy adding to my last comment as I was watching your vid on platter mats when it's a good vid I will watch I t again cause it is fun good and you are very good at explaining things out ,I know you said in the past having an all acrylic platter you don't need a mat on if I was always hesitant on doing that but I have come to trust your judgement so on my C-10 I put a record on platter without a mat I kid you not the sound was different I could not believe it so I say to you THANKS!!! for teaching this Yahoo that I can still learn more about TT's JRo📀

I love my Fluance RT85 with its solid acrylic platter, which doesn't need a mat, so I bought probably the same white acrylic mat you showed in the video for my white Pioneer PLX-500 to replace the white felt mat that came with it. I'm not sure that my ears are good enough to hear much difference in audio quality between the mats anymore, but I did find that I had a lot more static buildup with the original felt mat than I do with the acrylic. But, really, I went with acrylic because I love the way it looks, and my RT85 is acrylic.

I am new to the turntable and vinyl world. I just bought a Victrola Aviator Signature to start off. It has a bulky plastic platter and I was worrying if I am able to place a acrylic mat on top of it.

Hey Record-ology! This doesn’t really concern platter mats but I’m thinking of buying the LP3 and I’m wondering if it’s automatic features limit the number of cartridges compatible with it?

Carbon fiber, as a general rule, weighs 1/5 to 1/3 less than its steel equivalent, but has up to 25 times the strength. That's why it's becoming more and more common in the automotive industry.

ABS might work nicely since it is acrylic plus butydiene rubber, so you would have stiffness plus the absorbent qualities of rubber The white acrylic is just doe to calcium filler

With felt, in concerned with dust and so forth. What do you think?

Could an anti-static insert for a sleeve be used on the platter? Maybe over a felt mat?

If you don’t use a mat with the acrylic U-turn will the angle of the arm matter since they set it up to be an 1/8” higher?

as a platter of fact,was chatting to my Polish pal today,....Stam Rettalp,...lovely bloke,..mad as a hatter...loves his mats,loves his platters,but matters not,he says what platter,or mat,so long as the record don`t shatter,as that definitely would matter,as a fact of platter.His fav band..of course,the Platters,saying without goes...lol

Do u have to use one on a victrola wooden music center

Can a platter mat help with the skipping in some of my records? My turntable didn't include one when I bought it and it plays some records perfectly but the other ones skip even after cleaning or the needle slips making them sound bad

Do you think the LP3 anti skate is defective? Odd that the tone arm wouldn’t stop pulling towards centre?

Hey I have a question, so I want to replace my cartridge on my record player, but there is only 3 wires on the headshell and most of the cartridges have 4 metal things for the wires, do you think I can still put it on?

To check anti skate, the turntable must be leveled first.

I know you mentioned this in the video but i'm concerned anyway because felt feels much lighter than rubber. My turntable came with a cheap felt mat. If I take the rubber mat from my worn out early 80's t.t. will it slow down the rpm playing speed? The rubber feels heavier than the felt one.

Can you put a rubber or silicon mat on top of the acrylic mat? It just seems weird to put a record on a surface with no grip? Will the acrylic damage the record?

those carbon fiber mats are 500 now

And I've noticed that my court notes sometimes get a little too much static and then I stick to the record so then I went back to my rubber mat see how that works

Random question, but I have a setup that is not ideal-- I get a feedback loop at higher volumes, and I know that the best solution is to create more separation between the turntable and the speakers, but I don't really have that option at the moment (long story). What type of mat would cause the greatest reduction in speaker vibration that causes feedback?

My préférence is slipmats, because it's better for vinyl.

The bearing in the tone arm faulty

Marcof Glasmat and a record weight.

Why have not heard the differences, to my mind it seems like a rubber mat would be better for stopping slipping as it turns which might induce issues similar to wow and flutter

Just got myself a rubberised cork mat but it seems to be a little bit flaky Is that normal?

One thing that is rarely discussed is this...... when you just change mats of different thicknesses and that is al you do you... you are changing the stylus rake angle. This accounts for the subtle difference sounds of different mats. So, when comparing mats for sound, it is al BS unless they are al the same thickness. A phono stylus should follow the the same general rake angel of the cutting stylus on the master,

I have a Rega p1 and have used a felt mat but I found it made the records dusty so I got a rubber mat from my old turntable which I find the records play better I have the thicker rubber one like u show in video Anyone who's got a better idea on what I should be using on my rega p1 I'm all ears always trying to improve it

Would slightly under-sized platter mats like 11.2 inches do damage on a 12-inch platter? My turntable has a 12'' platter but the specific mat I needed came in 280mm, will this do damage? The record slightly overhangs the platter-mat. (For context), I needed a 1mm height adjustment on my VTA, but my turntable doesn't have one. So, I had to resort to a mat of a 1mm thickness, but when I ordered it, it was the 280mm version. That was the only option on Amazon.

I’ve tried all the different platter mates ..cannot tell any difference 🤷‍♂️

An OLD Rubber mat if you do not use your Turntable will turn to an Oily Liquid leaks from it....after that it is time for a new Mat.

What do I do? I know nothing about platter mats. I have a nine yr. old Electrohome stereo/CD player/USB/ record player combo with a platter that has its mat apparently glued on to the plastic platter, and a belt area underneath as part of the platter. The mat is old and sticky and has three felt pad dots, so the record doesn't touch the rubber, (or does it?) I want to get rid of the sticky rubber mat but as I said it is attached and has the belt-holding plastic raised circle on the other side. Do I just buy a floppy rubber disc mat and put over everything; or take off the felt pad dots first; or get a new platter or--just pull out my hair and weep? Thanks for any advice. 😖

I need to replace me mat, that past 20 years in the box has released the silicone and it is hard as a rock. So I require the same height if it takes 2 mats and antistatic attributes. You did not address either these issues. I am talking about a table from the late 70s.

Mats can make a difference when it comes to reduce static. It can also improve the sound, but a bad or mediocre system will not be able to reveal those sonic differences. With a turntable and speakers like in this video it’s very unlikely that the mat will make a difference in terms of sound. Tweaks like these for that reason only make sense to complete a good / great system.

I kind of doubt that the acrylic mat will slip with 1.5-2.0 grams of pressure.

I don't like felt mats. The one I have creates surface scratches when I clean a record!

Where can you get rubber ants.?

Myself. I'm not a fan of the acrylic platter mats. I prefer to use a rubber patter mat. Not at all to be judgemental, but it looks like the ant-skate mechanism on yout turntable has gone faulty

Question for anyone, should I clean a brand new rubber mat before using it?

That carbon fibre matt has no label indentation, so.. It's gash.

How can the carbon fibre mat give you a headache when surely the mat is under the vinyl record when you start it up ? 🤦‍♂

Car le plattermats m'a causé sert un problème avec des 45t sur ma préférée la Sony ps-lx 310 bt , très lourd pour le plateau.t'en dit que le slipmats convient parfaitement pour le plateau, peut tu nous faire parvenir un conseil pour les nouvelles platine vinyle sur ce sujet stp merci beaucoup pour tes conseils et tes vidéos.et je ne sais pas si tu as cette platine la Au USA mes mois j'en possède une avec la chêne hifi complet c'est la sharp rp-7700h(BK) et la 7700 complet.salut merci beaucoup et porte toi bien.

Rubber. Stops the platter and the record from resonating effectively.

Felt sucks. Doesn't damp the platter, doesn't damp the record.

Setting anti-skate is wrong. Listening is the right way

A dog's ear

i got one today i dont understand how this works.the falts are not touching the nneedle hows it keep from poppin or scipping..the needle is touching the record not the felt platters i got old old sony home stero it stero rocks....i just dont understand how this works, i want my records sound like you just bough them in a store....these felts i dont understand because ther hitting the neddle the record..is

Why not use a crappy record as a platter mat …that way if it’s turned on by accident it won’t ruin the stylus

Felt is actually better at discharging static build up after playing records. These other types like rubber may help a little with dampening resonance / vibration but are mostly gimmicks as they do not discharge static. So it stays on the record. Turntable Static Mat test (Rubber, Felt, Cork) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kJl_q7J1sdmlomw.html

The importance of the slipmat is paramount. It is the vital first layer of MASS to isolate your music from the mechanics of the machine. Felt and thin rubber are a joke. I would have thought you would have known that better than most.