Products
Sound Dead Steel Isoplatmat £79.95
Placing the mat on any deck’s platter is quit amazing; flick the circumference of the platter without the SDS mat and it ‘tings’ (especially if it’s metal, or glass rather than acrylic) – but then add the SDS mat and repeat the exercise and it’s far more akin to a dull ‘thunk’. This shows how the mat takes so much mechanical energy out of the platter, deadening it down more effectively than any rubber, felt, glass, cork or sorbothane mat I’ve ever tried. If the ‘finger test’ proves its mechanical efficacy, then you should hear the difference it makes when records are spun in anger.
There’s a dramatic reduction in clang in the midband, causing a real drop in nasal colouration. The whole soundstage opens out (front to back, left to right), the tonality of the instruments is better discernible, the bass appears tighter and more fluid and the treble smoother and cleaner. Even with a turntable with excellent disc support such as a Michell GyroDec, the SDS mat makes an obvious difference. Taking it a good way towards Orbe performance – but with a mazak classic Japanese Direct Drive, it’s night and day; the SDS mat making the deck sound obviously less bright yet faster and more incisive too. This is the best turntable mat I’ve yet heard. It may not work with every deck equally and may require some experimentation (rubber mat on or off, arm VTA up or same etc,), but I’ve tried it on a wide variety of decks (budget, high end, belt drive and direct) and every time I’ve wanted to keep it on rather than reverting back to stock. At well under £100, it’s a bargain.
David Price HiFi World