aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) I bought the leather from a leather craft shop and saddlery. They had 1.5mm thick off-cuts like this one for $15. You can get them in all sorts of colours too, black, red, blue, green. Pretty cheap for a turntable mat ! Cutting it out using an old record as a template. Ready for it's first spin. Don't know which way up you'd use it, but they lovely reverse side is just so soft and luxurious that this is the way I am using it. I am not going to say it sounds like a big improvement over my usual cork/neoprene mat. I do think it is a bit better, but I could easily be fooling myself. See how I feel after a few days use. In the meantime, I will say it it just feels and looks great IMHO. A real pleasure to lower a record onto. Edited October 1, 2020 by aussievintage 1
Guest Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 I just added a (pre-made) leather one. I can’t say I noticed a difference over cork (my previous), but it’s really easy to vacuum!
Citroen Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 The ones I've auditioned were thicker, and seemed to impart nice bass sounds, a bit on the warmer side.
aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 7 minutes ago, Citroen said: The ones I've auditioned were thicker, and seemed to impart nice bass sounds, a bit on the warmer side. I often put layers under my mats to keep the same height. This one has one vinyl LP, a nice flat one with no raised edges, to bring it up to my 'standard' height. If I decide it's a keeper, and I think it is, then I will adjust the arm and remove the layer.
dwbasement Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 40 minutes ago, aussievintage said: I bought the leather from a leather craft shop and saddlery. They had 1.5mm thick off-cuts like this one for $15. You can get them in all sorts of colours too, black, red, blue, green. Pretty cheap for a turntable mat ! Cutting it out using an old record as a template. Ready for it's first spin. Don't know which way up you'd use it, but they lovely reverse side is just so soft and luxurious that this is the way I am using it. I am not going to say it sounds like a big improvement over my usual cork/neoprene mat. I do think it is a bit better, but I could easily be fooling myself. See how I feel after a few days use. In the meantime, I will say it it just feels and looks great IMHO. A real pleasure to lower a record onto. Which side up? Does it make any difference on different side up? I have a goat leather (i think) one bought long time ago.
andyr Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, dwbasement said: Which side up? Does it make any difference on different side up? I have a goat leather (i think) one bought long time ago. Yes, it does make a difference which side is up! Andy
Citroen Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 23 minutes ago, aussievintage said: I often put layers under my mats to keep the same height. This one has one vinyl LP, a nice flat one with no raised edges, to bring it up to my 'standard' height. If I decide it's a keeper, and I think it is, then I will adjust the arm and remove the layer. Or you might find it sounds quite good with a vinyl backing, and so could glue them together? Or attach a thin piece of cork, for a multilayered mat?
aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 25 minutes ago, Citroen said: Or you might find it sounds quite good with a vinyl backing, and so could glue them together? Or attach a thin piece of cork, for a multilayered mat? I have a pro-ject cork mat which is too thin (and cork only - no rubber) which I could have used. Instead, I crawled on the floor around my TT to access the adjustment screw and lowered the arm, so now trialing the leather mat, bare to the metal.
aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 43 minutes ago, andyr said: Yes, it does make a difference which side is up! Certainly, it looks entirely different for a start. Don't suppose you'd care to put forward a preference?
awty Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 Nice work, you should of got a red one. I have a couple made from very thin and supple kangaroo hide.
08Boss302 Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 a few years back I was looking for a new TT mat. I kept reading about these deer hide mats so decided to buy one. I found it very good and up until about about 2 months ago never changed it. I tried it both ways but decided sound was best clean side up. Every now and then static would lift the mat off with the LP but not often and it was usually an older LP I had not cleaned for some time, otherwise I had no issues. I found the link again, I bought mine via eBay at the time but they were on Amazon too. https://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hide-Leather-Turntable-Mat/dp/B00JDWHDSS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=sonoboom-20&linkId=a22d303ebfe8642705b595de93e2170f FWIW, The change I made was to the Music Hall mat which has 12 raised isolation pads and one under the LP label. This mat I reckong 1mm thicker but I noticed nothing SQ wise to worry about VTA so left things alone. Will probably switch them around from time to time as I like both this and the deer skin. https://musichallaudio.com/product/mat/ On my SL1200mkII i use one of these. Cork and Rubber mats wich is cork/rubber one side and felt the other, have been happy with that but due to the VTA on the Technics I use separate felt slip mat underneath to bring it up to spec height to ensure VTA is correct on the table pending the cart I am using.. https://www.amazon.com/PatheWings-Caoutchouc-Turntable-Audiophile-Slipmat/dp/B076ZWHCMH I bought through here https://hifiarte.com/en/13-record-mat
andyr Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 38 minutes ago, aussievintage said: Certainly, it looks entirely different for a start. Don't suppose you'd care to put forward a preference? Like 08Boss ... I thought it sounded better, suede side down. Andy
aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 19 minutes ago, 08Boss302 said: Every now and then static would lift the mat off with the LP but not often If a mat does that to me, I stick it down with those little double sided tabs (called photosplits on the packet I have). Very thin and easy to use. 4 minutes ago, andyr said: Like 08Boss ... I thought it sounded better, suede side down. I am not hearing any difference myself. I do prefer the look and texture rough side up. It's like a nice new carpet for the record to enjoy. Also, the above trick doesn't stick well to the rough surface. It might be imagination, but now I have lowered the arm and I am using the mat straight onto the bare metal platter, I think I am preferring it to the cork/neoprene sound wise. 1
andyr Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, aussievintage said: It might be imagination, but now I have lowered the arm and I am using the mat straight onto the bare metal platter, I think I am preferring it to the cork/neoprene sound wise. Shirley, a mat is designed to sit on the bare metal platter? Andy
aussievintage Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 18 minutes ago, andyr said: Shirley, a mat is designed to sit on the bare metal platter? Andy I see you did not read the above discussion, nor elsewhere on the web, about differing layers of mats.
RDM Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 Years ago I made a number of different turntable mats to test. Left to right and top to bottom they were: IKEA place mat & cork, and leather & cork. Bamboo ply, and LP & self adhesive skid protectors Leather & bamboo ply, and lead cloth & cork. After extensive testing my slight preference was for the leather & bamboo ply, or the LP & self adhesive skid protector combinations. The differences for me were very subtle, and did vary depending on the music being played. None of them seemed to stand consistently head and shoulders above the rest. 1
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