Spotmat 8

Spotmat #8

Cork plate with cork spots. The cork is neoprene blended technical cork .06 inches thick both for the bottom plate layer and the spots.

This time, no expensive inkjet paper, no inkjet ink, no adhesive layering. The spot pattern is still three groups of threes. To get the spot pattern, I used one of my previous mats as template with a little help from a draftsman's inking template and a permanent ink pen. Linking the spot pattern with straight lines yields a mixture of 3-sided and 4-sided polygons. I could still link more straight lines and end up with all 3-sided polygons, but I think I like this shape. Whadaya think...?

Initial listening comparison between this Spotmat and the previously made Corkmat CM-1:

There is similar weight and detail in the low frequencies. There also is, however, a perceivable difference in upper frequencies. The highs seem a bit more apparent and, perhaps,........better extended....! Midrange seems roughly similar and nicely detailed. I can't say if there is any significant difference in the mids. Overall, the sound of the turntable is still warmish. That's in keeping with the character of the Shure V15VxMR cartridge in use. It's still early yet I feel this mat is a very good compliment for this table, arm and cartridge combo.

Now that I think about it, there are some significant differences between the corkmat CM-1 and this one. Apart from the much smaller record contact patches versus the single large contact patch of CM-1, Spotmat 8 has no paper. It has much less adhesive and no contact cement in its makeup. There is no significant layering except for the cork spots. The cork spots are adhered with white Elmer's paste in nine locations. Hmmmmm.

comments to: user510@earthlink.net