Lew, I myself think that is a good idea. I agree there are a lot of platter pads out there, as Axel says, its just that most of them are a joke. If you are going to make a decent pad, it should use materials science and physics- like understanding how vibration travels through materials.
Keep in mind that the stylus exerts tons of pressure on the LP. Yeah, its only a 1 1/2 -2 grams but the stylus is tiny. The result is that the LP depresses, just like ice on a frozen lake does when a car drives over it (of course, we probably see more of that up here in the frozen wastelands).
So the mat cannot allow the LP to sag- it has to stand up to it. And it has to do that while controlling resonance. That is why this is such a tricky issue- and why so many platter pads are really not even close.
I'm sorry that this pad that I and a few others have is not in production (IMO/IME it was the biggest advance in LP reproduction when it appeared). That it contains lead dust likely has a lot to do with it :)
Warren says he can't get some of the materials anymore. He also said it was very labor intensive- the materials had to be combined in the right order and with correct timing. He used a special oven to cure it. I have seen a few examples come up for sale- the last one I saw went for $1200.00. Based on that I would guess that there is a budget for someone who wanted to get serious about this.
Obviously not every table could manage this thing- it weighs about 5 pounds.
Since there are only a very small number of these made before SOTA got the rights to it, there are only a few people who have heard what it does and how profoundly it affects things. However my point here is not that I have this thing, but what it taught me: that **only** when the platter pad and platter issues are reduced to a common denominator can you have an intelligent conversation about drives. This assumes that the 'table is otherwise on speed and working right, with no 'measurable' speed issues. IOW I suspect that many here are describing other differences and ascribing them to the drive when there are more fundamental issues involved.
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people come into a room and upon hearing something they like, immediately ascribe it to the speakers, taking nothing else into account. I believe this to be the same phenomena, since I don't know of a decent production platter pad. If someone can point me to a pad that has the exact same hardness as vinyl but it otherwise completely dead, I'll immediately make an exception. Any takers?
Keep in mind that the stylus exerts tons of pressure on the LP. Yeah, its only a 1 1/2 -2 grams but the stylus is tiny. The result is that the LP depresses, just like ice on a frozen lake does when a car drives over it (of course, we probably see more of that up here in the frozen wastelands).
So the mat cannot allow the LP to sag- it has to stand up to it. And it has to do that while controlling resonance. That is why this is such a tricky issue- and why so many platter pads are really not even close.
I'm sorry that this pad that I and a few others have is not in production (IMO/IME it was the biggest advance in LP reproduction when it appeared). That it contains lead dust likely has a lot to do with it :)
Warren says he can't get some of the materials anymore. He also said it was very labor intensive- the materials had to be combined in the right order and with correct timing. He used a special oven to cure it. I have seen a few examples come up for sale- the last one I saw went for $1200.00. Based on that I would guess that there is a budget for someone who wanted to get serious about this.
Obviously not every table could manage this thing- it weighs about 5 pounds.
Since there are only a very small number of these made before SOTA got the rights to it, there are only a few people who have heard what it does and how profoundly it affects things. However my point here is not that I have this thing, but what it taught me: that **only** when the platter pad and platter issues are reduced to a common denominator can you have an intelligent conversation about drives. This assumes that the 'table is otherwise on speed and working right, with no 'measurable' speed issues. IOW I suspect that many here are describing other differences and ascribing them to the drive when there are more fundamental issues involved.
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people come into a room and upon hearing something they like, immediately ascribe it to the speakers, taking nothing else into account. I believe this to be the same phenomena, since I don't know of a decent production platter pad. If someone can point me to a pad that has the exact same hardness as vinyl but it otherwise completely dead, I'll immediately make an exception. Any takers?