Acrylic platter with no mat?

Ricardo
Ricardo Posts: 10,636
edited March 2008 in Electronics
Is it ok to put the record directly on the acrylic platter? The clearaudio TT I am getting does not come with a mat; can the platter damage the records?
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  • strider
    strider Posts: 2,568
    edited March 2008
    Excellent question. I just got an acrylic platter for my Project and have found it sounds best without any of the mats that I have. Haven't noticed any damage so far, my thought was that if the platter's clean it wouldn't be an issue. The way Joe explained to me why an acrylic platter has an advantage is that the acrylic is very similar to the vinyl that the album is made of. In effect, the needle sees the album on the platter as one thick record. Of course, I've had my platter for, oh, about 2 weeks now; hopefully someone with more experience will chime in and either corroborate or tell me I'm full of ****.
    Wristwatch--->Crisco
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited March 2008
    Cool. That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks.
    _________________________________________________
    ***\\\\\........................... My Audio Journey ............................./////***

    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
    SOPA
    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,669
    edited March 2008
    Glass platters on the other hand will resonate. Not a good thing.


    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,124
    edited March 2008
    Yes, no mat on the acrylic.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited March 2008
    not so sure about that. I would think it would depend.

    RT1--random thought--The ink may be black the page may be white but everything else is a purple haze.
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 7,485
    edited March 2008
    Acrylic with no mat is the BEST IMHO. Very little static generation also.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited March 2008
    Amen!!!
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited March 2008
    The vinyl god has spoken (Bill, I also believed you...really).
    _________________________________________________
    ***\\\\\........................... My Audio Journey ............................./////***

    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
    SOPA
    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited March 2008
    Thank you Ricardo.....

    RT1
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  • Gretsch6136
    Gretsch6136 Posts: 80
    edited March 2008
    Just my two cents worth.....

    Maybe the sound difference you are hearing without a mat comes down to the change in VTA caused by the needle dropping further down to the record surface? Has anyone made the comparison between mat and no mat whilst compensating for the VTA change?

    I say this as I placed an old record under the mat on my Thorens to adjust the VTA on my non-adjustable Rega RB300 arm. It made a very noticeable difference to the sound.

    Cheers,

    Mark
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited March 2008
    Actually that would be an excellent point if you set your tonearm up with a mat in place then removed it.

    The reason I go with the record making intimate contact with an acrylic platter is explained in the second post of this thread.

    BTW that is a great work-around you've come up with for VTA adjustment with a fixed tonearm. Have you tried the SRA adjustment. That would seem more suited for a tonearm that is incapable of a VTA adjustment.
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  • Loco57
    Loco57 Posts: 38
    edited March 2008
    I would have thought that the static would have been an issue but it is possible that the metal centre spindle acts as a discharge point so the record and platter act as one, how thick is the platter?

    I have a Lux PD310 turntable that has a metal alloy platter silicone filled and weighs 18kg plus the vacuum unit makes the disc seem totally inert not a bad system the whole turntable weighs about 70kg from memory.

    Does your tonearm have verticle adjustment to compensate for the height variation or is an optimum height given by the supplier depending on what cartridge you are running also i guess, all said and done it really only depends on how good it sounds in the end!
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited March 2008
    Those Lux PD310 are really cool looking tables. I've never heard one but I've seen pics of them. Isn't the vacuum hold down unit noisy?
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,564
    edited March 2008
    I have been going matless. Because I have no mat.
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • Gretsch6136
    Gretsch6136 Posts: 80
    edited March 2008
    Heringimpared...what is the SRA adjustment you speak of??
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 7,485
    edited March 2008
    Gretsch6136 wrote: »
    Heringimpared...what is the SRA adjustment you speak of??

    He is talking about stylus rake angle. It is something that is not directly adjustable. It is controlled through a combination of VTA and VTF. The more VTF, the more the cantilever is deflected, thus changing the stylus rake angle.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited March 2008
    SRA (stylus rake angle) is acheived by increasing or decreasing your VTF (vertical tracking force) in increments or detriments of .1 gm at a time until you achieve the desired focus in imaging and depth of soundstage. It is much easier and more efficient than adjusting the VTA.

    I was a diehard VTA believer until I tried the SRA adjustment. I've actually increased the VTF up to .5 gm more than the manufacturer recommended. Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound swears by that fact and has set his VTF up to .75 gm higher than the cartridge manufacturer recommends.

    Don't worry about record wear hear. Record wear is more a result of improperly set-up cartridges which cause tracking errors which cause record wear.

    EDIT: Bill you are always one step or one minute ahead of me LOL!
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