After reading many good reviews i recently bought a Funk Firm Achromat for my Planar 3 TT to replace the standard felt mat. I didn't experience the night and day improvements that some people mention but there does seem to be a slight difference in sound which i would perhaps describe as being slightly more detailed but not as warm sounding as the felt mat. My view on whether the Achromat is an improvement or not seems to change between albums and after a month of use i'm still not sure either way. There is also a downside of using the Achromat though and that is because its a hard material there is a slight risk of scuffing your vinyl if you change or flip it while the platter is still turning. I understand this is not just something I do due to laziness but it is also recommended in the Rega manual and apparently it's not ideal to stop the motor each time the record is changed.
Anyway, all in all i'm thinking that as the benefits of using the Achromat seem (so far) to be relatively minor and to reduce the risk of damaging my vinyl i might go back to the original felt mat; however, i wondered if anyone had similar experiences with the Achromat or if they have used alternative mats that have provided more significant improvements. Or are they all much of muchness and the original felt mat does the job as good as any??
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, thanks!
Anyway, all in all i'm thinking that as the benefits of using the Achromat seem (so far) to be relatively minor and to reduce the risk of damaging my vinyl i might go back to the original felt mat; however, i wondered if anyone had similar experiences with the Achromat or if they have used alternative mats that have provided more significant improvements. Or are they all much of muchness and the original felt mat does the job as good as any??
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, thanks!