First, it must decouple the record from vibration entering it via the turntable, this includes bearing noise, transmitted motor noise through the drive system, cartridge feedback, chatter transmitted via the tonearm into the turntable, ground and air-borne audio feedback, underground pumps, etc.

Second, it must absorb and transmit resonance out of the record itself. A stylus vibrating in a record groove sets the vinyl resonating in a way that will feedback into the stylus if not highly controlled. This may be momentary to the tiniest fraction of a second, but will nonetheless create a blurring of the signal and overlay other parts so that they will not be heard. In other words, there can be loss of information and addition of spurious noise to the intended signal.

Third, it must transmit the drive to the record without elasticity or slip. The surface that the record sits on in response to the amount of drag on the record. At best, this will be a very slight momentary elastic movement backwards, but enough to slightly deaden the impact of a bass note drum strike. At worst it will cause the record to slip backwards, which is only obvious when you can hear wow occurring–as in the case of a badly dished record that only contacts the platter in the centre.

Initially, we introduced a semi-rigid mat that we called the Performance Mat. Feedback was almost universally positive, with users reporting superior performance over the recognised market leaders they already owned.

Further experimentation led to a new flexible composite material that sounded even better. Not just a bit better, a lot better. The Upgrade Mat does most things that the Performance Mat does, only it does them better.

Finding a mat that works universally well on all turntables is almost like the quest for the Holy Grail. In over 22 years we have experimented with countless platter mats varying from felt, fibreglass, air gap, various foams, cork, graphite, carbon fibre, acrylic, PVC, MDF, aluminium, rubber, silicon and steel laminates etc. This is to name but a few. Many of these mats yield significant improvements to some areas but have drawbacks in others.

A mat that works well on acrylic platters is almost unheard of, but this one really does the trick! It also interfaces well with metal, glass and composite platters. The Origin Live Upgrade Mat is only 1mm thick, and so is well within the ability of most tonearm height adjusters. The material mix from which it is manufactured must remain confidential.

The mat comes with a money-back guarantee if ordered directly from Origin Live. Should you be in any way dissatisfied, just return the mat for a full refund (excluding carriage). Origin Live dealers may also offer a guarantee but this is at their discretion.