Hi, its been a while since ive visisted this forum, so apologies if this topic is well covered elsewhere (I'm sure it has, but google isnt throwing it up).
Ive recently acquired a LP12 / Ittok LVII / brand new Goldring 1042. The deck is 49xxxx serial which means valhalla. Its have been serviced by a Cardiff Linn dealer, who also replaced the drive belt and the felt mat. The question is whether its worth considering a change to the mat. It doesnt excatly fit very well, but there is much debate about felt (= musical?) vs acrylic / ringmat et al (= more "hi-fi"). The rest of the system is modest: a cambridge 540p phone amp, NAD C352, B&W 602 S3 on open stand, QED original bi-wired. The TT is not placed upon the most appropriate support, its placed upon a small wooden plinth which wits atop a non descript wooden cabinet (this is a domestic requirement and cannot be upgraded). The wooden plinth is isolated from the cabinet thru small plastic feet capped with blobs of blu-tak.
Ive done extensive A-B comparison of a number of CD's vs LP's (NAD C542) and the Linn does indeed flow much better on everything, the midrange is sweeter, and the top end smoother yet some how livelier. There is a veil on CD that isntb present on vinyl, and frankly soundstaging from vinyl is ion another league (now i know why the press have raved about the imaging capability of the C352 amp).
The one area where the Linn is trounced is bottom end....vinyl is not as extended, although is tuneful, there is nothing like the impact or slam that you get from CD.
So back to the orignal question - is it worth paying the £40 or so to experiment, or is it just not worth the effort. Ive yet to stick the felt mat to the platter with double sided sticky tape.
The other mod im considering is a cirkus upgrade, but somehow I think the £400 is better spent on upgrading the phone pre-amp.
I should add that the A-B comparisons were done mostly using a pair of Grado SR80's so airborne feedback shouldnt have played any part. Ther Grado's arent the last word in bottom end resolution I know, but more analytical than conducting the comparison through the B&W's.
Sorry, I can't comment on the ringmat. I only have experience with an old product called "Platter Matter" which was a fairly thick plastic sorbothane type material. This was years ago and I don't think they are made any more, but there are other sorbothane mats available today. The Platter Matter was a replacement for the original foam rubber mat that came with my AR-XB and if nothing else, it stabilized the disk with its tacky surface. When renovating my AR-XB the Platter Matter had to go since the material was breaking down into a sticky blob of oozing green mess.
A couple of other tweeks that I remember doing were adding a record clamp, and sticking a thin layer of blue artist's gum on the headshell. Each tweek alone really didn't amount to significant improvement in sound quality, but taken together, the improvement was good, considering the modest costs.
Long time no see! I'm surprised that the felt mat doesn't seem to fit very well. It should fit so well that you can barely tell the platter is turning! Is that definitely a Linn mat?
I haven't played much with different mats on the LP12, but people I know who have have almost always gone back to the original. The ringmat has a couple of voters and so does that madman Russ Andrews. May be worth a call, but first I'd check about the felt mat you have - it doesn't sound right. Take it in and compare it to your dealer's own mat first.
Incidentally, even an old LP12 like yours should demolish a C542, even in the bass department. Something's wrong there...
The mat was replaced at the last service by a Linn dealer!!
The LP12 has nowhere near the sheer depth of frequency response that the 542 has...its nice and tight but just not as deep or pronminent. I put this down to the massive FR of CD vs vinyl. For tonality in the mid and top end it does indeed wallop the 542.