Price Paid:  $50.00 from Manf

Summary:
I just replaced the rubber mat on my old Thorens TD 145 MkII
turntable with the older 250 Ringmat. GREAT improvement in sound on every record I have played so far. The sound is now more realistic, more musical..You forget about the equipment and get into the music. This is an upgrade I would recommend for any LP lover.

Strengths:
More musical sound..Warm, full bass. Good balance across
the board from Treble to Bass.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $89.00 from Audio Advisor

Summary:
OK, I must retract my statements below. I have finally broken in my Blue Point Special, which needs a good 75 hours to really come alive. During that time it is apparently common for the cartridge to sound wonderful one hour and pathetic another. Now that it sounds great all the time, I have gone back and tried the Ringmat against the Linn felt mat, and darn it if that Ringmat doesn't improve the playback of all of my vinyl. Tighter bass response, quieter background, and a more black background overall. The Ringmat is a little shorter than my felt mat, so it is important to adjust VTA properly. This mat really makes my LP12 sing!!! Ringmat is coming out with an LP Statmat, as well as rings that adjust VTA without having to adjust the tonearm. I am very happy with this product, and intend on looking into other items from Ringmat.

Strengths:
Ease of installation

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Linn felt mat

Price Paid:  $89.00 from Audio Advisor

Summary:
I got the Ringmat about two years ago. When I first replaced the Linn felt mat with the Ringmat, I heard a difference, and I assumed the difference was that something sounded better. I recently purchased a Blue Point Special cartridge to mount on my Linn LP12/Vallhala/Naim Aro table, and during the winter months of breaking in the cartridge we had lots of static and I had to peal the Ringmat off of my records, which I would then zap with the Zerostat. But all of the pealing of the Ringmat pulled one of the cork rings right off the mat. While pondering what to do, I put the Linn felt mat back on the table, and there again things sounded different. After gluing the cork ring back on the Ringmat, I have switched back and forth between both mats, and I have to say that the felt mat actually sounds better to me. Things are more analogue warm, and I think other reviewers are right when they say there is a CD sound to the Ringmat. I'm staying with the felt for now, and will experiment back to the Ringmat in a few months. My overall feeling is that there are better ways to tweak a high end turntable; proper VTA, azimuth, and vibration isolation.

My system:
LP12 described above
Magnum Dynalab FT101A Tuner
YBA Integre amp/preamp
Rotel 965bx CD
Totem Model 1 Signatures on Target stands

Strengths:
Ease of installation!!!

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Linn felt mat

Price Paid:  $80.00 from QR

Summary:
I own ann original Xerxes + RB300 with Heavyweight c/w + Ortofon MC15 Super. I bought the Ringmat thinking it would be a good upgrade. Unfortunately, now I wish I had not done it. When you first install it, you get the impression of "cleaner sound", more coherent. That´s what I thought, and let it there for several days. But the more records I heard, the more I realised something was not going as well as it should: the system sounded more clinical, more mechanical, more "digital" we could say. One night I decided to make a complete analysis session, including very subtle changes to VTA. These were my results: with the Ringmat the highs are artificially tilted up and you lose weight in the bottom, and worst of all: you lose precious harmonics in the middle. The Human voice (Joni Mitchell, Teresa Berganza) proved decisive: it sounded far more natural with the felt matt. The same happened with early digital recordings: with the Ringmat, the highs sound noticeably more artificial, even "detached".

And that´s not all: the Ringmat imparted a certain mechanical or arficial "tension/coarsening" to the sound that made records less enjoyable, less "flowing".

Honestly, I think the Ringmat detracts precious information from reaching you. And it changes the sound tilting up the highs in a way that I understand some people used to CDs may like.

Strengths:
apparent cleaning of the sound

Weaknesses:
tilts up and coarsens the sound

Price Paid:  $80.00 from QR

Summary:
I own ann original Xerxes + RB300 with Heavyweight c/w + Ortofon MC15 Super. I bought the Ringmat thinking it would be a good upgrade. Unfortunately, now I wish I had not done it. When you first install it, you get the impression of "cleaner sound", more coherent. That´s what I thought, and let it there for several days. But the more records I heard, the more I realised something was not going as well as it should: the system sounded more clinical, more mechanical, more "digital" we could say. One night I decided to make a complete analysis session, including very subtle changes to VTA. These were my results: with the Ringmat the highs are artificially tilted up and you lose weight in the bottom, and worst of all: you lose precious harmonics in the middle. The Human voice (Joni Mitchell, Teresa Berganza) proved decisive: it sounded far more natural with the felt matt. The same happened with early digital recordings: with the Ringmat, the highs sound noticeably more artificial, even "detached".

And that´s not all: the Ringmat imparted a certain mechanical or arficial "tension/coarsening" to the sound that made records less enjoyable, less "flowing".

Honestly, I think the Ringmat detracts precious information from reaching you. And it changes the sound tilting up the highs in a way that I understand some people used to CDs may like.

Strengths:
apparent cleaning of the sound

Weaknesses:
tilts up and coarsens the sound