Hudson Hi-Fi Acrylic Turntable Mat - Transparent - LP Slipmat

I have a Rega Planar 3 and recently decided it was time to replace a (non-Rega) felt mat which had a habit of sticking to the underneath of the record when removing it from the platter due to static. After a bit of research I decided to try this acrylic mat (black) and have not been disappointed. I has a high gloss finish with a recess for the label in the centre which is not finished to the same gloss. The edge is not 100% smooth but that does not detract from the appearance in my opinion. A brown sticker paper protects the mat on both sides whilst in transit - a bit fiddly to remove. I'm not sure if it claims to be anti-static but it is easy to keep clean (with normal vinyl brush) and does not seem to attract dust. As another reviewer has noted, it has a smaller diameter than a 12" record - about the same as the platter itself - so you won't be picking up the mat when lifting the record. For information, I measured the thickness with callipers at just over 2.5mm.

I’ve tried a rubber/cork combo with my Rega P3 but went back to the stock wool one pretty quickly. I stayed with that for about a year and decided to give this a go. I mainly went for it because I was getting fed up of static and records sticking to the mat and I wanted to see that gorgeous glass platter and aluminium sub platter combo. My thoughts were, If at worst it sounds the same, then I’d be happy.However, there is a definite improvement! I went to my go to test track (Rosanna by Toto) and the cymbals were a little more prominent and clear, definitely more of a “tap” to them than the wool mat. It also cleared up busy passages in songs, with a little bit of harpsichord in another song becoming so clear that I had to check again with the wool that if not heard it before and there it was (or wasn’t in this case). Now, it’s not that bits of songs are completely missing, it’s just that with the wool mat, it all became a bit too busy and you couldn’t hear everything as clearly.My setup is very British and “warm”, the P3, wharfedale Denton 80th’s, a Cambridge Audio solo phono and cxa80 amp. This mat brightens things up a bit and brings it back a touch towards neutral, on my warm system, that’s no bad thing.The mat thickness makes little to no difference to VTA so don’t worry about it.For £16, this was worth the gamble, I’m glad I did. It’s Hudson hifi so a quality piece, flat and more solid than I was expecting.I’m one for not stopping the table when I change records and I did hear a little skid as I dropped one on the platter and that gave me a moment of concern but all was fine. No problems with grip, slippage or anything of the sort.Absolutely try this, a bargain upgrade.

I'd read that vinyl records perform well when in direct contact with the same/similar material; I presume this is why a number of turntables come with acrylic platters (either as stock or as replacements for metal platters). I wasn't ready to pay for an acrylic platter and I also wanted to get the tone arm completely horizontal when playing records on my Pro-Ject Debut III SE (there's no height adjustment available with this model). The Hudson acrylic turntable mat offered a solution to both of these needs, the thickness being just right to get proper alignment of tone arm (and stylus rake angle). I had a problem with the spindle hole being marginally too small for my turntable but I had some fine sandpaper handy and was able to enlarge the hole to achieve a perfect fit in just a few minutes. It looks great and I reckon it's improved bass response a little as well.

All l can say is WOW!l purched this Hudson acrylic turntable mat purely for cosmetic reasons,because l thought the gloss black finish would look good on my turntable & it does,it looks fantastic.The claims by Hudson Hi Fi of improved sound quality,better dynamics,improved midrange & tighter bass l took with a pinch of salt.l thought there's no way it would do any of that it's just sales talk but at least it would look nice.Boy was l wrong!l cannot believe the difference it has made.It's like listening to a different turntable.Everything about the audio quality has improved.All of Hudson Hi Fi's statements about this mat are true.l was a sceptic but now after listening to some albums l can honestly say l have been converted!lf like me you are in two minds about buying this mat do yourself a favour & buy it,you will definitely be surprised by the results.Great product,great finish & the improvement in sound quality for just £20 it's a no brainer!

Excellent build quality. I wasn’t expecting too much of an improvement in sound quality over the original rubber mat supplied with my Technics SL-1200GR but I was wrong. Soon after I played a record on this acrylic mat both myself and my wife immediately noticed how good and deep the bass sounded. The sound it seems has also opened up noticeably. The rubber mat has now gone back into the original turntable box not to be used again. My vinyl collection is sounding excellent now. Very happy with this product.