Introduction: DIY Soft-felt Record Platter-mat

I love listening to vinyl on my "mass-fi" Sanyo console stereo. It really not that bad of a stereo, lots of features, but the turntable, like other cheapos, is lacking. Instead of having a nice solid CLUNK when you tap it, the thin , plastic platter rings and vibrates.
Of course also this vibration also rears its head when your trying to play a lp with lots of upper-frequency noise. It was utterly terrible, and the hi-freq resonance was horrible! Bass was almost non-existant.

When I got tired of Ric Ocasek singing "Sssssssppp" on every "s" sound, I figured it was time to create a record mat!

Step 1: Gather Materials

What you will need-

High-quality felt, you will only need two 1' by 1' pieces.

Nice, vibrant Sharpie

A pattern LP (DONT USE A GOOD ONE!!!)

SHarp Scissors

Step 2: Mark!

Take the record and lay it on your felt, trace the circumference of the LP.
While holding the LP in position, clearly mark the spindle hole onto the felt

OPTIONAL:

Repeat step on another piece of felt to make a second "layer" of mat.

Step 3: Cut!

Cut the circumference of the marked line on both mats.


Spindle hole(s)

fold the mat in half through its line of symmetry, CAREFULLY cut a small "V" notch on the marked hole. MAKE SURE the cut is exactly centered on the mark, or you will have to do some major trimming!

Step 4: Place and LISTEN to the Improvement!!!

On any thin-plastic, mass-fi table, this WILL make an improvement in sound. I was totally amazed when I flipped one of my albums on the newly-deadened platter. The bass was tightened and more pronounced, and the hi-frequency resonance was cut down tremendously (not TOTALLY)

All in all, this cost me about 50 cents in material, and is one thing to do before you can afford a real, good, turntable. It suits me just fine for now!


Hope you enjoyed this, please rate and comment, feel free to ask questions!

I will be making a record clamp also to compliment this mat soon!