Does a turntable mat make any difference?

What else can put 220 class A watts into 20 ohms

@mijostyn Sound Labs actually get to 30 Ohms in the bass. That's why solid state amps have a hard time driving them.

@mijostyn I might be confused. It happens easily. If you are planning to run the MA-2s 5K and above, it should do that fine. But I think it will do better 5K and below. At 5KHz and above there really isn't much musical energy, partially because our ears are pretty sensitive at 5-7Khz, and its mostly harmonics above that.

It will also take a big load off the MA 2s as the processor is pushing the amps to make high end up to the limit which I think is 6dB.

@mijostyn There's no energy up there- its not a significant load for the MA-2s.

More great minds! My amps are singing beautifully. The DEQX Pre 8 should be arriving shortly. I'm going to cross to a Bricasti Design M25. Roger West recommends 5000 Hz. What do you think?

@mijostyn Try it and see what you think.

Sota’s mat is also the same durometer and mechanical impedance as vinyl and 1/4" thick. I do not think they sell them separately.

@mijostyn SOTA used a platter pad designed by a friend of mine- he sold rights to the formula to them. They never sold them separately but Warren did- and that is what I have on my tt at home.

It does. But the one you got probably doesn't do its job.

A lot of mats are intended for DJ 'scratching'. For home hifi, the pad has two jobs: damp the platter from ringing and damp the vinyl from any resonance.

If the platter pad is doing its job, if you play a record but with the volume all the way down the turntable will be nearly silent. If the platter pad is not doing its job the stylus tracking the groove will be more audible.

The platter pad has to have the same durometer (hardness) as the vinyl for this to happen properly. The presentation will be colored in some way if its not. Currently the only pad I know of that works right is made of acrylic. But acrylic can have vastly different properties depending on how its made, so its not right to say the pad will be OK if acrylic. But the best one I've heard that's commercially available is made by Oracle.