I just bought one of the Marigo 3D Signature mats after hearing all of the raves. I'm sorry but I think it's garbage. Both me and a friend listened to music with and without the mat. The difference is so incredibly subtle that it is very difficult to hear any difference other than the mat washes out the body in the notes. We listened to different CD's for an hour. Then after listening to 10 second stretches of music, back to back with and without mat, these are my conclusions:
The mat washes the music taking out body. The overtones, which are very important in music, seem to have vanished. For example, on my system you can hear the guitar body vibrate the overtones, which produces a nice round image in the notes. You can tell what type of guitar it is and how the string was plucked. With the mat this is diminished, giving the music a flat presentation.
This mat seems to do the opposite to what it claims. Although I must admit, it's subtle, but it's noticeable if I listen for it.
I just upgraded the tubes in my preamp to tungsol (for $35) which made a phenominal difference. This mat at $200 is not worth it.
Consider the psychology of this: You just spent $200 on a tweak. You don't want to be cheated and you certainly don't want to look stupid, so you convince yourself that it works. You create the illusion that it works and you become convinced. You don't believe me? Ask any quantum physicist or even a psychologist. We do this subconsciously all of the time. We live in a subjective world.
If you're wondering, my system is all less than 6 monthes old comprising a Jolida 1501RC amp, Music hall CD25.2 player, Musical Fidelity tube buffer, Quad 21L speakers, upgraded power cords, Mapleshade power strip, Quantum EMI reorganizer, and soft annealed silver interconnects with Eichman connectors (Guerrilla audio).
The mat washes the music taking out body. The overtones, which are very important in music, seem to have vanished. For example, on my system you can hear the guitar body vibrate the overtones, which produces a nice round image in the notes. You can tell what type of guitar it is and how the string was plucked. With the mat this is diminished, giving the music a flat presentation.
This mat seems to do the opposite to what it claims. Although I must admit, it's subtle, but it's noticeable if I listen for it.
I just upgraded the tubes in my preamp to tungsol (for $35) which made a phenominal difference. This mat at $200 is not worth it.
Consider the psychology of this: You just spent $200 on a tweak. You don't want to be cheated and you certainly don't want to look stupid, so you convince yourself that it works. You create the illusion that it works and you become convinced. You don't believe me? Ask any quantum physicist or even a psychologist. We do this subconsciously all of the time. We live in a subjective world.
If you're wondering, my system is all less than 6 monthes old comprising a Jolida 1501RC amp, Music hall CD25.2 player, Musical Fidelity tube buffer, Quad 21L speakers, upgraded power cords, Mapleshade power strip, Quantum EMI reorganizer, and soft annealed silver interconnects with Eichman connectors (Guerrilla audio).