Many of you own or have read of the highly-regarded PPT Omega E Mat, one of Tim Mrock’s revolutionary signal-enhancing accessories. Just prior to his untimely passing, Tim had finished developing a new generation of his Omega mat, soon to be available. Krissy Mrock has asked a few of us to introduce this new mat, here given the working title of The Double Omega.
In distinguishing the Double Omega, we know the original Omega, herein called the single, as a 7.5” by 10”, rather heavy and somewhat pliable mat, a bit more than 1/8” thick and with a vinyl-like feel. One face is glossy white, displaying the PPT logo and Omega name, while the other is black, smooth and magnetized. Sandwiched between these faces is the active material that causes components to reject the EMI that saturates everything in our surroundings. The Double Omega is much the same, with one important difference: the magnetized face has the finely-textured feel of around, say, 220-grit sandpaper. This texture, it is presumed, comprises yet a second active layer of EMI rejection. Presumed—because working details of the Double Omega are not well understood—better yet to know how to apply it.
With the understanding that the single Omega E mats generate field effects from both faces, mats have typically been placed under and over components and vertically over circuit breakers. How you apply the Double Omega will depend on best use and experimentation. In my case, I have removed two single mats, lying side-by-side, from the top of my large Wadia CDP and have replaced those with two Double Omegas. The Wadia is a one-box player that contains a pre-amp, so I wanted that second, strong field effect exerting downward as well as upward. I also have several singles placed underneath, just as before. Going straight to amps, this player is my only source, so I want it fully protected from EMI. Your priorities will differ.
As of this writing, I am only thirty-hours in on placing these Double Omegas, and I can already tell you they are powerful in their prevention of EMI within my digital source. Yet another veil has been lifted—all instruments and voices are even more sorted out in the aural space with new information heard within that space. There is much more decay heard against a new silence behind and between the musicians. I am already so pleased and excited about what the Double Omega E mats are doing. As Krissy told me, Tim was really stoked to have these new mats available. Rather than wait for the the fourteen-day window of improvement, I want to get this intro out so others can relay their experiences sooner.
So far, each mat has improved the sound no matter where it's placed. Love to hear your system in the new room and with the new DAC. Robert tells me that he's very impressed with your setup. Try to take the time to come over for a listen. I think you'll be impressed by what the Siggie III's are doing now.
Fleschler. That’s most interesting to say the least. I know you have a lot of great results with PPT products in the past so this sounds odd.
I know some would say three days is not enough time to wait but I think you would have started to hear something change buy then.
Very unusual for it to just be one dac that it effects this way. But this thread is all about the mats and the results. Was this a new plus mat or a regular mat?
Fleschler's finding that the E-mat caused forward/bright sound is opposite to the majority of the findings by other people that the E-mat yields a rounder, warm sound. Krissy also says that the effect is more warmth. Frank said that it is not euphonic, but the word "euphonic" is not as precise as saying that the overall effect is towards warmth, "better" balance (jafreeman said things don't stick out as much). In this area, atdavid has a valid question about whether all this means that the effect is less HF and more lower freq. It may not be answered by measurement, just as we know that specs on electronics don't predict whether they are warm or not.
I don't question the sincerity of all these observations and questions, but I observe that many audiophiles like rounded and laid back sound. In my case, I dislike rounded, laid back sound, because of my enjoyment of music heard close up and the sharp sounds of nature like crickets, the crack of a golf club or baseball bat or buzzsaws, In my case, I am unlikely to try the mats. Not because I have a closed mind, but because the honest descriptions of the effect don't suit my personal taste.
viber6 Indeed, to each his own. Even though in my experience I have found the mats to not ’warm up’ the sound, but to convey an aura of ’more’ if that makes sense. I have to say I very much respect the polite, gracious way in which you expressed your concerns and conclusion. Kudos, and happy listening!
Forward and bright? Rounded and warm? Not in my experience at all. I’ve described the effect as more realism. A lot more realism.
" ... because of my enjoyment of music heard close up and the sharp sounds of nature like crickets, the crack of a golf club or baseball bat or buzzsaws ..."
This is exactly what I’m talking about, viber. I enjoy listening to Exotica music like Les Baxter, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. These recordings contain a lot of percussion like conga drums, bongos, bass drums, vibes, and lots of various jungle sounds. The presence afforded these sounds by the Omega + Emat is truly astounding.
Based upon your description of what you like, you would be totally happy with what these Mats do. Combine them with the PPT "Stop-Its" throughout the house and the effect is even better.
Define rounded. Define warm. Define bright. Define forward. As Bob Dylan said they’re only words and have different meaning to people. If I say a house, some people think of a white New England house with a white picket fence. Others think of a California bungalow.
Suggestion for Fleschler...I think there can be a charge effect based on the length of time the mat is in place and also the amount of current that runs thru the component. Maybe swap and rotate out a mat that is in a "hot" position.Your breaker box would be the most active and energetic take it and place on the dac..Tom
Can someone familiar with Total Contact answer this question for me: can one bottle cover an entire system consisting of 10 components? Thanks in advance.
Hey, spenav. Yes, I believe it will with ease depending on what it is and how much you plan on coating. I did the internals of four components, tube pins, as well as all power cord connections, interconnects, and speaker cables. Also pasted the wall duplex when I changed it and the entire inside of the outlet cover and still have a third left over. A very small amount goes a very long way.
I pasted the connections of all terminals in three separate systems, mine and two friends, with one tube of TC. It just takes a thin coat. Use a strong flashlight to be sure that all metal surfaces are covered completely.
My system is comprised of a power conditioner, sacd/cd player and an integrated amp. I have moved twice and had to reapply to my system both times. I gave my Total Contact to two friends to apply to throughout their systems. They both have larger systems with multiple sources. I have also applied to multiple fuses and vacuum tube pins that have been changed out a few times. I still have a little left. I found the application of Total Contact in my system to have the greatest effect to be on the tube pins.
A little Saturday afternoon side excursion through the Vox guitar amplifier and Rock & Roll history, brought to you by my friend Robert. Hope you all enjoy it:
Frank, I also enjoy your musical comments. Strictly speaking, they don't relate to the E mat topic, so I hope the moderator doesn't take this too literally and delete all these pleasant comments. Clearly, the E mats have brought joy to many people, and their enthusiasm naturally spills over into these other topics. The moderator should only delete negative comments centered around personal attacks.
Yes, when I described that some "sonic landmarks" were no longer as prominent, it's not that those sounds are rolled off, rather, there is so much more information filled in around them, they don't stand out in a formerly stark background. A lot of the music was actually missing before the mats. I mean, it was there, just not audible through the noise competing with it. From this, I have posited that EMI is what the mats remove/block/reject from the real signal.
I use a dozen E-mats and had 2 on top and 1 under my EAR Acute CD player. The mats improved resolution, depth, "warmth" and dynamics on the power panels, CD player, phono and pre-amp and isolation transformer. They did nothing when I placed two on top and under my Altec hugely modified amps which is okay. The E-Mat placed on the DAC came from a power panel E-Mat. The DAC has a more laid back sound than my EAR Acute or Frank's modified Pioneer CD player. With the E-Mat, the sound came forward, shortening the depth and while revealing more detail, boosted the highs. The 3 days I gave it made no difference as it retained the same less pleasant character.
I have the same problem with the SR Atmosphere XL4. I cannot place it between my speakers (rear, even or in front). It ruins the imaging. I have it against the wall near my seating. It also doesn't sound good on well recorded stereo. I use it to add "warmth"/soundstage width and depth to mono recordings, particularly if they are not well recorded or "dry" sounding. Example is the Dave Pell Trend recordings now on 2 CDs. They are almost boring to hear without the Atmosphere. With it set to Holographic mode, it expands the sound in every direction and apparent "warmth."
I tried the E-Mat experiment twice, first I was lazy and used one of the 3 E-Mats I had on top of the EAR Acute. Same result. So it's not due to a "cold" mat. Analog sound didn't change so the panel mat removal wasn't critical (I'm sure someone will comment I wrecked the sound by removing one panel mat-nope). They just don't work everywhere. A mutual friend had the same problem using the E-Cards. Didn't do much for his all solid state audio system either.
Einstein mistakenly thought the majority of his German colleagues subscribed to his theory of relativity. But he found out he was wrong, that in fact there was considerable resentment and outlandish reactionary statements such as Einstein’s theory was hostile to the German spirit. His response was an example of defensiveness under pressure, though perfectly understandable, “My answer to the Antirelativity Theory Company Ltd.: I have good reason to believe that motives other than a desire to search for truth are at the bottom of their enterprise.”
A friend who is familiar with the system is coming over in about an hour for a listening session. It will be his first time since installing the Omega + E-Mats. We'll see ...
Like a friend is going to have the aural memory of how your system sounded weeks before? I can't believe that. Yes I wanted to hear a difference on what these mats would do to my system but I just didn't hear what everyone was saying. At least I can say I tried. (Just to clarify they were the original E Mats)
What did you do? Is often a comment around here when a friend drops in for a rerun..friends who have been here many times but not in weeks or even months. Tom
“What did you do?” Hey, what a coincidence! That’s exactly what I would say to some of my customers after discovering their Sound Quality has deteriorated to as bad as before I raised it up the last time I was there. What did you do to ____ it up? Audiophiles are not very good at following the instruction, “Don’t touch anything,” I’ve noticed. That is the main reason I don’t go around house to house like I did in the old days. Now I let the Teleportation Tweak do the walking for me. 🚶🏻
I suspect audiophiles generally believe their systems just get better and better, right? Nobody ever comes over and says, what did you do to ____ your system up, right? Fortunately at the shows there is usually at least one person honest enough to tell the exhibitor your system sucks!
Somebody. Just not reviewers or dealers since, you know, they don’t want to make any enemies. Which is what almost everyone is at CES, reviewers and dealers. Besides, after an hour of listening to those systems their bodies and brains shut down.
In my experience, with my system, the Omega+s have taken two weeks in place on my breaker box to fully develop that jaw-dropping, you-are-there quality. I certainly heard good things well before that, but now, wow!
If you are trying them for the first time, I would recommend leaving them undisturbed, in one place, for at least two weeks, before you reach any conclusions.
Thanks for the advice, Tom--I think I'm still hearing improvements, even after a month. Everything I put on is such a surprise now---that's the greatest part of these products---you know the music is going to sound better every day for weeks at a time. There's a lot of added value because it's the same system you've always had, so there's a new pride of ownership that says, "You did alright."
I just got 2 Emat+'s today and I will be installing them tonight on my breaker box. Thanks Frank for recommending this. I will report back in a week or 2 with my impressions.
Every time I think the system can't get any better, something new comes along. I hope the new Omega + mats are as effective for you as what I'm getting out of them. Looking forward to your review.
One of the best parts of installing the PPT products is that I no longer have any desire to upgrade equipment.
There are four basic Freedoms in audio. Freedom of vibration (mechanical waves). Freedom of RF (electromagnetic waves). Freedom of magnetic fields. And Freedom of information fields.
When you control the Mail you control Information. - Newman 😬
In an earlier post, I had said that as soon as I thought that nothing else could be wrung from the system, something new comes along. This applies to new ideas for what existed before as well.
During Sunday’s listening session, I happened to mention to my friend "Mas" that I had two more Omega "Plus" Mats coming on Monday. "Mas" suggested that I try taping the mats to the rear of the speakers, right in line with the mid-range drivers. The mats arrived in Monday’s mail as expected, and I proceeded with the taping.
To say that it was an improvement would be a gross understatement. This new placement of the mats was revolutionary. This is something that must be tried. I listened for most of the evening last night, and most of the morning today. As good as things were before in the area of realism, this has it in spades.
How much better is this magic music machine that resides in my listening room going to get? Stay tuned ... I’m going to get two more Omega + Mats to put in line with the bass drivers. We’ll see where that takes things.
Highly recommended.
Frank
PS: A little jamming Koto music for your listening pleasure:
^^^ Labels are facing away from the speakers. And, I have to say, tonight's listening session was even better than this morning. It takes time for these mats to penetrate into our electronics, and it is the same for the speakers. Applying the new Omega + E-Mats to the speaker cabinets was a great idea. Many thanks to my friend "Mas."
OK, I’m starting to see. 👀 The eMats are directional. Right? Or do people just like the label showing as a conversation starter? I also am understanding now that much time is required for eMats penetrate to the electronics. That’s interesting but can someone explain why the eMats take so long on circuit break panels, you know, where there aren’t any electronics? also, what exactly are the eMats doing to the electronics? Any guesses? Final question, are the eMats curing? Is that what takes so long? Has vibration control been eliminated? Last question, is it true the eMat can be effective just sitting out in the room, say on the floor or on a coffee table?
In my experience placing mats under components, on top of components, over the circuit box---even on the floor under my Maggies---the mats' effects are omni directional. Why do the mats improve over time--why is their effect lost if removed for more than an hour--while these questions may be good or interesting, the most practical and interesting real-world question is: How would you describe the mat's effect on your music listening experience, GK?
I'm just a little over two days into placing the Omega + E-Mats on the speakers in line with the mid-range drivers. I didn't think it possible, but the clarity was even better this morning. These mats are staying in place. They will not be removed. I don't understand how these mats work, but truly, I've never heard clarity like this before.
At this point, it seems to me that attaching the mats to the speakers are at least as important as placing them into the circuit breaker box.
This guy was in the listening room this morning ...
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