Project Acryl-it Platter

I had the Herbie's mat and now have an Acryl-It on my 1Xpression. The Acryl-It was a good bit better in my system. Definitely worth the few extra dollars than the Herbie's mat.

The Herbie's mat was no slouch though. The Acryl-It just does everything the Herbie's mat did a touch better. The Herbie's mat and Acryl-It platter together didn't go very well. Everything was over damped.

I'd get rid of the cartridge when possible. The OM series carts are outdated. They were designed for older tonearms, and today's tonearms either have more or less mass (can't remember which). The new Ortofons will be a worthy upgrade, as will other carts.

I owned the Debut 3 before the 1Xpression. I've heard the OM criticism from several people on different forums. The OM sounds respectable on the Debut. The new 2M series sounds a good bit better than the OM series. The Debut is definitely capable of showing the differences. I'm not saying get the top of the line 2M; just suggesting another upgrade for down the road. Take it as you will.

My experience with the Herbie's mat with the Acr-It is opposite the last two posts. It may have cut down on noise a little bit, but it sounded over-damped to my ears. Overall, everything seemed dull.

I really liked the Herbie's mat and I really like the Acryl-It. Just don't like them together - too much of a good thing to my ears.

The Acryl-It was better, hence why I kept it. Not night and day better, but better none the less.

As everyone else's stated, I think the Herbie's mat is the better VFM in this case. If you're dead set on never upgrading the Debut, them might as well get the Acryl-It. If not, get the Herbie's mat.

I'd upgrade to an Xpression, but that's just me. Actually, I did upgrade from a Debut to a 1Xpression. Capable of a far better cartridge, far better tonearm, plinth, and so on. The Debut III is a great deck, but the Xpression is better in every (except the awful Sumiko Oyster stock cart!). The Speedbox you already have easily takes the Xpression up a level or two.

Forgot to say...

For reference sake, I have a 1Xpression, Acryl-It, Speedbox, and Dynavector 10x5. I use the internal phono stage in my Bryston B60.