Funk Firm Achromat Turntable Mat
$259.00 – $345.00 inc. GST
Description
Achromat is the natural progression from the original acrylic interface invented by Arthur Khoubesserian back in 1979. Refining the theory he subsequently launched Achromat in 2005. Ongoing refinements in composition and application means that Achromat is now more universal and better than ever.
In 2009 Achromat came top in a mat comparison in HiFi Choice and then went on to win the Gold Award for Accessory.
How it Works
The stylus accelerates at up to 20,000g. This means your groove wall is not so much caressed but more akin to being pummelled by a road hammer creating travelling shock waves.
When there is a material change (the record sitting on a felt mat, say, these waves are reflected and energy reflected from the bottom of the record (a mere 2mm thick) is sensed by the stylus and heard as colouration.
Achromat is the ideal material to absorb energy from the record – there is no better.
“Customer Experience”
…”These two will make four mats and a platter from you! I am selling my last Mystic Mat on Ebay right now! I never thought that I would do that, but your Achromats are just so brilliant! They cost far less, too! I think that people that do not own one are missing out on something very special. Thank you for making the best Rega upgrades on the market. I have been able to push the Planar 3 to unthinkable levels of performance, thanks to you. As always, I appreciate your time and talents! Take Care!”
It is only 3mm thick, and this is where the science kicks in. Millions of tiny bubbles within create complex pathways and that’s where the energy gets lost as heat. In this way, Achromat acts like a considerably thicker mat. Its job is complete.
No other mat is like it and all it takes is a simple A-B comparison to demonstrate the differences against other supports. Longer term listening allows subtle nuances as well as greater bass intelligibility to be appreciated.
It has become the mat of choice for LP12 owners and also Technics SL1200 turntables.
** Other colours available ** please contact us
Technics 1200 Achromat
This suits the SL1500C, SL-1200GR & SL-1210GR with a machined recess into it’s edge bypassing the platter lip and accurately fitting the platter.
APM For all variants except 1200G
Technics’ 1200/1210 and GR models are fine motor units but suffer from a very significant weakness – The platter. All the rubber they’ve glued to the platter to stop it ringing doesn’t help. Try it for yourself. Hang the platter on your finger, tap it and feel the low frequency vibrations. That’s because rubber is soft and “wobbly”, and these vibrations are directly UNDER your stylus. Platter vibrates…Stylus reads it.
Whenever these frequencies are in the music, the platter will play along with it and you’ll hear it as less definition in your music. That’s why Funk developed Strata and we can only guess but also why Technics added that lump of brass to the same platter design in their $7k G model.
Unfortunately for you, the different motor design of the 1200/1210 and GR models means that you can’t use that platter. We also accept that not many people want to spend so much money upgrading to Strata. The good news is that we have come up with a new cost-effective solution. It is called APM, our new mat to solve this problem.
APM is Funk’s Achromat with a glass substrate bonded to it to create a constrained layer damper for the platter. Glass is inherently very RIGID but has totally different properties to the metal platter. Supporting each other, their different resonances work against each other and the vibrations die very quickly indeed. The platter is now much more stable, at least as good if not better than G. Optimised to the same mass distribution but without the weight penalty, APM allows the electronics continue to operate as intended.
Additional information
| Model | 3mm Mat, 5mm Mat, Technics SL-1200 Mat, APM for all variants except 1200G/1210G & Reference |
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