you spin me right round. - highend-electronics · statmat mk ii the statmat gave a very slight...
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CD mats group test
precisely aligned, as long as the
mat side faces down it’s ready to
go. The Marigo discs are precision
engineered, to the point where
they are self aligning, and as long
as you have them the right way up
then they work fine. So for
handling the Marigo and S.I.D. are
clear winners, followed by both
Ringmats picking up the rear.
S.I.D. Sound Improvement Disc
The vocals are
noticeably improved,
with far greater
depth and solidity,
the sound is far more
analogue and liquid,
likewise the soundstaging is
improved laterally, where there is a
slight improvement, but most
predominantly in depth. The stage
seems to go much further back,
driving instruments consistently
through the back wall.
Improvements can also be found in
solidity and space between the
musicians, not only making
individual images more palpable,
but giving more believable space
between the instruments. All of this
really enhances the feeling of a
three dimensional presentation.
Note extension and decay on
Prices quoted are correct at the time of print but are subject to change without prior notification. Manufacturers continually improve specification and design.
You spin me right round. . .David Allcock gets himself in a spin over the best ‘mat’ on the market !
Use & HandlingCD Mats are unusual in that you
handle them everytime you use
your CD player, so their handling
and usage are critical factors. The
Statmat II and Ringmat CDi Blue
need aligning in a specific manner
and their wafer thin polythene
construction makes them difficult
to manage on occasion. The S.I.D.
disc is easy to use, though a little
care is needed to ensure it is
Following the launch of two new mats from Marigo last issue
we thought it would be fun to do our first CD mat group test.
We’ve done this in the past with isolation cones and platforms
but never CD mats. Over to you David.
In the case of each supplier,
each manufacturer believes a
different problem needs
rectifying.
Ringmat
Developments
feel that static
build up caused
by the disc flying
around at several
hundred RPM is a cause of sonic
problems for CD’s, so their disc
uses a polypropylene film with
an electrically conductive ink
applied in a specific pattern and
to precise specifications to
disperse these static
charges. In the case of
the CDi Blue, there are
two discs used
sandwiched together at
a 90 degree angle. In
the case of the S.I.D. discs, these
both concentrate on damping
the disc and ensuring constant
reflectivity. CD’s and any 5” disc
for that matter, are not always
pressed perfectly concentric or
perfectly flat. Whilst these
variations are miniscule, once
the disc is spinning at high
speed this can cause the disc to
wobble and flap vertically, this is
enough to make the laser focusing
system work harder and increase
the error rate off
the disc. The S.I.D.
disc is
manufactured from
a damping material
designed to prevent
these vibrations
occurring in the disc, reducing the
workload on the laser focus
assembly and the usage of the
error correction system. The S.I.D.
disc is also maunfacured in green
material, this helps reduce laser
scatter and
absorbs red
light,
effectively
stopping
stray laser
light flying around the disc drawer
causing further errors. The Marigo
discs deal with all of the above,
using a more advanced damping
material as the main disc substrate
to damp the disc, whilst a special
coating on the mat absorbs stray
laser light in the drawer and an
embedded wire matrix disperses
static build up.
Technical – The Science Of Tweaking
“So for handling the Marigo and S.I.D. areclear winners, followed by both Ringmatspicking up the rear.”
acoustic instruments such as guitar
and piano are greatly improved,
this gives the impression that
the noise floor has
been lowered
further. In the
high
frequencies
there is a
removal of the slight edge which is
pervasive on many CD recordings.
The X-Ray V3 was a little less
responsive, especially in the area of
decay, though this was reversed
when the Tri Vista 21 DAC was
connected, suggesting that the
electronics after the transport in
the standard player are just not
letting the extra information
through. This is an effect which was
consistently noted whilst testing
the other CD mats here.
S.I.D. 14 or 15D-KEY-SIDSTD (14) £17.95
D-KEY-SIDTH (15) £17.95
Ringmat Statmat /CDiD-RIN-CDI £19.95
D-RIN-CDBL (CDi Blue) £39.95
Marigo Labs 3D matsD-MAR-3DST (Stealth) £59.95
D-MAR-SIG (Signature) £124.95
Test Equipment UsedFor CD Mat Review
To try and get the most relevant
results, I tried the CD mats on
a variety of CD players, acting
both as stand alone CD players
and transports to outboard
DAC’s. I used the Musical Fidelity
X-Ray V3, Inca Design Katana SE
and a Shanling SCD-T200
SACD/CD. All of the
aforementioned
players were used
as transports
to both a
Musical
Fidelity
TriVista 21
DAC and Perpetual
Technologies P-1A/P-3A
Signature upsampler/DAC
The discs under test come from Marigo Labs, Ringmat Developments
and S.I.D. (Sound Improvement Disc). S.I.D. supplied their model 14 and 15
discs, both selling for £17.95, but with subtle differences to the diameter of
the centre hole to suit different transports, one with a 14mm hole, the
other a 15mm hole. Ringmat Developments were represented by their
Statmat MKII (£19.95) and Ringmat CDi Blue (£39.95). The CDi Blue uses
two Statmat’s bonded together at 90 degrees to make a more rigid, better
performing disc. Marigo Labs represent two high end solutions, their £59.95
Stealth 3D CD Mat and £124.95 Signature version, rather misleading
titles as both these discs are designed to work on all 5” discs.
combination. The rest of the
system comprised a Krell KRC-3 pre
amp with Bryston 3B-SST power
amp and Martin Logan SL-3
speakers using Townshend Isolda
cabling throughout.
All mains power
was provided
by three
IsoTek Orions
with IsoTek Elite
mains cables.
depth were very subtle at best. This
resulted in a more elliptical
presentation instead of a
rectangular shape I’m accustomed
to. There was also slight
improvements in bass definition
and texture, with the start and stop
of percussion a little easier to
distinguish. The overall effect of
timing was better too. There seems
to be a very slight emphasis of
higher frequencies with this mat,
which is not necessarily a problem
with this player or system, but a
player with an inclination towards
slight brightness would do well to
avoid this mat.
Ringmat Developments
Ringmat CDi Blue
Like it’s smaller sibling, the CDi Blue
only brings about a small
improvement in the
vocals, but with
this mat there is
more
consistency than
with the Statmat.
The largest area of
change is in sound staging,
where the stage is now noticeably
wider with a far more extended
depth, the overall proportions are
also far more natural. The slight
emphasis of the high frequencies
noted with the Statmat are abated
with this disc, if anything now the
high frequencies sound smoother,
yet still detailed and resolving.
Marigo Stealth 3D
Despite its higher price the Marigo
seems to have moved playback up
to another level. Not only are
vocals brought forward into the
room, but they are far more
natural and liquid, the
presentation sounds far more
defined, heightening the
believability of the image. The bass
seems subtly more extended. The
tempo seems exactly the same, yet
there is more time between notes,
allowing far more information
about the instrument and the
technique of the musician to be
appreciated by the listener. In the
high frequencies there is very little
change, with the biggest
improvement being the reduction
of hardness and edginess to the
notes, much like what was achieved
with the S.I.D., without diminishing
the resolving capability of the
player.
Marigo Signature
The Signature mat improved upon
the Stealth in every way. Vocals
positively flowed into the room
from the speakers, even on the MF
X-Ray V3, which seemed less
sensitive to mat effects than the
Katana or the CDT-200, the vocals
were far more solidly rendered on
the soundstage than any of the
other mats. Even the Stealth 3D,
with a real palpability and body to
the vocal performance was
bettered. The bass opened up
significantly more than with any
other product here, allowing me to
hear right into the mix, now it is
easy to discriminate between the
sonic contributors of the overall
You spin me right round. . .David Allcock gets himself in a spin over the best ‘mat’ on the market !
analogue like, exhibiting
greater fluidity. The
soundstage walked
straight through my side
walls, with instruments
accurately focused beyond
the outer edges of the room,
populated with solid,
believable images whilst the back
of the stage extended beyond the
back wall. The spaces between the
instruments were far more clearly
“Despite its higher price the Marigo seems tohave moved playback up to another level.”
mix, and like the other mats here,
the noise floor was lowered, but in
this case significantly lowered,
allowing subtle decay details
otherwise buried in the noise floor
to be easily heard. The soundstage
was slightly larger, but it was in the
silence between the musicians that the
greatest change could be heard, giving
a sense of being able to walk amongst
the musicians. This mat really is quite
astonishing in every way.
and in some cases the mat has
improved the sound in a similar order
of magnitude as I would expect from
changing the disc transport. The
Signature took everything the Stealth
had done and elevated it to even
greater heights. When I first saw the
price of the Signature, especially after
hearing the Stealth 3D, I really
wondered whether Marigo could justify
the price jump with a commensurate
increase in sonic performance. I should
have known better, not only did the
improvement fully justify the price
increase, but it made drove home just
how compromised the transport
mechanisms are in all but the very best
players and transports. Whilst at the
lower end of the market, you could say
that the £129 of the Signature could
buy a better CD player, I’d suggest that
buying this mat would be a better
expenditure, as not only will this
purchase continue to deliver
improvements on any CD player you
upgrade to, but its improvements in
colour saturation and sonics when
used in a DVD player must not be
overlooked. This mats relevance to
even high end players was a surprise,
as you would expect more expensive
players to have a more heavily damped
transport, negating the effectiveness
of the mats, yet in my experience,
these players used the same or similar
transports to cheaper models, with
more expensive electronics being used
to improve transparency and
performance. I would unhesitatingly
recommend both the Marigo mats to
anyone interested in extracting the
very best from their digital sources,
they offer tremendous value. If the
editors think they’re getting the
Signature mat back, they’re wrong, this
one’s a keeper!
Conclusion
Ringmat Developments
Statmat MK II
The Statmat gave a very
slight improvement in vocal
presence, although,
supprisingly, I found
this inconsistent
between different
recordings. The largest
difference was soundstage, which
had more width, however
improvements in sound stage
Music Used In The Review
For the review David chose the following albums.
Dido: No Angel [Arista 74321-80268-2]*
Kraftwerk: Tour De France Soundtracks [EMI 591 708 2]*
Diana Krall: Girl in the Other Room [Verve SACD]*
Brenda Russell: Paris Rain [Hidden Beach Recordings EK 62138]
* Tracks marked by an asterix are available from Vivante. For more
information call Sean or Tim at Vivante on 01293 822 186.
There were a few results I was
not expecting here. The Ringmat
products, whilst having an
unparalleled reputation in
analogue, just didn’t seem to
offer the improvements
commensurate with their price.
The basic Statmat MK II fell short
of the performance of the
similarly priced S.I.D. disc, whilst
the more expensive Ringmat CDi
Blue, at twice the price of the
S.I.D., only just bettered the
cheaper mat. The S.I.D. disc
offers astonishing value, and I
would recommend this to
anyone with a CD, DVD or SACD
player, at its price it is an
audiophile bargain. I would go as
far as stating that anyone who
uses digital discs, either for video
or audio, needs one of these
mats near their player, that’s
how valuable I believe the S.I.D.
to be.
Finally to the high end Marigo
twins, the Stealth 3D and
Signature. The Stealth 3D is £20
more than any other product
here, yet I would suggest this
offers the best value of any disc
present, pushing my digital
replay standard to a far higher
standard than I’ve had in my
room so far, when used with the
TriVista 21 DAC, with either the
Katana or X-Ray V3 as the
transport. I was fully expecting
even the very best mat to be in
the order of a subtle change, like
changing between good quality
mains cables of a similar price,
but what I heard was a
difference much more in
keeping with changing the DAC,