PRO JECT Cork It Turntable Mat

I bought cork to see if static would decrease, that it does. The map is thinner than I expected but fits just fine. packaged well, almost too much.

I was skeptical about this for a couple reasons. #1 for some reason I felt like it would be stiff cork that may be harsh on the bottom of the record. It's not. Very thin and soft and well made. It has a lot of bend to it, close to what the stock felt mats that come with turntables have. Secondly, is it REALLY going to change the sound of my records? Or have "special sonic qualities" as the package describes? It absolutely does. I mainly purchased this to help reduce static, which is one of the reasons I recommend upgrading your turntable mat. But the change in sound was immediately noticeable. It adds warmth and punch to the low-end. Meaning that basslines sound warmer, and you really get some clarity and punch from the drums. I'm glad I bought one of these, and have already recommended to my vinyl enthusiast friends. It's even got a small indent on one side to accommodate thick record labels. It's not a necessary detail, but is a nice touch.If it's worth mentioning, to test the pad I tried a few different records: Queen's Greatest Hits, Lagwagon "Hang" (punk/metal), Karina Denike "Under Glass" (jazz fusion), and Jawbreaker "Dear You" (punk/grunge), as well as some acoustic singer/songwriter albums. The pad is versatile in the way that it enhanced them all and I don't feel like any genre lost anything in using it.The only downside, which it isn't really a negative, is that now I want to upgrade the rest of my equipment to accommodate the warmth this mat brings to the table: new turntable, preamp & receiver. But I wanted to do that anyway.Worth the $25 I paid! Get one!

I just bought a new turntable and of course it came with one of those felt mats. It didn't take very long to realize that it wasn't going to cut it. They're a magnet for dust and impossible to clean short of vacuuming. When you spend a few hundred dollars for a turntable, you'd think it would come with a quality mat but no. I did a little research into buying a turntable mat. The main options are cork or rubber. Everything I read lead me to the cork one. There are cork mats available for almost half the price of this one. However I read a lot of reviews complaining about little pieces of the cork continuously breaking off. Kind of defeats the purpose when you're trying to keep your vinyl clean. The reviews I read for this brand were all positive and so that's the one I chose. It's thin (about the thickness of the felt mat) so it didn't affect my tracking force setting. And more importantly, it's well manufactured. Perfectly flat (with an indentation in the center to accommodate the label thickness) and no crumbling bits. It's definitely worth paying more for a quality mat like this one.

As other posters have noted, this does nothing for static. Like others I’ve had to peel thus cork mat off the record because of static cling. First line of defense should be to put vinyl in anti-static sleeves. Albums that I store on those do not cling to the cork and I have no problems. It is the albums in paper sleeves that have static cling to the cork. Probably going to try their leather mat or move to acrylic.

I bought this to replace my thick Technics rubber mat, and I ended up putting my old mat back on. I just didn't notice any difference in sound, and the mat would annoyingly stick to the record when I took it off. I think a more substantial mat that stays put would be better, plus I don't really see how something this thin is going to dampen or isolate the record from vibrations or rumbles.

This is an excellent upgrade from the standard felt mat that comes with the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon turntable. It greatly reduces the static and dampens most extraneous sound. I've noticed a remarkable difference in surface noise since switching to the Cork It mat. The cork mat helps to eliminate static pops. Unlike the old felt mat, this cork mat never sticks to the records when lifting them off the platter.One side of this mat has a cut-out for the record label, which is a nice touch to ensure proper play.Another bonus is that cork mat is about the same weight and thickness as the felt mat, so there is no need to adjust anything with your record player.To summarize:Pros:Reduces staticDampens noiseDoesn't stick to recordsDoesn't require any changes in balance or speedCons:It's not very prettyIf you are still listening to records with an old felt mat, you need to switch to Cork It now.

I bought this to help with sound and static. It has helped with the sound but not with the static. I was also expecting it to be a little thicker. Still a quality mat.

Quality is fine, pretty basic item. It is what it is. I switched from a felt mat and got a very small reduction in static.

Unfortunately mine was folded and pushed through letter box however i was still able to try this mat.Now if this is real a Pro-ject item It seems like pro-joect are cutting corners to save on costings but still charging the same price.The quality of the cork is awful very dry scratchy and was very concerned about how much cork dust and particles come off the mat this really is defeating the object. Ive seen better wine bottle corksNo label indent not a big deal wouldn’t make much difference but at this price I would expect one.Sad thing about it i did notice a slight bass improvement much more controlled but im not going to take a chance on it because of all the particles that will stick to your vinyl.Pro-ject if your going to sell high quality turntable mats then your going to have to improve the cork quality?

I bought this following research that said cork is on ballance the best material for turntables. I went for ProJect because its usually a brand I trust. This has completely put me off.It has covered several of my records in particulate cork dust - which has been a massive faff to clean... It causes unprecedented static on every record which touches it... the edges were frayed out the box.It was a massive downgrade from the felt I was using. Back to the drawing board!

Purchased this to replace a cheap felt mat that came supplied with my Planar turntable in the hope that it would reduce static.Not sure if it has helped reduce static when playing since I keep my equipment, stylus and vinyl clean anyway so can't say it's a real problem for me in that sense. What does frustrate me though is that more often that not when I lift the vinyl up the cork mat will have stuck to it due to static. It's then a balancing act with the vinyl in one hand and the other trying to put the mat back down.Looks quite nice on the turntable but not quite sure I can recommend it at the price they charge for it.Will go for a soft leather hide mat in the near future to hopefully get around this problem.

Before use it is advisable to vacuum thoroughly, your hand-held will do just fine, as I found cork particles were being left on the non-played side after use which for obvious reasons isn't particularly helpful.As for the performance of the mat, I immediately found the bass response to be improved and static pops and clicks reduced to a minimum.Very good once it's been prepared for use, but should not have to be.

I'm really impressed with the mat and couldn't recommend it enough as an upgrade from free felt mat supplied with my Rega RP3. It has reduced the static on my records for sure. Less pop and crack. However, sonically, I'm not convinced the mat has added anything to the soundstage that wasn't there already. I'm not hearing anything more than I did before.