Name: Michael Schroeder, Lehigh Acres, Florida Review: I recently received your wonderful Way Excellent II 2mm turntable mat for my Rega/Moth Planar 2. I am Dee-lighted with the results! High frequencies are clearer and crisp, instruments and voices are better placed with a broader sense of space, and the lows have more clarity and authority. Wonderful improvement over the stock felt mat! Name: Mike R., Washington, DC Review: My only regret about the turntable mat I purchased from you recently is that I didn't purchase it sooner. I had been using a "none felt" mat on my Linn LP-12 and credit it with a subtle but still discernible improvement over the original felt mat. I was quite astounded when I replaced it with your mat. The improvement--deeper and tighter bass, cleaner and clearer mids--was more than subtle. Indeed, the improvement was what I might have expected by upgrading to a better cartridge.
Other products of yours that have improved my system include the square fat dots I also purchased from you recently and your tube dampers, which I bought some years ago and continue to use on my Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 pre-amp. Name: Ed Kobesky, Positive Feedback Online Review: Way excellent, indeed. Online reviewName: Robert Stein, The Cable Company Review: Herbie's "Way Excellent" mat is one of the least expensive upgrades for any turntable, and one that outperforms virtually any other mat available—no kidding. This mat makes transients sharper, decays more sustained, tightens bass response, lowers the noise floor, enhances imaging depth, and harmonically enriches the midrange all at the same time. Ask any of the Cable Company consultants about this—we all use the Herbie's mats in our own systems! Name: Rich Brkich, Signature Sound Review: As a long time Rega dealer, we have never been much of a fan of the ubiquitous felt turntable mat that comes with the well known Rega Planar series turntables. Herbie's Way Excellent Turntable Mat beats the pants off the Ringmat, felt mats and other mats. Finally! We have a well designed mat that is reasonably priced. Name: Robert Herman, Lyric HiFi Review: I'm using them on my customized SP-10 MK II, which was using an Oracle hard mat and Goldmund clamp; and my STD 305D. Being in the high-end audio biz for 25 years I've seen lots of accessories come and go. This is easily the best mat I've used, much better than the Ringmat (which we sell), or the Oracle hard mat. It definitely sounds best without the clamp. Thanks much! Name: Alex Gonzalez, AG Labs/ Odyssey Audio Review: I received the order a few days ago—very fast shipping. I can only tell you after a few hours using your 'way excellent' mat, the sound coming out of the turntable has improved a few notches! Immediately clear to my ears is the sense of more space without the extra damping I was getting with the stock (rubber) mat. Overall better definition. So far I like it better without a clamp! Great product. Name: Todd Reitz, TR Audio Review: Well the reviews are right, your mat sounds more lively and punchy than the None Felt doughnut mat I was using. I ended up playing records a lot longer than I planned to this evening, and you KNOW that's a good sign. I noticed that the records seem to stay flatter than before, maybe because the mat is a little more compliant? Dunno, but it works. Name: Sonic Perfectionists, Kirkland, Washington Review: I purchased one of your 'Way excellent' mats from you a while ago. It has been a tremendous improvement when used on my classic Thorens TD-126 MK II turntable. Name: Wayne Waananen, The BOLDER Cable Company Review: I have one on my MMF-5. It is quite a bit better than the stock felt. No problem changing albums while the platter is still turning.
I brought one over to a buddie's place to compare to his Non-felt. The Herbie's had quite a bit tighter and extended bass. Surface noise was even reduced. Highly recommended. Name: John Pharo, The Cable Company Review: Just thought you might like to know what tables some VERY satisifed customers of mine are using your "WAY Excellent" Mat with in addition to the ones already mentioned on your website.
I personally have a Music Hall MMF9 table (Benz M2 cartridge) and your mat is a huge improvement over the ringmat (and every other mat/clamp that I've tried). Some of my very happy customers have:
Rega 25
ClearAudio Master Reference (with TQ1 arm and Dynavector arm)
Thorens TD 180
The only problem with the WAY excellent mat is the price—people who haven't tried it think it can't possibly be any good if it costs that little! Name: John Zimmerman, The Audio Connection Review: That mat is AWESOME!
