I’ve had no issues, but I think it’s important to do the every few plays cleaning that Herbie’s recommends…I find it improves performance on some discs, whereas it much improves everything on my Rega Apollo…
Are you doing the masking tape routine, or some other cleaning method?
masking tape
I was doing the masking tape routine as well. Sigh. I’ll miss it a bit though the improvements weren’t on every disc and quite subtle.
I definitely notice the improvements more with late night listening, when the power is cleaner, and the system is sounding its best. It is somewhat subtle, but noticeable.
I had an Aurex mat from a long time ago. I tried it on my old Wadia transport, and it did not do anything. I tried it on PST, and it got stuck inside the PST the first time I used it. I never tried it again since taking it out was a challenging task.
Yeesh! Did you fish it out?
Not yet. Doesn’t seem to be interfering with anything and it’s such a pain to take the unit out and open it up. Hate to do that if I don’t have to.
The latest SACD I bought didn’t work with the Black Hole CD mat. The PST made some funny noises when the draw closed so I immediately ejected the disc and removed the mat. I think this SACD was a little thicker than most discs which could be why the mat didn’t work in the PST.
We are technologicly so far past the CD bandaids like mats and painting the edge of disks today. Just listen to the music and leave that stuff in the junk drawer.
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Amen Brother! Amen!
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Still hear a subtle improvement using the mat on regular CDs. Plus it’s become kind of a regular ritual. Don’t want to upset the audio deities.
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The only time I used a similar CD mat and it got stuck inside PST. It was not easy to take it out. This is one tweak I do not need to find out if it helps.
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Bought the Super Black Hole mat awhile back to use on my PST transport and noticed a slight improvement in the sound but I started having issues with it making noises in the transport so stopped using it. Decided to try it again on a cd that I thought could use a little help by tightening up the bass and smoothing out the top end. Did the masking tape to renew the adhesive which definitely helped to adhere the mat better, and spun the disc again. I immediately heard an improvement on the top and bottom end of the recording, which was way more obvious than before. I think the reasoning being is I had added the Puritan line conditioner to the mix since the last time I used the mat which has lowered the noise floor allowing me to more clearly hear subtle improvements brought about by adding more mass to the discs.
I’m now back to practicing this ritual every time I play a cd.
The clearences are small inside tge PST transport. You are taking chances putting anything other than the disk into the machine. That same disk tweak would fit in the original PWT but it would not have any sonic benefit as the PWT extracts the data into a large buffer unlike the PST which plays the disk on the fly.
The biggest issue is using the mat with SACD’s. Definitely a no go.
Herbies Super Black Hole may have saved me $470+$37 tax. Let me explain: My transport is a Jay’s Audio CDT2 Mk3. It is a top loader. So, I slide open that top door, put in the CD, then the Herbies mat, then the standard puck stabilizer, and slide the door closed. I hear a modest improvement. (Don’t fret; I use a P12, PS outlets, PS M700s and PS StellarGold DAC.)
But I did not spend $499+tax on the Q-Stab enhanced puck that weighs a touch more than the standard one that comes with the transport. “Everyone” who has listened to the Q-Stab puck says it sounds better, and Jay’s now recommends and sells it as an enhancement on their website.
The Herbies Super mat: adds a little more weight, cannot get stuck inside (because of the way a top loader works), and costs about 94% less. And it sounds good. Note: I have not done a direct comparison of the Q-Stab vs. Herbies super mat. But, it is an improvement over the standard puck stabilizer.
Why?
It did not improve the sound on my PST, but I had no problems with it…made a nice difference on my Rega Apollo…
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With every SACD it makes a terrible racket and won’t play. Not sure why. Maybe because SACD’s spin faster, or because they appear to be a little thicker as well.