Adam Smith

Hi-Fi World

May 2008

"Here each instrument gained clarity and focus, as if looking through a lens that had been cleaned to perfection. Upper bass became tauter and more tuneful and the top end gained more clarity and spaciousness ..."

Paul Szabady

A very detailed and comprehensive review of the Ringmat Support System has been posted on The Stereo Times Website. It was written by Senior Editor Paul Szabady, who reviewed it in the USA with the supplied Standard LP Statmat bundled option. It would have been interesting had the review also covered the LP Blue Statmat and Statcap option, which is more powerful, but then that leaves open an opportunity for an upgrade and an update at a later date.

Dave Ayers
hi-fi+ Issue 9
Jan/Feb 2001

The Ringmat and Ringmat Support System also work well with turntables supplied with a bare platter and a clamp. The following quotes are from a review using such a turntable, the Michell Orbe.
 

Audio Smorgasbord
 

"The multiple percussionists of Santana were no less vigorous or fleet of foot (hand?), and if anything the enriched body to the drums increased their impact. In fact I was astounded by how much bottom end clout there was, and what’s more the bass seemed to have been released from a straight jacket, flowing free to underpin the complexity of the Latin rhythms. The injection of life and dynamic ‘jump’ was astonishing (and extremely welcome -witness embarrassing spectacle of person old enough to know better dancing around like a lunatic). As for the glassiness – gone, banished, exiled. The sound was still sharp, but it had lost its slightly unpleasant edge."

"Using the Ringmat Support System to optimise the VTA for the thicker records resulted in absolutely superb results. The clarity, impact, and sheer musicality of the disc was far in excess of what I’ve managed to wring from my system till now, ..."

"I’ll finish by saying that I have no intention of using the Orbe in future without the Ringmat Support System. The changes it makes are entirely positive and far from subtle -even when the turntable is designed to use a clamp!"

To read the full review, click here.

Deon Schoeman
Audio Video South Africa
March 2000

"It took a good six hours of installation, experimentation and listening to optimise the performance of the Linn with the Ringmat system but the results are quite astonishing. In broad terms, the main benefits of the system relate to an extension of low frequency with enhanced slam, a definite improvement in overall resolution, clearer and more accurately delivered detail, and a larger, more open soundstage.

Some of these advantages can be explained by the far more accurate VTA adjustment the system allows and demands. But there is no doubt that the firmer location of the disc on the platter, and the anti-static properties of the Statmat, also contribute substantially. The results will make even a well equipped Linn sound substantially better.

For the money, you're unlikely to gain even close to this level of improvement. The Ringmat Support System has to be one of the best ever turntable enhancements, and one that I can't recommend highly enough."

Christopher Breunig
Hi-Fi News & Record Review
November 1999

"Now, anyone who owns a Linn LP12, with its propensity to settle over the months, will appreciate the dilemma for the reviewer: resetting the suspension to cope with the extra weight is likely, in any case, to improve the sound. Would the results claimed for the Ringmat system be overwhelmingly different from those achieved by routine adjustment? Happily, they were – even sitting the little Ringcap on the LP had an appreciable stabilising effect.

The complete system takes us two further steps beyond the Ringmat, principally in adding weight and focus. Stereo images are made more cohesive, ambience, hall echoes and the like, come into sharper outline. The timbres of instruments and voices have more substance and reality. For the outlay, the returns prove considerably more than anticipated."

Richard White
Hi-Fi World
April 1999

"The system is very effective... Surprise number one was the immediate beneficial effect on the bass… both the sound level and the accuracy were considerably improved… solo fiddle floated through the ’speakers with enchanting sweetness… the static-y clicks had disappeared. Records that generally track indifferently can be fine-tuned… this can make quite a difference…"

Jimmy Hughes
Hi-Fi Choice
March 1999

"The Ringmat Support System allows simple yet precise fine-tuning of stylus rake angle. … The improvement it makes to timing, articulation, transparency, fine detail and imaging is quite remarkable. Best of all, the music has a rhythmic snap and liveliness that made you want to dance… It’s vital to appreciate that the changes go beyond hi-fi things like sound staging, important as that is… An excellent product then, and very good value given the degree of improvements offered. …Already I’m wondering how I ever listened to music without it."