DÄD!MÄT - turntable support - Black Forest Audio

HiFi Accessories · Turntable Mats

The name says it all — in English. A dead mat. A mat that transmits no energy, lets no vibration through, sacrifices no information. Behind the deliberately provocative spelling lies a lifelong physical conviction: Volker Kühn, founder of Black Forest Audio in Malsch near Karlsruhe, made analogue history as early as 1985 with the legendary Audioplan DampClamp. The DÄD!MÄT is his rigorous evolution of that idea — rethought for the modern analogue age, and more uncompromising than ever.

The fundamental problem with all platter mats has been known for decades but is rarely solved systematically: interference energy from the motor, bearing, airborne vibration and structural resonance finds its way to the record — and contaminates the music signal. At the same time, residual energy from the stylus tracing the groove travels through the record into the platter, only to return to the needle with a time delay. The result is smeared timing, reduced transparency and lost dynamics. The DÄD!MÄT opposes this energy transfer with a physically rigorous barrier — in both directions, across the full frequency spectrum.

What sets the DÄD!MÄT apart from all competing concepts comes down to physics. Soft mats made of felt, cork, rubber or silicone attempt to absorb vibration energy through elastic or plastic deformation of their surface. Intuitively this seems logical — but it is precisely the problem, not the solution. Any compliance in the record's support surface directly reduces the dynamic range available from the groove. The cartridge is effectively tracing a soft cushion rather than a firm, rigid substrate.

Hard mats — graphite, aluminium, acrylic — avoid this mistake but introduce their own: material resonances colour the sound, or interference cancellation techniques are employed to reach a neutral result, which again causes information loss. Kühn's answer is the DÄD!MÄT's sandwich architecture: hard, dimensionally stable skins above and below, and between them a foam core of finest micro-cells. The ultra-thin walls of these cells absorb incoming energy through microscopic deformation and convert it to heat. The surface remains rigidly hard — the record rests on a firm, stable foundation. Energy is dissipated, not transmitted.

The materials used are not off-the-shelf: Kühn works with specialist compounds that he combines himself and that are not available as ready-made components. This explains occasional lead times when a new production run is needed — and is simultaneously a mark of quality. At 5 mm thick and only approx. 190 g, the DÄD!MÄT is surprisingly light and suitable for virtually all drive concepts, including sensitive subchassis designs and direct-drive decks that respond to mass changes at the platter.

The specialist press is unusually unanimous: LP Magazine called it "the mat of all mats", IMAGE HiFi simply declared "this platter mat stays here!", and HiFi & Musik Journal put it plainly: "I genuinely cannot think of a better way for an analogue enthusiast to spend around €100." Such consensus does not emerge from marketing — it emerges because the concept works physically.

What listeners consistently report is remarkable: the soundstage simultaneously becomes more dynamic and more composed. Instruments gain body and definition, the stage opens in width and depth, and the finest details emerge from the background. The effect is most pronounced on high-mass turntables, where the platter's high inertia stores tracing energy and returns it to the needle with a delay — exactly this mechanism is interrupted by the DÄD!MÄT. Lighter constructions benefit just as clearly: the balance between drive silence and musical liveliness shifts measurably in favour of both.

Crucially, the DÄD!MÄT does not over-damp. The sound remains alive, open and musical — no synthetic silence, no compressed frequency band. This distinguishes it fundamentally from mats that impose quietude at the cost of energy and emotion.

The DÄD!MÄT is supplied with adhesive pads in two versions: 2 mm for flat platters and 2 mm for platters with a label recess (typically 0.5–1 mm deep). These pads secure the mat lightly and ensure a smooth, stable seat. The centre spindle hole is deliberately cut tight — press firmly once, and the record seats securely and centred.

As the DÄD!MÄT at 5 mm is thicker than most factory rubber mats, VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) adjustment at the tonearm is recommended when switching from a thinner mat. Users replacing an equally thick mat do not need to readjust. The ideal companion is the DÄD!CLÄMP from the same manufacturer — a metal-free record clamp that applies even downward pressure across the record surface while also decoupling vibrations transmitted via the spindle. Reports consistently describe a further, clearly audible improvement when both are used together.