Please take a moment to review the How to use the Readers' Corner manual

Janus TT mat
Hello Lucio,
Thanks for the great DIY project for the dual compound turntable mat. I recntly took on this project myself but the only difference was rather than using the corkboard which I could not find in the desired thickness I used a chamois material a little over 1/16th thick.
It worked out very well and does a lovely job of additionally damping the unwanted micro and macro vibrations. It took a few tests of A/B ing with the felt mat and the Janus mat to notice a real difference, the thing was it did sound different but determining whether it was good or bad was the subject.
The overall sound seems to be smoothed out a little and the midrange has defintelay inproved as well as the spaciousness of instruments, I wouldn't say it sounds airier but definately sweeter. What is your opinion on the substitution of the chamois for corkboard???
Perhaps if it does the job and audibly works its fine??
Just wanted to write you and thank you for the VERY inexpensive tip its great to see a website such as TNT who are not in the business to make a buck but to share such invaluable information for free!!
Thank you
Colin Brown - E-mail: clewisb@yahoo.com

LC
Dear Colin,
I have never tried chamois for the TNT Janus mat so I can't comment on this. But I can comment on the reasons why I choose cork. It is a fantastic material: light (a plus for TT mats), with sensational damping properties and...it is antistatic!!!! Yes, exactly like any TT should be :-)
Anyway, if your happy with your chamois Janus mat...enjoy it! I guess the chamois whose leather was used for your mat isn't all that happy :-|
Stay tuned!
Lucio Cadeddu

Stuff for making TNT Merlino mains cables
Dear Lucio,
First of all a hearty thankyou from Mannheim in Germany! I think your site is fantastic and I have spent an embarrasingly large amount of time tweaking my system, to my ears' great surprise and delight.

I write in reference to the Merlino cable, which I had tremendous problems finding the correct cable (shielded 3-way cable). Well, I've found some, which also have the advantage of looking wonderful since they are all silvery! ie they are transparent and one sees the shielding through it.
So, if you think other users might be interested, here are the ordering details for one Merlino cable with german plugs, which is available at http://www.conrad.com,

2    507903-40      9,71 Euro     MSFC10KEX    2 x Ferrite filters

10  601934-40      16,87 Euro  FLEX.PVC-STEUERL.3X1,5ABGESCH.  The cable - looks great

1     611980-40     2,66 Euro VOLLGUMMISTECKER       This is the male German plug

1     612553-40     2,76 Euro KALTG.ST.D.EUR.SCHWARZ    this is the male "Euro" kettle-plug.

LC
Dear Andrew,
thanks for the useful info and the sincere appreciation, we all need that!
Lucio Cadeddu