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“I was so impressed at the difference the mat made to my Rega P10 that it hasn’t been off my turntable since it first went on!”

"The Stabiliser lends a slightly more detailed and open presentation to the sound of vinyl, with a tight bass and more transparent midrange and treble apparent."

"Having auditioned and purchased Stack Audio AUVA EQ footers (3 for under my turntable and a set of 4, to support my power amp) back in March, this year, I decided to take a punt on their latest stable additions of SERENE Stabiliser (record puck) and SERENE platter mat.

The SERENE Stabiliser is quite lightweight, for a record puck, weighing in at less than 100g, and costs £195. The SERENE Mat sells for £75 and both are available, together with a 60 day, money back guarantee, from The Stack Audio website.

Both items are exceptionally well made and presented in Stack Audio’s usual sturdy packaging and it is obvious that a lot of thought and innovation has gone into their design and manufacturing.

I began by replacing my usual record puck (the substantial Stillpoints LP1, weighing a “satanic” 666g on my TW Acoustics Raven One turntable (a non-suspended design, which I have owned since 2010). The heavy Stillpoints LP1 is not really suitable for a turntable with a sprung suspension, but I have used it in conjunction with my Raven One, without issue.

In comparison, the Stack Audio SERENE Stabiliser lends a slightly more detailed and open presentation to the sound of vinyl, with a tight bass and more transparent midrange and treble apparent. I suspect that the weight of the Stillpoints LP1 enhances the bass at the expense of slightly suppressing the mids and highs.

There is no “leanness” to the bass when the SERENE Stabiliser is used, but everything comes together, when the puck is deployed in partnership with the SERENE Mat.

The combination of the two results in what I would describe as a reduction in “record roar” - the noise of the stylus tracing the record groove and resulting in a reduction in the system noise floor and overall background hash, usually associated with vinyl replay, when compared to digital.

The combination of puck and mat lends a some what euphonic presentation to the sound, by which I mean, that everything sounds very musical and wholesome.

For those interested in the technological background, I would refer you to Stack Audio’s website for a full explanation, but the bottom line is all about vibration control, the puck dealing with vibration from the turntable bearing and spindle and the mat, with it’s four dimple “suspensions” dissipating the vibration within the revolving vinyl record.

The Aussie Audiophile also has some interesting thoughts on his YouTube channel.

With the 60-day money back guarantee and generous forum discount code (maverick5), for an outlay of just over £260 for puck and mat, I would urge you to give it a try!"

"You guys are some of the most creative thinkers in the industry. The Mat and the SERENE make “small but meaningful improvements”. But that word “small” vs the word “meaningful”, lets cogitate in that a bit. It’s like a round house kick when you learn to properly turn your hip - that’s small, but results in being able to knock a sucker out or pulverize their leg and end the fight. Or that small paycheck bonus that sends you in a life -changing trip to Thailand, or the wife that finally gets a small job but now you can retire 5 years early. Or when you learn to properly use acid when you’re cooking and flavoring to taste- it’s just a squeeze of lemon or a cap full of vinegar, but it transforms the dish into something merely good into something completely phenomenal."

"The Stack Audio SERENE Mat has more depth and a smoother presentation. Bass depth on Jazz Sabbath is noticeably stronger, especially on the bass drum and richness of the piano."

My initial thoughts are below (in too much detail) for the LP12 and the P10—they were initially inconclusive until I adjusted the VTA (at Paul Knipe’s very experienced suggestion) on the LP12 to suit the mat thickness of the SERENE. That adjustment made a marked difference in my findings for the SERENE.

On Friday night, I compared six albums over and over for 3–4 hours: Jazz Sabbath (jazz trio), Judas Priest's Serpent and the King and Invincible Shield (lots of layered guitars, vocals, and drums), Gary Numan (complex industrial sounds), Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker, Steve Hackett's Guitar Noir (Side 1—layered, sometimes messy mixes), and Philip Bailey's Easy Lover (which can sound thin but has lots going on). Since then, I have tested at least a dozen complete albums.

The SERENE mat is thicker (3mm), and I did not adjust the VTA between changes initially or any other settings on my tonearm, as any comparisons would have been too slow to audibly hear. I have, however, now adjusted the VTA to suit the Stack Audio SERENE Mat and resumed comparisons after several hours. The VTA adjustment made a significant enough difference here, and this comparison helped me hear it clearly. The VTA of my arm was originally set for a thinner mat.

Differences were actually quite easy for me to hear without the VTA adjustment—and I don’t always notice anything unless it’s truly adding or removing something, including background noise. I am not one for the “blacker blacks” or “my wife walked into the room and could hear the difference” nonsense. I tried the SERENE Mat with the SERENE Stabiliser for fairness on the same sections of tracks, backward and forward repeatedly. Adjusting the VTA made this a much fairer comparison on the LP12.
Initial Thoughts (LP12)
The Stack Audio SERENE Mat has more depth and a smoother presentation. Bass depth on Jazz Sabbath is noticeably stronger, especially on the bass drum and richness of the piano. This mat has more "weight" in its presentation but initially felt slightly messier on complex mixes, vocals, and midrange until I adjusted the VTA to suit. After this adjustment, there was a clear improvement.

The mat is beautifully designed, and while it's a rubber mat, records lift off easily while spinning because they sit on small compressing rubber domes.

Conclusions So Far
Without adjusting the VTA:
If you have a brighter sound that needs taming or something that lacks weight, the Stack Audio SERENE Mat is ideal, particularly on the Rega. It excels in instrumental music, jazz, and some orchestral recordings. The music sounded more neutral, with a balanced frequency range but initially lacked some spark until the VTA was adjusted.

With the VTA adjusted:
It retained all the clarity of the other mats I’ve tested, but with added depth and richness that worked well across every genre I played. Once I adjusted the VTA, the mat worked brilliantly on everything I tested.

Initial P10 Thoughts
On the P10, before adjusting the VTA, the sound was initially less dynamic, with a flatter tone compared to other setups. Cymbals, vocals, and drums sounded less alive, and I found myself increasing the volume more with the SERENE Mat to achieve the same drive. However, the P10’s VTA adjustment options are more limited, meaning further adjustments to suit the SERENE Mat would require additional effort. Even so, the mat and SERENE Stabiliser combination still improved isolation and damping, helping to retrieve more detail.

Overall
The Stack Audio SERENE Mat, particularly when paired with the SERENE Stabiliser, is an excellent upgrade that clearly enhances detail retrieval and musicality. It’s remarkably well-made, and the technology and research behind it show in its performance. The mat's ability to isolate and damp vibrations ensures a cleaner, more precise sound, particularly on the LP12 with its greater VTA flexibility.”

"Bravo Theo & Josh! Finally a mat that works as promised and more. Hesitating between SA stabiliser and the mat, for my Rega P6 following Josh's recommendation to begin with I replaced the factory felt mat with the SERENE mat. Sonic upgrade is comparable to a replacement of a cartridge for a much more expensive / refined one for just below EUR 100 price tag: the whole musical presentation got instantly well organised across all frequencies, no static whatsoever, evident reduction in the record floor noise, the serene tonality applied but the overall dynamics revamped at the same time. Similarly to AUVA 70s stabilising and dampening effect under my PMC twenty5.24 speakers, there is a sense of a rigid grip between a platter, the SERENE mat and a record. In my system the lower octave/ bass is where everything has been finally properly organized and structured. Same as with AUVA EQs under my amp and a streamer, the mat has made vocals and guitars more lifelike/natural while any sibilance or harsh treble notes present on the felt mat are now gone. For any Rega owners, do not let no VTA adjustment on your Regas put you off from at least giving the SERENE mat a try (see the parallel angle of a tonearm vs the platter on my Rega P6). One thing to consider: the mat is 180g heavy so I would recommend giving your Rega platter a gentle supportive push to take away the increased starring effort from the engine and the belt. Highly recommended."

"The combination of the enhancer and met is simply superb. It works with the tt3 really well. To put in perspective we are at a concert with the SCO doing a performance of Bach's Christmas cantata.

The increased sense of realism with the two together is brilliant. Timpani sounding more realistic with real whack on occasions  Cymbolsa really sounding like metal being stuck . Strings sweeter when played that way.

When the whole orchestra play its more cohesive and clearer.

My wife Susan agrees and has no interest in hifi , but has a good pair of ears."

"First impressions it feels and looks a quality product superior to my original Garrard mat which is practically like new it certainly improves the look of my deck.

Sound quality first impressions well first off this should be a pretty good evaluation as the deck is idler wheel driven thought by many to be noisy not by me though this test is just using the mat.

The first thing I notice in my system is more body and focus to the sound there is a smoothness and airiness to the sound defiantly a noticeable improvement you get the impression the noise floor is lowered this is all compared to my original Garrard mat to me this would also be a superb update especially for people that may feel any form of record clamp or puck would harm the bearing or spoil the aesthetics of there deck."

“All I can say is wow! It's hard to describe sound in general, but the whole presentation is more composed. It sounded great before but there is more focus now, more detail and clarity.”

“I can honestly say that I've never thought less about the equipment itself while listening to music — it simply disappears, leaving only the music.”

“The first thing that struck me were the dynamics. They were instantly improved, along with timing and coherence”

“Improvements to levels of detail and soundstage were the most obvious improvements.”

“I really like the SERENE mat a great deal. I think all the products Stack sells are beautifully made and superbly engineered.”

"My initial impression was that the SERENE Matt & Stabilise have similar effect - removing smear increasing solidity and depth and operation of musical threads - while preserving the coherence / whole. If you get my meaning. The combination of Matt / Stabiliser really moved the needle.

In isolation I preferred the Stabiliser / Felt Matt combination to the SERENE Matt only. But without the Stabiliser - the SERENE matt is clearly better than the felt matt. VTA was not optimised - but the effects were never-the-less quite clear I expect every better performance once I've tuned my system.up."

"The SERENE mat has finally arrived. The wait has been hard for me since I learned how good Stack Audio's products are. In the meantime, I can no longer listen to my LP12 without the "SERENE stabilizer". So now it's time to get to grips with the iconic felt? So I take my special pressing of Jazz at the Pawnshop, Struttin' with Some Barbecue.

First I listen with Puck, but without the Mat. Sounds great! Then with the Mat and Puck right at the intro, the clapping was more energetic and spatial. The saxophone had more body. The low frequencies of the instrument were clearer. Then the bass. Was better localized and clearly outlined. Every note is crystal clear. When the whole orchestra enters, nothing is blurred. Everything stays in place and remains crystal clear. Phenomenal! Great value! Congratulations to Stack Audio!"

“They have really lowered the noise floor and I'm hearing a lot more of the details.”

“obvious improvements in clarity and separation as well as better bass definition”

“Bass is cleaner and textured. Vocals became very clear as everything suddenly snaps into focus.”

“the degree of improvement is still there and my analogue playback sounds the best it ever has.”

“in combination with my new Rega P8 it brings amazing audio and subtleties in the music, especially on lp’s I know very well.”

“But it's when I got the mat and stabiliser on my 1200 mk 7 ltd decks that it was a amazing improvement .”

“Right from the first play, the improvement in dynamics was clear — more energy, more life, and a greater sense of musical involvement.”

“we still can’t believe what a dramatic shift it creates in sound separation and even delivering new sound in old familiar vinyl!”

“The definition of instruments became more defined and clearly more representative of experiences when hearing the sounds in a live concert.”

“absolutely love the improvements brought to my record playing experience and the performance of my turntable”

“The playback is much cleaner and the soundstage has a lot more clarity as well.”

“It improves the quality of sound across-the-board, separation ,clarity, tonal balance, bais response everything. It dropped the noise floor”

“The mat went on first, and as advertised, both treble and bass seemed to be enhanced.”

“Immediately I noticed a deeper and more precise bass, followed by at more open and better defined sound stage.”

“faster transient response, with better timing and dynamics. The mid range is fuller and the highs better controlled”

“the SERENE mat has resulted in a further improvement to my system and I'm really enjoying the results. Hearing something new in albums I've had for 40+ years!”

“your mat produces the best resolution to peak vocal grain in her and the backup singer's phrases.”

“Everything is much calmer and better sounding with detail that was hidden before making listening much more enjoyable.”

“quite noticeable improvements in separation and clarity, particularly on more dense material”