I took delivery of the new Origin Live Upgrade platter mat a couple of days ago, at a bargain introductory price of £29.

I had read the press release email about this mat but I was a bit unsure whether it would offer any benefits with my turntable as it has an acrylic platter but Mark Baker (the man behind Origin Live) told me, “the mat is at its best on acrylic” so I couldn’t resist the opportunity.

Fitting the mat on top of the platter requires an adjustment of the tonearm’s VTA as it is about 1mm thick. The mat isn’t soft and squidgy like I expected – instead it looks a bit like dark granite with an amalgam of materials.

I wasn’t expecting a huge improvement but was fairly astonished by the difference the mat makes. My previous upgrades such as the Vertex AQ really allowed the music to define a sense of space and depth around each instrument, which is what I was half expecting to be further improved upon with this mat.

Instead, the Origin Live Upgrade platter mat doesn’t seem to increase space, but unclutters the music right down to the smallest detail. You can suddenly hear many, many more details and tonal textures which had not been apparent before, the nuances of instruments become far more apparent.

Listening to the fantastic Buena Vista Social Club DMM pressing it was so easy to clearly hear the instruments and, for the first time, I could clearly hear three male voices on one particular track.

The other obvious improvement is that the low end is further extended, with the same clarity heard higher up the frequency range. It’s a delight to hear all the textures and tones of the instruments so clearly.

I’m extremely impressed with this Origin Live Upgrade platter mat, it’s a huge upgrade for the asking price!

(Apologies for the poor photo, I am between cameras.)