Marigo Audio Virtuoso CD-MAT

BRAND NEW - latest and best version so far: Marigo Audio Virtuoso CD-MAT

This brand new CD Mat can lift your system to a completely new level - indispensable!

The Virtuoso CD Mat is compatible with all front-loading drawer transports and all top loading transports. Do not use the mat in slot loading mechanisms please. The Virtuoso CD Mat will give more holographic imaging, increased musicality and nuance, improved bass articulation, bass slam and extension, improved coherence, and timing, and ambience and low-level information retrieval.

The Virtuoso CD Mat is thin. One hundredth of an inch, or 0.25mm. The Virtuoso mat is fairly stiff due to the custom composite construction and is very flat.

Marigo's new materials technology in conjunction with additional structural design and EMI absorption advancements offer significantly upgraded performance over the previous Aida CD Mat.

Five years after the excellent performing Aida mat introduction, Marigo Audio Lab has advanced the technology in its proprietary composite by utilizing a more refined embedded carbon nano-tube structure which further lowers micro levels of disc vibration.

The Virtuoso CD Mat incorporates unique polarizing filaments which create rapid vibrational energy decay. Also new is a semi-transparent coating which reduces EMI interference into the laser/optical system as well as dissipating static buildup while the disc is spinning.

When you are installing the Virtuoso mat, a further audible sonic enhancement is achieved by orienting the Virtuoso mat in relation to the direction of the label on the recorded disc being played.

Details on this proprietary technology.
A further sonic improvement using correct mat to CD label alignment is due to the aligned internal filaments in the Virtuoso Mat interacting with the micro-vibrational patterns set up by the spinning CD. These vibrational patterns are skewed toward a polarized alignment by a subtle effect of the geometry on the surface of the disc printed label.  In manufacture, the label is dot matrix printed in extremely fine parallel rows. These dot matrix rows are typically running parallel with the label writing. In the realm of micro-vibrational amplitudes, these dot matrix rows are mountains, and the CD surface borne vibrations are influenced to travel in the valleys between the dot matrix mountains. When the Virtuoso CD Mat is installed and rotationally aligned with its internal filament structure perpendicular to the CD label, very significant vibration reduction occurs. As a reference to understand this phenomenon let’s ‘look’ in the optical domain. You may remember that two polarized films placed in front of each other pass light when the two polarized films are parallel aligned, but almost no light passes when the two polarized films are positioned perpendicular to each other. Science. Or magic.

You can test the efficacy of this new vibration control technology by listening to the Virtuoso mat in a non-aligned position, and then reposition the Virtuosos mat to the correct aligned position, using any production recording. Hear what eliminating disc micro-vibration can do for the sound. There are additional improvements that other design elements in this mat deliver. Specific to this new vibration control technology, the sonic improvements you’ll hear by aligning the mat correctly are greater imaging specificity, greater depth layering, overall focus and a greater across the audio band clarity. Noticeable is an even lower noise floor which reveals more nuances in the music.

The Virtuoso CD Mat is directional.

Set the Virtuoso CD Mat on top of a CD with the side having “Virtuoso” written on it facing up.

The top of the mat must be facing up and used only with a traditional drawer loading or top loading drive.

Next align the mat stripe:
Rotate the mat so that the clear stripe with 2 triangular holes is perpendicular (at right angle) to the writing on the CD label. It should visually look perpendicular to the writing on the CD label.

Reviews & Awards for Marigo's predecessor CD-Mats:

Dave Allison of The StereoTimes (March 2019) wrote:
"...increase in detail also solidified the stereo image in every dimension. It was as if the individual voices and instruments acquired more palpable boundaries while remaining part of the whole performance. The interplay between instruments, especially in symphonic material, was much easier to follow, and more enjoyable! Ron Hedrich’s four years of developing the Aida has yielded quite a set of accomplishments for a 'humble' CD mat! But if you play/burn any digital audio or video discs, I think you’ll appreciate what the Aida does..."
CLICK HERE to read the entire review

Dave Allison, The StereoTimes (Jan. 2017):
"...for those of us who still buy/play/rip physical media, this is a must try.  First, and perhaps most important, it’s as close to a universal CD/SACD/DVD/Blue Ray damper as you’ll find.  All previous mats I’ve used in my two very finicky transports have been chewed up and/or spit out.  The Clear Transformation is so thin and flexible that you’ll get no complaints from your player.  Sonically, it does away with digital artifacts while enhancing the richness and detail of your music.  At $199, it’s the least expensive digital accessory you’ll find that really makes a difference. Unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee from Marigo..."

REVIEWS FOR THE PREDESESSOR MAT (ULTIMA HD SIGNATURE )

Jason Victor Serinus, RMAF 2013, in a room listening to equipment worth $279,000.-
"...before I left, Ron Hedrick of Marigo Audio Labs brought in his newly released Ultima High Definition Signature Mat. I had been told not to use any mat in my dCS Puccini CD/SACD player, but Joe was so certain that the mat, a mere 0.01” thick, would work well in the player that he gave it a whirl. The change was so apparent, and so positive, that Joe used the mat for the remaining day and a half of the show. What did I hear? Hunt Lieberson’s voice became fuller, the bottom of her tone extremely solid, and the entire presentation more of a piece. In addition, the sound was definitely more transparent, with images in clearer focus. I can’t wait to try one in my Puccini once we move and my system is again in running order..."

RMAF 2013, another room:
"...the result, on a remaster of Lou Reed’s 'Walk on the Wild Side' was exceptionally clear sound, superb 3-dimensionality, and fine timbres. Before/after comparisons revealed that the mat rendered everything crisper, clearer, more 3-dimensional... in short, more real. This was especially apparent on a recording of baritone Matthias Goerne singing Schubert, where the mat not only enhanced the system’s beautiful midrange sonorities, but also had an almost magical effect on the piano. Having also heard the new Marigo mat improve the sound of a dCS Scarlatti transport in The Voice That Is room, I have a sense that Ron’s latest design improves the sound of virtually every transport and CD player, regardless of quality..."

REVIEWS FOR THE EARLIER VERSION (Signature 3-D)

John Sunier AUDIOPHILE AUDITION:
"...the last word in tweaks to go on top of or around your optical discs!"

Jason Victor Serinus SECRETS OF HOME THEATER AND HIGH FIDELITY: 
"...I have tried the Marigo Labs Signature 3-D mat on a number of boom boxes and rack systems from different manufacturers. Without fail, it has transformed shallow sounding devices into systems capable of far greater color and musicality. It makes every system I’ve tried it on sound as though it cost at least twice as much."

"...Every level of player I've tried the Marigo Audio Signature Mat in, including five figure transports and players, the Signature Mat has taken the listening expierience to another level..."

"Voices and instruments transformed from flat, mono-dimensional presentations to rounded sonic images that bore a far greater resemblance to the real thing. You could feel the presence of the drum, the roundness of the strings, and the different layers of undertones and overtones that comprise the human voice..."

"Equally striking was the additional air and depth. Voice and instruments were now realistically separated, resonating in different acoustic planes rather than sounding crammed together in mono-dimensional space. There is far more life to highs, and significantly more details to the entire presentation..."

"The transformation was everything but subtle. It made all the difference in the world..." 

David Allcock HIFI CHOICE: 
"... The Marigo Signature 3-D v2 mat moved recordings torwards an analogue presentation, exhibiting greater fluidity and subtlety. Not only were vocals brought forward into the room but they were also far more natural and realistic. The soundstage was also a shocker, it simply walked straight through my side walls, with instruments accurately focused beyond the outer edge of the room, populted with solid, belivable images. The spaces between instruments was also clearly deined which had the effect of heightening the believability of the overall recording. The biggest improvement I found was the reduction in hardness andd edginess to the notes."

"Vocals positively flowed into the room from the speakers. They were far more solidly rendered on the soundstage than in any of the other mats, with a real palpability and body to the vocal performance. The bass also opened up siginificantly more than with any other mat used in this test. This resulted in allowing me to hear right into the mix, it became easy to discriminate between the sonic contributiors to the overall recording, and like the other mats, the noise floor level was lowered, but in this case significantly. It was slightly larger, but it was the silence between the musicians that the greatest change could be heard, giving a sense of being able to walk amongst the musicians...."

John Sunier AUDIOPHILE AUDITION: 
"The Signature 3-D mat brought increased low bass support, made the strings tone more silky and achieved much improved soundstage depth. There were added harmonics to fill out the sonic picture of the harpsichord and it no longer sounded slightly muffled. I play and own a harpsichord so I'm familiar with what it should sound like."