The Funk Firm Achromat (3mm)

About Achromat

Achromat is the natural progression from the original acrylic interface invented by Arthur Khoubesserian back in 1979. Refining the theory he subsequently launched Achromat in 2005. Ongoing refinements in composition and application means that Achromat is now more universal and better than ever.

Theory: The stylus accelerates at up to 20,000g. This means your groove wall is not so much caressed but more akin to being pummelled by a road hammer creating travelling shock waves.

When there is a material change (the record sitting on a felt mat, say, these waves are reflected and energy reflected from the bottom of the record (a mere 2mm thick) is sensed by the stylus and heard as colouration.

Can we prevent his reflection?

Achromat is the ideal material to absorb energy from the record. There is no better. But it is only 3-5mm thick and this is where the science kicks in. Millions of tiny bubbles within create complex pathways and that’s where the energy gets lost as heat. In this way, Achromat acts like a considerably thicker mat. Its job is complete.

No other mat is like it and all it takes is a simple A-B comparison to demonstrate the differences against other supports. Longer term listening allows subtle nuances as well as greater bass intelligibility to be appreciated.

In 2009 Achromat came top in a mat comparison in HiFi Choice and then went on to win the Gold Award for Accessory against all comers. And of course there are the testimonials from happy customers. It has become the mat of choice for LP12 owners and also Technics SL1200 turntables. No wonder Achromat is the World’s top selling mat.

APM For all variants except 1200G & 1500C
Technics’ 1200/1210 and GR models are fine motor units but suffer from a very significant weakness – The platter. Technics rely on rubber to stop ringing. It doesn’t help. Try it for yourself. Hang the platter on your finger, tap it and feel the low frequency vibrations. Rubber is sof, there is no way it can control the energy from the metalt. Imagine if the rubber was instead a soft blanket!

with these platter vibrations directly UNDER your stylus, it’s like a rough road a car travels on, you feel it. So does the stylus. It reads it and tells us all about it. You hear it as less definition in your music.

You don’t need to be in a disco environment for platter to play along with the music. You’ll hear it as less definition in your music and why in 2014 Funk developed Strata. Technics followed by releasing 1200GAE, 1200G and SP10R, all with an added that lump of brass to do the same job.

The new motor designs of the models required different inertial values. More R&D. The result was APM. Notonly did it satisfy the new conditions, it also came with the additional benefit that it was more affordable.

APM is Achromat bonded to a glass substrate to create a constrained layer mat. Glass is inherently very RIGID and so provides the necessary support. The clever bit is that it has totally different properties to the metal platter. interfacing the two, the different resonances destructively interfere, killing vibrations.

SL1200’s the platter is at least as good if not better than G! APM’s optimised mass distribution allows the electronics to continue to operate as intended. Win-win.

• Achromat’s polymer construction contains millions of randomly sized bubbles that absorb energy and turn it into heat
• Significantly reduces distortion by attenuating the back reflection from the platter to the stylus
• Helps to damp the ringing of metal and glass platters as it is designed to be stuck to the platter
• Results in a more 3D soundstage and better delineation between notes.
• Unlike the cheap felt mats usually supplied, Achromat is almost universally Anti-static. For particularly dry environments, an anti-static spray can be applied.