{"id":24446,"date":"2021-05-12T10:10:37","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T09:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/?p=24446"},"modified":"2021-05-09T09:44:54","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T08:44:54","slug":"steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/","title":{"rendered":"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Jonathan Valin | Apr 29th, 2021<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Link to products: Stein Music Pi<\/a>
\nLink to review: The Absolute Sound<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSTEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\u2014at least it is if you\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\u2019s not \u201cordinary\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\u2014\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\u2014the good part\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \u201corganicism\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\u2014at least it is if you\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\u2019s not \u201cordinary\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\u2014\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\u2014the good part\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \u201corganicism\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"INTEK HI-FI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-12T09:10:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-09T08:44:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"info@prasicek.si\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/\",\"name\":\"INTEK HI-FI\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"stein-music-pi-carbon-signa\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/\",\"name\":\"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-12T09:10:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-09T08:44:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/61ad7e6d87a734a6aea479674fc1e27c\"},\"description\":\"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\\u2014at least it is if you\\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\\u2019s not \\u201cordinary\\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\\u2014\\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\\u2014the good part\\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \\u201corganicism\\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \\u201ccontinuous,\\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\\u2014then $650 doesn\\u2019t seem too much to spend.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/61ad7e6d87a734a6aea479674fc1e27c\",\"name\":\"info@prasicek.si\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59376566d413071c89695d540fb7f1f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59376566d413071c89695d540fb7f1f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"info@prasicek.si\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/author\/infoprasicek-si\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI","description":"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\u2014at least it is if you\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\u2019s not \u201cordinary\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\u2014\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\u2014the good part\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \u201corganicism\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI","og_description":"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\u2014at least it is if you\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\u2019s not \u201cordinary\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\u2014\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\u2014the good part\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \u201corganicism\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.","og_url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/","og_site_name":"INTEK HI-FI","article_published_time":"2021-05-12T09:10:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-09T08:44:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"info@prasicek.si","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/","name":"INTEK HI-FI","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/stein-music-pi-carbon-signa.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"stein-music-pi-carbon-signa"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/","name":"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review - INTEK HI-FI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-05-12T09:10:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-09T08:44:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/61ad7e6d87a734a6aea479674fc1e27c"},"description":"SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature Record MatREVIEW by Jonathan Valin Apr 29th, 2021A A AStein_PI_2_BlackI can\u2019t tell you how many different record mats I\u2019ve tried over the last four or five decades. They\u2019ve come and gone with the regularity of seasons. Some have been sticky; some have been stiff; some have been thin; some have been fat; some have been as springy as balls of dough; and some have been as hard as unripened plums. All of them have claimed to provide an improved (i.e., lower noise and jitter) interface between LP and platter. And all of them have made a sonic difference\u2014not enough of a difference, however, to earn an enduring place in my system (or my memory). As the old saw has it, different isn\u2019t necessarily better; more often than not, it\u2019s just different. Holger Stein\u2019s Pi Carbon Signature record mat is an exception. Not only is it different; it is also better\u2014at least it is if you\u2019re looking for a closer semblance of the absolute sound. If you\u2019re looking for spotlit detail, then it won\u2019t be for you. (And neither will anything else from SteinMusic.)However, before I get to Pi Carbon Signature sonics, let me tell you what it is: It is a $650 sheet of paper is what it is. (I\u2019m going to start a new paragraph now to give you time to pick up a pen and begin writing that angry letter.) Of course, it\u2019s not \u201cordinary\u201d paper. If it were, you could pull a page from TAS (or if you wanted something more prosciutto-like, a page from Stereophile), punch a spindle-sized hole in it, and slap it on your turntable. No, this paper is hand-made in Japan from the same trees (usually mulberry and fig) that tapa cloth is made from. After being dried on wood, the tapa paper is sent to SteinMusic in M\u00fclheim, Germany, where it is impregnated with SteinMusic Maestro Lacquer\u2014\u201ca varnish made out of the most precious natural resins in a unique composition, optimized for perfect resonance control.\u201dThough it consists of varnished paper and some sort of carbon additive, the Pi Carbon Signature is not as thin and light as you might imagine. It\u2019s got some substance to it, though not enough substance (unless it\u2019s fastened down to the platter via the little tabs of tape on its rear side) to keep it from occasionally sticking to the backs of your records. Which means that, now and then, you may have to peel the Pi from the LP and resituate it on your record player before playing Side B. This is, admittedly, a pain. But, with the Pi Carbon Signature, it is part of the price of doing business. The other part\u2014the good part\u2014is the effect this mat has on the presentation.Since I started using the SteinMusic Pi, I\u2019ve been searching for a way to explain how this sheet of paper changes sonics. Perhaps it would be best to do this is by analogy. Think of the sound of a recording on which musicians were taped in sound booths via individual mics; then think of the sound of a recording on which the musicians were taped ensemble in an actual hall, studio, or club via a Blumlein pair or a trio of omnis. The instruments in the separately miked sound-booth setup may seem more individuated and distinct, but the sense of organicism\u2014of ensemble music-making in a large, shared acoustic space, (highlighted in the Blumlein or spaced-omni setups)\u2014will be greatly reduced or nonexistant. It is this realistic and sonically attractive \u201corganicism\u201d that the Pi Carbon Signature adds to each and every LP, no matter how it was recorded. This more organic presentation is something the Pi shares with almost all SteinMusic tweaks, including its H2Plus Boxes, Stones, Stars, and Suns room treatments. The inexplicability of this more organic effect is something else the Pi shares with Holger Stein\u2019s doo-dads. How a piece of varnished Japanese paper can consistently improve the sound of a vinyl record riding atop it is beyond me. All I can tell you is that it does\u2014that the very thing that makes many LPs sound like LPs, like mosaics made of individually recorded bits and pieces, is replaced by something that makes those bits and pieces seem more like interrelated parts of a sonic whole.This organic effect is not without a downside. As I said earlier, if you\u2019re listening for highlighted details (and, to a certain extent, a vast soundstage), the more \u201ccontinuous,\u201d more compact, less analytical sound of the Pi Carbon Signature may not be your sheet of Japanese paper. If, on the other hand, you\u2019re looking for a closer approximation of the real thing\u2014looking for analog playback that is very much more like tape playback\u2014then $650 doesn\u2019t seem too much to spend.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/steinmusic-pi-carbon-signature-record-mat-tas-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"STEINMUSIC Pi Carbon Signature Record Mat > TAS Review"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/61ad7e6d87a734a6aea479674fc1e27c","name":"info@prasicek.si","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59376566d413071c89695d540fb7f1f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59376566d413071c89695d540fb7f1f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"info@prasicek.si"},"url":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/author\/infoprasicek-si\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24454,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24446\/revisions\/24454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intek-hifi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}