How Good Is Garrard 301

[Alec124c41]

Try J7, aka Audio Origami. I hear he has done a few before...

Cheers,
Alec

[emd-253]

Hi Gortnipper, I have just built another plinth for my 401 using birch ply which I was able to source as an offcut from a motorbody builder (trucks) It is the decking material they use on trailer units. I used an 18mm thickness (it also comes in 22mm) two layers epoxy glued together. Each sheet is 15 layer ply, it has a dark brown phenolc finish on each side, one smooth and one a fine grid pattern, which compliments the 401 very well.
The difference in sound quality over my previous plinth of 25mm MDF has made the effort very worthwhile.
The best part was the price of the ply, a dozen Tui.

[folkishienne]

Try J7, aka Audio Origami. I hear he has done a few before...

Cheers,
Alec

Seconded

[folkishienne]

Still having fun trying to upload the BBC 301 manual, can anyone assist? (uploading for dummies guide?)

Marginally more successful with uploading pictures to the Garrard gallery of the BBC unit and some other bits

[gortnipper]

Hi Gortnipper, I have just built another plinth for my 401 using birch ply which I was able to source as an offcut from a motorbody builder (trucks) It is the decking material they use on trailer units. I used an 18mm thickness (it also comes in 22mm) two layers epoxy glued together. Each sheet is 15 layer ply, it has a dark brown phenolc finish on each side, one smooth and one a fine grid pattern, which compliments the 401 very well.
The difference in sound quality over my previous plinth of 25mm MDF has made the effort very worthwhile.
The best part was the price of the ply, a dozen Tui.

Sweet! How good is that! Do you have a pic?

I built a plinth for my 401 out of a swamp Kauri slab, that is too resonant. It was about 55mm thick and showed the motor from the front, which was not great. I glued up three layers of 15mm marine brownwood ply to the bottom of that, rebated 25mm, which I spray enameled black. Much more mass to hopefully counter the resonance, but a side effect will be masking the motor from view. As soon as I recoup from minor surgery of this past Weds I will glue the sub-plinth on and slap the 401 back in. If you ever get up AKL way, drop me a line and I will spot you a cold one.

here is the before pic -




As far as the 301 goes, we are trying to do a group buy of some slate and water-jet time...

Alec/Folkis* - thanks for the J7 rec - I will check it out.

David

PS - sorry to the OP for my massive hijack of the thread.

[J.D.]

...having fun trying to upload the BBC 301 manual, can anyone assist?

Just sent a PM to someone who should be able to offer help; they'll likely contact you via VE mail.
Hope it works out.
J.D.

[folkishienne]

Still having fun with the upload - If anyone would like to download the PDF I have uped it to my server here (C&P whole link):

http://www.folkanaught.co.uk/Disk Reproducers RP2-1 And RP2-1B.pdf

Any help getting the PDF into the Library would be great

[iain42]

Still having fun with the upload - If anyone would like to download the PDF I have uped it to my server here (C&P whole link):

http://www.folkanaught.co.uk/Disk Reproducers RP2-1 And RP2-1B.pdf

Any help getting the PDF into the Library would be great

Great!!! Thank you.

[folkishienne]

Disk Reproducers RP2-1 And RP2-1B.pdf now in Garrard Library - Many thanks to the Mods

[J.D.]

Thanks for the repeat efforts !

J.

[chariot]

Chariot got into the worst kind of problems that you can have when you buy anything that is 40 or 50 years old with no way to know the history. I am actually on both sides of this. British engineers often do things in ways that appear to me to be bass ackwards. A buddy of mine, who worked on British cars said, "If 3/8 is just enough, you can count on a British engineer to use 5/16."
However, if you get one that fails seriously, like chariot did, it's a major overhaul, since everything will probably need work. Blue does that stuff, and I am sure that he will agree with that proposition. And Blue has very high standards for the work he does. But all I have had to do with mine, other than some general lubrication is that I did have to split the motor about 20 years ago and clean and lubricate the bearings. But I am not super fussy about exact spec rebuilds.

Good luck again!

Joe Z.[/quote]

In a high resolution hifi system, the low frequency hum introduced by the motor vibration being transmitted to the idler drive can be very intrusive. In addition, the lack of platter damping allows this motor vibration to be transmitted happily all along to the loudspeakers.
Be ready to have a mixed bag of results from a 301/401.
I've just bought a second motor for my 401 which is worse in this respect than the original. I might just convert it to ball/needle bearings to replace the oilite friction bushes.[/quote]

Between the two motors and a set of new oilite bushes, I now have a 401 with motor vibration minimal to the touch.
The bushes are very tight and for the first 10 minutes the strobe is of the scale.
The "hum" is still there but most of the time it is now hidden within the noise of the recording and the record.
Many thanks to Joe Z and Blue Angel for their interest and support.

[jomoco]

Hello, Has anyone experimented with rotating the 301 in relation to the cartridge path to reduce potential motor hum induction and can report any findings?!?
Thanks

[analogous]

In a high resolution hifi system, the low frequency hum introduced by the motor vibration being transmitted to the idler drive can be very intrusive. In addition, the lack of platter damping allows this motor vibration to be transmitted happily all along to the loudspeakers.
Be ready to have a mixed bag of results from a 301/401.

What is a high resolution hifi system? And do they still make them today when everybody listens to low resolution (CD) or ultra low resolution (mp3) formats?

So what do you call this system?


The reason you get a Garrard 301 or 401, or EMT 930, is thay they offer great value for money. The Shindo Garrard 301 is not a stock 301. But even at $15,000 the Shindo deck is something of a bargain.

What turntable does Frank Schroeder use? Garrard 301. What turntable did Yoshiaki Sugano use when he tested his Koetsu carts? Garrard 301.

I guess they don't or didn't have a high resolution hifi system.

[analogous]

Hello, Has anyone experimented with rotating the 301 in relation to the cartridge path to reduce potential motor hum induction and can report any findings?!?
Thanks

Nonsense.