Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
Lab 80 Mk II was a freshening of the Lab 80 with a lone additional operating feature: automatic play of a single record using the short, single-play spindle. It had a revised operator's control panel with fluted control tabs, and a differently-styled tonearm pivot housing (this had been applied to late production Lab 80s, as that model had sold so well that Garrard had run out of the original parts and had to substitute).
The Lab 80 Mk II was the last of the line of Garrard-design large-chassis automatics, a linear descendancy from the RC80 and prior. The next-generation "big" Garrard would be a cheaper design, as desired by Plessey, Garrard's parent company since 1960.
Lab 80 Mk II in cheap-looking USA British Industries Corp. plastic plinth
Lab 80 Mk II in genuine wood British plinth
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