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Old 8th Oct 2013, 6:58 pm   #121
davidrucklidge
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Hi , many thanks for this info ; i had not realised there were so many different versions of the unit -i thought they all looked the same ,the only difference being "semi auto " "fully auto" or "manual". Irrespective of the units' specifications ,they still look to be decent units. I suppose i was partly right with the attached cables ;this unit is the only one from the company that i ever have had.
It is still useful to be able to play vinyl if you need to ; not taking into account acoustics or quality , comparing the differences between cd's and vinyl in 1986 the most apparent differences were ( 1) not needing to turn the record over when a piece lasted continuously for more than 40 mins , say
(2)If there was counting-in of the track,or other voices for a brief moment initially , at the start -on the cd this would not appear on that track on the cd-it appeared at the end of the previous track on the cd . So you had to play the previous track first, to hear how vinyl would play the track you wanted in the first place !
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Old 9th Oct 2013, 12:24 am   #122
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

No personal experience with these decks, but I would like to contribute a couple of Garrard leaflets circa 1953.

The 14 page leaflet has what appears to be an August 1953 printer code, and refers to a model becoming available in 1954, so can be dated fairly accurately.

The 16 page leaflet is undated, but the prices for corresponding products, excluding purchase tax, are the same as in the 1953 leaflet: however, the purchase tax is somewhat higher.

I have had to post in sections for good quality due to file size limitations: the 16 page leaflet will follow.
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File Type: pdf 1953 14pp cat pp 1_7.pdf (1.57 MB, 857 views)
File Type: pdf 1953 14pp cat pp 8_16.pdf (1.39 MB, 660 views)
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Old 9th Oct 2013, 12:31 am   #123
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Here's the 16 page leaflet. The price list is a double-sided loose sheet.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf 1953 16pp cat cover.pdf (1.64 MB, 608 views)
File Type: pdf 1953 16pp cat 2_7.pdf (1.45 MB, 654 views)
File Type: pdf 1953 16pp cat 8_11.pdf (1.27 MB, 613 views)
File Type: pdf 1953 16pp cat 12_15.pdf (996.9 KB, 630 views)
File Type: pdf 1953 16pp cat price list.pdf (243.4 KB, 628 views)
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Old 10th Oct 2013, 6:28 am   #124
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Great contribution, Emeritus. 1953 was before my time and these really help to put the models from that era into perspective. THANKS!
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Old 10th Oct 2013, 8:32 pm   #125
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Glad they are of use.

They were in a collection of leaflets that I saved from the recycle bin during an office move when I was working for the British GEC (which had just been rebranded Marconi) about 10 years ago. From the file they were in, they would have been collected at various visits to the annual "Radio Show" that used to be held in London's Olympia exhibition centre, between about 1951 and 1956. The visits were to keep an eye on what the competition was doing, such as who was using transistors, printed circuit boards etc. The leaflets relating to GEC and Marconi products went to the Marconi archives, but no-one was the slightest bit interested in the rest, so I kept them. They are the only Garrard items I have. The 14 page leaflet is a double-sided single folded sheet. The 16 page leaflet is in conventional booklet form.

Last edited by emeritus; 10th Oct 2013 at 8:45 pm.
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Old 17th Dec 2013, 1:27 am   #126
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Here's a variant of the SP25 few will have seen!
In a Schneider music centre. Very un-Garrard arm!
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Old 19th Dec 2013, 6:40 pm   #127
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Well-spotted, Ben! I certainly haven't seen one.

Besides the custom tonearm head and some plastic trim bits, the speed/size selection appears to be altered from the SP25 Mk IV standard. 78rpm/10inch and 33rpm/7 inch are missing, making it a 2-speed 33/12 - 45/7 model, unique among the idler-drive Autoslims, and probably that restriction is due only to the length of the slot in the plastic control panel bezel!
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Old 5th Jan 2014, 5:55 pm   #128
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

This is a great thread - which i stumbled on when googling Garrard yesterday - so good in fact it prompted me to become a member today.

As well as a Garrard SP25 mark V, I also have a lot of info on what I believe to be the last decks that Garrard produced in the period 1980 to about 1983. I own the 'entry level' GT255AP model bought new for me by my father in summer 1981, and the top of the range in that series the DDQ650 - which I bought second hand a few years ago.

I have the original sales brochure for this range, as well as the original generic instruction booklet covering the range. From memory, there were six or eight decks in the range, with a variety of different drive types and motors, and two types of tone arm. Both the arms were straight, with detachable headshell.

My lowly GT255AP was a belt drive deck, with synchronous AC motor. The range topper DDQ650 was direct drive, with quartz locked control.

The lower decks in the range were supplied with Ortofon VMS20 type cartridges, whilst the upper models had Shure M75 range of cartridge.

Will have to work out how to post photos here!
Also, am I allowed to scan the original brochures and instructions and post them?
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Old 5th Jan 2014, 7:06 pm   #129
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Hi and welcome, always good to hear from others with an interest in this kit. The exchange of anecdotes and info surely enriches us all.

Personally, I'd also scan and upload the documents to vinylengine, a free site which is very well organized for exactly this sort of thing. You can use a high resolution for the files.
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Old 21st Jan 2014, 10:53 am   #130
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

I have now scanned and uploaded my 1981 UK Garrard catalogue to Vinyl Engine site, together with the instruction book for the GT255ap and GT355ap decks.

To update the Garrard story, with what I believe was the last range of turntables Garrard marketed in the UK in the period 1980 to 1983....

GT255AP a fully automatic belt drive deck, with ac synchronous motor
GT355AP a fully belt drive deck, with dc servo controlled motor

DD450 a semi automatic direct drive deck, with coreless dc motor
DD455 a fully automatic direct drive deck, with coreless dc motor

DDQ550 a semi automatic direct drive, with coreless dc motor
DDQ650 a semi automatic direct drive, with coreless dc motor

All share the same glass filled polyester chassis, isolating suspension feet, and cover.
All have 9" straight arms with detachabe headshells; the latter two models having a quite high spec precison cone and ball race bearing.

The DDQ650 that i own, as well as having some of the best rumble and wow and flutter figures quoted for any deck ever produced by Garrard, also sounds superb with both moving magnet cartridges (audio technica At95 and Shure m97xe) and a moving coil Dynavector dv10x4.

It tracks all tracks of the Hifi News test record effortlessly (disgracing two well known decks by Linn in fact costing many times more!) and sounds superb.

A real overlooked gem - well worth seeking out, if you can find one.

Ignore the derogatory comments about 'plastic era Garrard' and if you can find a good one, let your ears decide.
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Old 21st Jan 2014, 11:52 am   #131
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Thanks for the info. Could you provide a link to your scans on VE when they've been approved, please?
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Old 21st Jan 2014, 11:04 pm   #132
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

The new scans are up! (THANKS to Rhgbristol!)

Membership at Vinyl Engine (free) required to download. The pages with the download links are:

1981 catalogue

GT255ap-GT355ap instructions

I have a Garrard DD450 and it performs well, indeed. When I acquired it, my DD450 suffered from the same problem that
afflicts many in the Advanced Design Group (wherein Garrard moved the operating controls to the front): a broken cueing
linkage. I haven't reached those models yet in the Deck Identification series but soon will, and will explain the problem
at that time. My DD450 also has an S-shaped arm. Garrard changed the tonearm midway in DD450 production from an
S-shaped arm to a straight arm. The catalog that is downloadable above shows the straight-arm version. The attached
photo shows one with the S-shaped arm.
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Last edited by GP49000; 21st Jan 2014 at 11:18 pm.
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Old 21st Jan 2014, 11:19 pm   #133
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Saw this recently online, looks like a Unimech -2025Tc cross!

Any thoughts?
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Old 22nd Jan 2014, 1:52 pm   #134
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Well, it's a Garrard 5300 but I'm not sure what's 'under the bonnet' so to speak!

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/garrard/5300.shtml
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Old 22nd Jan 2014, 9:04 pm   #135
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Actual model number is 5-300. It was marketed as a lower-priced version of the 6-300 Unimech record changer.

Underneath is a Unimech subchassis. On top are controls derived from the CC10 minichanger that was the ancestor of the Unimech.

There were also lower priced models 5-200 and 5-100. 5-200 lacked cueing and antiskate; 5-100 also had a smaller platter.

Tonearms are simple: no counterweight, usually supplied with dedicated cartridge, and with a tracking weight adjustment screw in the plastic arm housing alongside the tonearm tube. There is an antiskate setting dial, not present on the 5-200 and 5-100, adjacent to the tonearm base.

Since they have the Unimech mechanism, they "fix" like Unimechs; which is to say, a lot of the "guts" are hidden between the main chassis and the Unimech subchassis.

5-300 etc. were discussed before (Post #86) but I think I have more pictures now, than then.
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Last edited by GP49000; 22nd Jan 2014 at 9:20 pm.
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Old 26th Feb 2014, 11:10 pm   #136
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

I have a late '70s UK Dynatron RG87 radiogram fitted with a Garrrard 6300 & Shure M75 6s; the SRX26 chassis has a very crude phono stage so while FM radio sounds excellent, listening to vinyl is not good !

In contrast I have a '69 Bush SG55 fitted with a Garrard 3500 & Sonotone
9TAHC ceramic. This sounds far superior; the 3500 is very well made (cf the 6300 build quality), the tonearm is very rigid & is the perfect partner for the Sonotone 9TAHC. The SG55 also has the correct 1M input impedance required by ceramics as well as wideband high efficiency 2 way speakers. Visitors cannot believe they are listening to a Sonotone ceramic ! Styli are still available, but it is necessary to select a good one from a sample (they are cheap mind).

In a nutshell, the 3500 was a well built deck & still works perfectly after 45 years ! ; the 6300 is just too compromised & flimsy to bother with in my opinion.

Last edited by Dougallh; 26th Feb 2014 at 11:18 pm.
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Old 27th Feb 2014, 8:44 am   #137
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

I quite agree. The 3500 was a simplification of the well-proven Autoslim chassis (auto record size select was deleted) featuring a nice, fully balanced low-mass tonearm with diecast tonearm body and precision vertical-motion pivots. The 6-300 with its unbalanced arm and "shaft in plastic" pivots was from the Unimech line, an attempt by Garrard to build a record changer at an ever-lower cost by adapting the mechanism of the cheap CC10 minichanger. One problem when one adapts something cheap into something to sell at a higher price, is that often it still feels and performs like its cheap ancestor. The Unimech models certainly do feel and perform below their Autoslim predecessors.
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Old 27th Feb 2014, 12:23 pm   #138
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

I am surprised that some turntables were made with steel instead of aluminium platters.
I acquired a SP25 MK2 in a Ferguson Unit audio plinth - the steel platter has a
totally different mat to the diecast version (which I later acquired and use for 78s)
I also now have a Magneta record player which has a SP25 MK3 with a steel
platter, although the mat etc is the same as the pressed ally version.
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Old 28th Feb 2014, 4:54 am   #139
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Most low-priced record changers had steel platters. Even the SP25s, AT60 and such with nonferroudiecast outer platters had steel inner platters, and the lower-cost models with 10" platters such as the 2000, the Model 50 and others had a steel outer platter over their steel inner platters. Most modern magnetic cartridges had a weak external magnetic field and weren't affected, but such cartridges as the Decca FFSS with strong magnetic fields were unusable. The magnetic-cartridge "Deccadec" version of the SP25 didn't have a steel inner platter; its platter was all aluminium.
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Old 28th Feb 2014, 10:38 pm   #140
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Default Re: Garrard record player deck identification.

Hello all. The SP25 mk 1 had a cast aluminium platter and the mk2 could be had with either a pressed steel platter (like the one I've got now) or a cast ally one (like the one I had about 30 years ago and shouldn't have parted with). It seems to be down to whichever type they had available to use at the time. I've heard it said that it was an option on the mk2 but in adverts in old magazines they're usually advertised as one or the other and no choice.

Having used both I'd say the only difference (assuming you're not using a Decca FFSS) is that the cast platter version rumbles a bit less but there's hardly anything between the two. I suppose the wow and flutter figures should be better for the cast platter version but in practice I've noticed no audible difference.

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