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Vintage Audio (record players, hi-fi etc) Amplifiers, speakers, gramophones and other audio equipment. |
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22nd Mar 2019, 4:53 pm | #21 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kington, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 3,670
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
Garrard didn't help themselves by specifying a spring mounted piece of plywood as the motor board - Dad made a plinth along these lines when updating his system for stereo, and it didn't work too well, either from the rumble or the acoustic feedback point of view. |
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22nd Mar 2019, 5:22 pm | #22 | |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
It is assumed that superlatives just wash off the audience's back (no detergents needed!) and trades descriptions act etc never come into play. Sometimes these claims are hilarious. "Quantum leap" reverses its meaning when you know the meaning of the word quantum. One car advert called itself the ultimate driving machine. Ultimate means final. Do they mean it will kill you? With manufacturer's documentation it is important to detect which bits were written by the marketeers, which by the engineers. It is also important to pay a lot of attention to exactly what they don't say... David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
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22nd Mar 2019, 6:10 pm | #23 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Bristol, UK.
Posts: 2,074
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Re: Garrard 301/401
One maker (face cream maybe?) claimed 'nothing works better!' And that is probably absolutely true .
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22nd Mar 2019, 9:10 pm | #24 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Bognor Regis, West Sussex, UK.
Posts: 2,294
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Re: Garrard 301/401
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Peter |
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23rd Mar 2019, 12:44 am | #25 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Bristol, UK.
Posts: 2,074
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Re: Garrard 301/401
My TT features a Garrard 401 platter externally driven on a concrete plinth. Very effective but I thought hard about where to put it....as I don't want to have to pick it up again!!
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'....don't go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road!' (Bob Dylan) |
23rd Mar 2019, 8:33 am | #26 | |
Octode
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Llandeilo, West Wales, UK.
Posts: 1,092
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Re: Garrard 301/401
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I've had a few and always wanted to like them, but you really can never quite get them quiet enough. Solid plinths, good rubber, perfect bearings, the whole piece. And once you know they are there, it is hard not to focus on the short comings, but you will not know if it bothers you until you try one either... Alan
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Never Leave Well Enough Alone... |
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23rd Mar 2019, 9:28 am | #27 |
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Re: Garrard 301/401
They do look good, though.
David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
24th Mar 2019, 2:30 am | #28 |
Banned
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Mareeba, North Queensland, Australia
Posts: 2,704
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Having gone through the "digital" modification, with a few different AM radio stations, I picked up several 401's for nothing. AM stations insisted on CD players rather than vinyl. I then proceeded to replace many CD players that were not worth repairing after only some months or perhaps a year or two of service. A bonus to this was that the vinyl collection was also not required, so I managed to collect some of those too.
But seriously if you can get a 301/401 for the right price, make a decent plinth, find a SME arm, you will have bling that is pretty hard to beat. Remember my warning though!!. A modern turntable will beat the 401, apart of course, for the cheap and nasty plastic bits that seem to adorn many, many of the cheaper belt drives, and in some cases the direct drives. Ohh I didnt mention, I still use a Shure V15 that used to me MR ( Micro Ridge stylus) but today is just an elliptical as the MR series stlii are no longer available. Joe |
25th Mar 2019, 5:55 am | #29 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand
Posts: 3,457
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
Two boxes with five and a half (the half had no platter) 401s and two SME3009s turned up a couple of weeks later. Sold the worst 2.5 401s (no platter, broken control knobs etc) for around $1,300 all up - yes they go for silly money even when you're honest about them being stuffed, bought a ProJect 1xpression Carbon, 78 RPM pully and stylus, and a Spin-Clean, and had about $100 left over. And three 401s. And two 3009s |
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25th Mar 2019, 8:50 am | #30 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,830
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
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A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
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25th Mar 2019, 12:18 pm | #31 |
Dekatron
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Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Seven posts moved here: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=155180
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25th Mar 2019, 1:50 pm | #32 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
Posts: 821
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
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26th Mar 2019, 10:27 am | #33 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Carmel, Llannerchymedd, Anglesey, UK.
Posts: 1,506
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Re: Garrard 301/401
I have a 301 which is fired up on rare occasions, mounted in a wooden cabinet. Never detected any rumble. Only 'servicing' its had is the occasional removal of surface dust!
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26th Mar 2019, 10:51 am | #34 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Penrith, Cumbria, UK
Posts: 1,993
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Re: Garrard 301/401
I've never owned one, and constantly kick myself for not getting a good 'un for less than £200 that was offered to me not that many years ago.
I have heard one or 4 over the years and I never detected any "rumble" etc when an LP was playing. I'd still like to own one but it's unlikely to happen. I just think they are an icon of the classic vinyl era and the fact so many are still out there and playing must say something about the quality of the engineering in the original product? Personally I am very very happy with my now becoming venerable Michell GyroSE/rega arm compination which although expensive at just over £1000 for the ex display model in the shop 15 years ago, is still working as well as the day I got it and all I have spent on the deck is a drop of oil for the bearing which is a 10 minute job once a year to clean and oilchange and a replacement drive belt. Simple, with to me great looks,to others weird, but theres nowt on it that doesnt need to be there. I can hear the intakes of breath from some quarters at the seemingly high price I paid, but I have every confidence that it will still be working when I am pushing up the daisies and that won't be for a couple of decades at least yet I hope! I also recently picked up a cosmetically tatty but mechanically perfect Rega P7 which with a day spent polishing the scratches out of the perspex lid and a good clean and fettle now looks pretty good and works very well indeed. I like the push button electronic speed change on these decks too. I'd say it's on a par with the Michell and much more user friendly, but needs to be on a good support, ideally a wall shelf. Which I'd recommend for any decent turntable setup anyway. Sorry if i dragged it a bit OT mods feel free to edit out any non relevant words. A. |
26th Mar 2019, 11:48 am | #35 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
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Re: Garrard 301/401
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26th Mar 2019, 4:06 pm | #36 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Not quite in the same league (!) but I once -- when I was young and had no sense -- turned down a Collaro Conquest changer mounted in a nice plinth and with an Acos stereo cartridge fitted, because I thought there was an important part missing .....
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26th Mar 2019, 5:36 pm | #37 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 9,642
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Quote:
In defence it was rescued as scrap before they were iconic. It was also before recycling was the planet friendly course of action, so it's probably quietly rotting away somewhere. |
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26th Mar 2019, 6:19 pm | #38 |
Nonode
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 2,333
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Re: Garrard 301/401
If it does turn out to be silly money, I'd recommend looking at the Lenco/Goldring-Lenco range from the L/GL59 onwards if you'd like an idler-drive turntable from the same period. There's a good forum at Lenco Heaven and the consensus is that the enormously heavy platter of the Lenco offerings makes them easily comparable to the Garrards but at a small fraction of the price the latter command. I have a GL59 that I've fixed up and have no complaints. The magic of the infinitely variable speed lever between 16 and 78rpm is great engineering fun too.
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26th Mar 2019, 6:23 pm | #39 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
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Re: Garrard 301/401
Five days ago now, wondering if you've been back yet? If it were me, and given the chance that this may be one almighty bargain, I wouldn't have left it long before going back to collect my spoils. Just don't want you to miss out on a bargain, if only to resell it.
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A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
26th Mar 2019, 7:30 pm | #40 |
Nonode
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, UK.
Posts: 2,883
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Re: Garrard 301/401
We are hoping to do a bit of shopping this weekend, I know which shop I’ll head for!
Cheers John |