watchnerd
Grand Contributor
Audio Science Review is new to me! This interesting thread caught my attention as I am a great lover of idler wheel Garrard turntables. The beautiful Garrard 301 was a world class turntable used professionally by radio stations around the world and replaced by the uprated Garrard 401 in 1965 to be finally phased out in 1976. As well documented earlier the onset of new belt drive turntables from the likes of Linn and the emergence of direct drive from Japan made the top end Garrard look somewhat antiquated. Companies like Linn did a great job of marketing their turntables as being well engineered and in particular being quieter than idler wheel designs having lower rumble. However as Linn and the Japanese sales soared the idler wheel design, while close to extinction hung on . . . In particular there was a cult following of Garrard 301 owners in Japan who were buying up old 301 motor units in Britain. Mr Shindo was one of the great Garrard Gurus who made all sorts of worthwhile modifications to Garrard bearings, platters and plinths that improved their audible performance. That 301 cult following finally found its way to the USA and back to the UK. There are companies trading in the UK now who specialise in Garrard turntable and SMD acoustics even make a new idler wheel turntable. I believe that Garrard now belongs to SME Audio and they are most interested in idler wheels, so who knows. My personal 301 is a bit like Trigger's broom as its hard to tell what is original. The aluminium die-cast chassis has been replaced with a stronger machined one. The main bearings and housing are uprated to support a 10Kg platter made of precision machined stainless steel. The motor is an improved 401 unit being fed by a precious quartz PSU all set in a granite (soon to be slate) skeletal plinth using a 12 inch SME V-12 arm. It's a rather large turntable! The good old Garrard 301/401 designs live on and can sound incredibly good when set up properly.
View attachment 131909
Welcome!
I'm surprised at the arm choice.
When I see Garrards paired with SME arms, its usually either a vintage arm or one of the modern recreations, like the M2-12R.
That seems to go hand in hand with SPU or DL-103 cartridges.