Garrard 301-Worth the effort?

Here is a testimonial. Audiogon's feedback does not allow for enuf. I was lucky enough to find a Garrad 301 at a decent price and after researching and speaking with many restoration experts I choose Chris. I could not be happier with this decision. Of course, the most important part of the restoration is the sound of my turntable. I can say that listening to my favorite recordings now is like hearing them for the first time. Everything sounds as if it should and the soundstage places everything where it should be. The second part of the restoration is the communication of the process. Chris was very attentive and provided updates both verbally and through emails, including photos, along the way. His service went beyond what I expected even for the cost of the restoration. The third part is the craftsmanship of the the piece. Suffice it to say that my listening room WAS a spare bedroom. When my wife saw the finished product she suggested that I move everything to our living room making Chris' creating to focal point. Thank you Chris for everything.

The above mentioned Chris is Chris Thornton from Artisan Fidelity.

Dear Jeremy, If you will take the time to re-read my post that seems to have offended you, you will see that I am not guilty of having said some of the things you impute to me. As for the rest, I apologize to anyone who was offended. I am not one of those guys who hates expensive products just because they are expensive. I am sure that AF does a lot of R&D to create their products. But note that others who also do extensive R&D come up with different builds and materials as optimum. Hence, there must be more than one path to plinth Nirvana. I was additionally trying to say that if one cannot afford an expensive plinth, one can still get to enjoy a Lenco turntable in a plinth of one's own making. Actually I am kind of in awe of AF, because I realize that they are up against a lot of resistance from die-hards like me, and yet they carry on. I admire that.

Don't feel too bad, Lewm.

If the username's anything to go by, then Jeremy72 is not a neutral enthusiast but, rather, an employee of Artisan Audio. Indeed, based on the investigations on another site (Lenco Heaven) where a "jeremy72" was also active (in promoting the artisan fidelity lenco), it was discovered that he was already registered as Chris74, the owner of Artisan. Needless to say, Jeremy72/Chris74 was subsequently banned from that site.

Anyways, back on topic, I think the 301 is a wonderful machine and, with respect to Thuchan (and Heiner Jacobi from whom Thuchan gets the mini cooper comment), i find that the 301 (suitably serviced, plinthed and armed) can sit comfortably next to an EMT (930st in my case). Of course, at this point you're not really comparing motor unit with motor unit but, rather, one TT system with another.

Rahman, Thanks for the info. I nevertheless did not mean to "diss" the AF plinths; that would be grossly unfair since I have never heard an AF Lenco or Garrard. I only meant to point out that their physical beauty is built into their cost.