@richardbrand
Resurrecting the Garrard 301
l’m afraid the rejuvenated 301 (from old stock rebuilds) is now looking more expensive than what you quoted. Loricraft are making a packet of money even if they can only achieve one deck sale every two weeks. It has become a sellers market. 301’s are good but a tall order value for money leap for that price point in all sincerity. Obviously l have not heard one and is just an opinion.
Garrard sold up their name to the Brazilian company just as the 501 was being designed and prototyped. The new company shifted manufacture to Brazil and did a terrible job with the later Garrard products which were rubbish. They were badly constructed and looked dumbed down caricatures of the old brand and ruined the Garrard name. A total mismanaged operation and it failed to interest old fans or garner new serious consideration. No wonder SME were able to buy it back. Leak and Wharfedale are similar resurrections and now back in the market place in Europe.
In 2018 the CEO of SME at an audio fare told a reporter that it was intended in the near future to re-release the SME heritage arms over time one by one. This did not materialise. I don’t think SME will commit to rebuilding the 301 from scratch (or even the rubber mats) l expect the restored 301 projects they are selling via Loricraft will be for a very exclusive club, not really considered value for money but a status symbol toy.
Check out Lenco Heaven website for their take on the whole affair. I bet the original Lenco owners may have missed an opportunity to do the same thing with their famous GL75 which quite possibly was the greatest best kept secret deck of the 60s & 70s. So many of these a old stalwarts are being rebuilt with new arms. Partly due to the unique drive system and enhanced performance in new plinths this turntable is a sleeping giant.
