Best Tonearm and Cartridge for 4K or under for restored Garrard 301

@sdrsdrsdr Thanks for the tips about Indian music. Which TT does he use? Pls explain why the Lyra is not good? I am trying to learn and understand. Demo is a problem as I live in rural area. I live in Wheelersburg, OH. I am happy to travel to demo stuff if anyone is willing to show me.

My friend that likes the Indian music also has a 301. I talked to him earlier today and he’s selling his triplanar and airtight combo. Also selling his fr64s. He prefers the SME 312 and Koetsu Rosewood for his indian music. He likes a very smooth forgiving sound for his music. I bring my records when I come by and we listen to the other arm though, which I prefer. And so does he listening to my records. You should really audition first. It sounds like your budget is limited and many of these recommendations from others are beyond it. That’s why I mentioned the Reed 2a. Go for the 3P if you can though. A warm forgiving MC you could consider, wood body Benz, Koetsu Black, ortofon spu royal n, dynavector xx2. Or vintage MM cartridge. As far as all these expensive 301 modifications, fine if the budget is there but not necessary to get great sound. I recommend to give Steve Dobbins a call. Or Chris at woodsong audio. 

The other question about what I said about Lyra. They are awesome sounding cartridges. But I find only with awesome sounding records. If your record collection isn’t up to it like most Indian music, you’ll find you’ll not be enjoying it. In comparison to others they’re very extended, very fast, and slightly lean. Similar to ZYX, which I also really like. I had an airy 3. But not with less than excellent recordings. This is one of the reasons that many of us have more than one tonearm and cartridge. Just make sure to choose what plays your style music best,  not what the rest of us think is best for our tastes.

I have a totally refurbished by myself Lenco 78 w/ many upgrades that Jean Nantais used in his TT and a couple that are beyond. Jean is the one who started the Lenco craze about 15 years ago. My TT now has a couple items from Artisan Fidelity including the AF chassis and pure copper platter, along with the Audio Silent idler wheel, JTN string/weight mod, Mirko bearing, 10-layered 100 lb. plinth of 3/4" birch plywood, and both 3/4" & 1/2" MDF.

I am now using a Pete Riggle Woody arm which has 3 different adjustments on it that can be done while the record is playing. All the adjustments on the arm can be done without tools, it looks very nice, and Pete includes an extremely thorough manual with detailed pictures on how to do all the adjustments to the arm. It is also capable of being a low mass or high mass arm by just changing out the headshell weight. It also looks extremely good with a Lenco or Garrard. The sound is on a level with any of the very good arms such as Schroeder, or Reed. New, the price is just under $2000. I got mine for $1200 used and in perfect shape. Pete will make any length you would like for the same price. He told me his 9", which I have, and the 12" have no discernible difference in sound. Therefore, I was able to just plop the arm in the Pete Riggle VTAF sleeve I had with previous arms such as the Origin Live Silver II and Trans-Fi Terminator w/ all the upgrades on it. Pete’s string theory bearing is genius and he stands behind his product very well.  I had a properly working Maplenoll Ariadne TT/arm air bearing combo, along with VPI Scout, VPI Classic, Avid Diva II/ Origin Live Silver II combo.  It was very tough to replace the Maplenoll with sound that was almost as good until I did the Lenco rebuild.  The combo I have now exceeds the Maplenoll in most areas and is totally safe in use with no chance of the air supply ever failing and thus, snapping cantilevers on expensive cartridges.  The Maplenoll is considered the greatest sounding TT/arm ever made by many experts. 

I’ve used Shelter 501 Mk II, Benz Micro Ruby 3, and currently Charisma Reference 2 cartridges, along with a Grace F9E w/ Soundsmith level 3 rebuild--much better sounding; all to great success. On the Maplenoll, I also used Clearaudio Aurum Beta S, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, plus Cartridge Man Music maker III cartridges.  They all sounded very good in the straight line tracking Maplenoll.  I’d let you see the whole thing, but I’m currently finishing off my basement and my dedicated music room is getting a pretty extensive rebuild that should be much more functional and could be even nicer in sound. Won’t know until I’m done if the things I did were beneficial to the sound until it’s done. I’m 98% sure it will be at least comparable to the previous room, but COULD be quite spectacular if the rebuild does what I hope it will do from the research I’ve done for many years.

Bob

I spoke with Sien regarding the SPH Bearing. He made a lot of those for Lenco and TD124 and now makes them for 301/401. 1/3 the price. I am planning to buy one from him. @noromance thanks for the lead. Anyone here have any experience with SPH bearing?

Just get the SPH. However you should listen and understand the 301 sound with the original bearing first if you can. After a few weeks, swap the bearing. It’s a 15 minute job. Leave run for 6 hours. Then listen to your reference record. Be prepared to be amazed. The same with the idler. It's a blast.