Garrard 301 - Project

@lalitk 

You have a beautiful and well thought out system. Your 301 motor unit has been pristinely restored. I could re-read this thread from beginning to end to find out for myself but I will just ask-where did you source it? I am guessing Woodsong or Classic Hi-Fi UK.

I am bit puzzled that you have a 301 motor unit and a 401 platter. To the best of my knowledge no 301 model was ever produced with a strobe lamp installed and only at some point after the 401 was introduced was a strobed platter offered as an option with a 301 during a short period in which both were in production, but again, without any strobe light retro-fit option. This is a minor detail of no significance; my own grease-bearing 301 has been Frankensteined with an aftermarket heavy duty bearing and a Dobbins platter as mentioned by me earlier in this thread. 

I will again warn you that mounting the 3P is a very difficult proposition if you have no prior experience. Why such an advanced engineer as Vindmantas Triukas would provide such a misleading mounting template with his arms is a mystery. I mounted my second 3P myself but I had to remount it a second time, moving the arm base slightly forward to get into the zone where a typical cartridge could be mounted at optimal overhang. The integral headshells offer rather short cart mounting slots which only aggravates the situation. In this respect that I agree that having rotating leaf type mounting shelves is nice, but at the expense of esthetics, stability, and freedom from unwanted resonance. 

And I will again highly recommend that you look into an outboard power supply designed for induction motors to smooth out the motor operation. 

@fsonicsmith 

I am still learning about 301 and long ways from the finish line. Why my TT came with 401 strobe platter, no idea. I can ask but It’s not important since I never heard a 301 before with a regular platter. I am hoping to establish a baseline with what I’ve got before I go crazy with available upgrade options including outboard PS. I pretty much asked my dealer to resource a high quality 301 rebuilt. Based on initial visual inspection, I am very pleased with the rebuilt by Grail Audio in UK

Thanks for heads up on 3P mounting, really appreciate it. As far mounting 3P, my dealer will be here to help with TT setup. I’ve asked for 3 arm boards, one specifically pre-drilled for 3P.  The plinth pics are uploaded in my virtual system. 

I wanted this to be fun and a very special project. Something, I could possibly treasure and enjoy for years to come. With all the invaluable feedback from each one of you, I am feeling pretty confident….so keep it coming! 

@fsonicsmith 

The platter on @lalitk Garrard 301 is a 301 strobe platter. The 401 Strobe platter is different - it has an indent in the centre about the size of the record label..

The 301 strobe platter was an extra cost upgrade in the last years of the 301 production.

The only downside of the 301 strobe platter is that it is slightly concave, which means a hard mat such as copper, graphite etc are only supported at the edge.

On my 301 I had the 301 strobe platter machined flat so that copper mats were fully supported over the whole surface.

@dover 

You’re spot on about strobe platter surface..I just conducted a ceramic ball test and the ball rolled over towards the center of the platter from its top edge. This is a good piece of info as I was considering a copper mat down the road. Thank you! 

On owned ID TT;s I have had a very pleasant surprise from a 5mm Forex Foam Material.

The same surprise has also been discovered with the 5mm Forex Foam in use on owned DD TT's 

A Friend was quite impressed with the same 5mm Material used on their BD TT, where I gifted them my spare Mat.

The owner of the BD TT, now uses the 5mm Mat on their SP10 R as well.

I bought  2 x 3mm and 2 x 5mm Forex Foam, produced as a TT Mat, where including delivery it was approx' £30.

At the time of Purchase the Material, it was  described as being the same as a Brand known as DAT Mat, which was approx' £100 and the Mat thickness I can not recall for this product.

The 3mm was able to change the Sonic, but also impacted on the SQ.

The 5mm is a different impact, every thing that is extremely attractive is maintained or slightly improved, even when there is a noticeable hint of Richness of Tone with the 5mm used in comparison to a Metal Mat.

The Forex Foam 5mm will work with the Concave Platter.

If moving away from Richness of Tone is attractive, then Metal Mats are able to produce this perception.

In my experiences, the AT 666 Vacuum Mat is the one to produce the perception of being most Transparent/Lean of used Metal Mats.

The Tenuto is next in perception of Transparency/Lean.

The AT 677 Duraluminium Technihard and Micro Seiki Duraluminium are perceived as a hint towards Rich Tone when compared to other Metal Mats.

The Micro Seiki being 8mm Thick, is perceived as the one with the most perception of a Rich Tone, with my experiences of Metal Mats used.

Do not let anybody try and steer one into thinking Mats don't create a perception of Tone.

Do let in the notion, that a Mat of a certain type can be quite a bad inclusion.

As there is the materials, or interface for the material, that creates a end sonic, where much of what is attractive is effected to the point it is perceived as being very deficient and unwanted.

The downside is to learn where the differences are to be found, does mean Differing Materials, Differing Materials Thickness are needing to be experienced in use in the environment the TT is set up in.

The upside is, when the correct interface is found, there is a deep satisfaction to follow.

A lot of Though has gone into what the TT and TA is to be seated on.

Similar thought is also required to discover what is the best for the Vinyl, as the  Source Material and Styli as the Data Extractor to be seated on.