My local dealer puts 301, 401 and Thorens 124 tables into ultra expensive systems. He likes the Ortofon tonearms with these tables. This past weekend, he was showing off a extremely pretty to look at 301 in a gloss veneer plinth and a brand new Tri-planar tonearm. That is the one quite expensive arm he likes and a customer was interested in it. When Koetsu folded up shop, he bought as many cartridges that were still available that he could find. For this table, he used an Urushi Vermillion from his remaining stock. The system with this table in it sounded fantastic--bold, big and lush.
Garrard 301 - Project
I have been contemplating for a while which turntable to pursue given so many choices. Every time I look around, I just can’t help drooling over a fully restored Garrard 301 or 401. Aside from being an idler-drive, I keep reading and hearing about their unique ability to reproduce music with its sense of drive and impact thus making them very desirable to own. And with available meticulous restoration services and gorgeous plinth options, what’s not to like, right!
Would you please share your experience, good and pitfalls (if any) with a restored Garrard 301 to avoid before I go down this path.
And what about the IEC inlet and power cord, would they be of any significance. My two choices would be Furutech FI-09 NCF or FI-06 (G) inlets.
I have already purchased a Reed 3P Cocobolo 10.5” with Finewire C37+Cryo tonearm/interconnect phono cable with KLEI RCA plugs option.
Still exploring Cart Options, so please feel free to share your choice of cart with Garrard 301 or 401.
And lastly, I would like to extend my gratitude to @fsonicsmith, @noromance @mdalton for the inspiration.
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“How does 301 at this point compare with the SME” Too early to make any assessments cause 301 is not completely dialed in. But I do see myself enjoying 301, for a very long time. SME 15AV is a great sounding TT, much quieter and robust than the 301 on hand. And it has lot to do with the plinth. If there is a weak link, it’s the plinth. I cannot recommend DAS Acoustics for 301/401 plinths to anyone…the interactions, quality of build fell way short of my expectations.
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The individual who I reference for materials worthwhile considering for Plinth Builds does the materials testing. This same individual has made it known that a Modeller Putty known as Newplast, is excellent as a substance for improving the Damping Properties of materials in use that don't measure with an attractive Damping Factor. A treatment with this within the rebated area of the Plinth and concealed underneath might be the way to extract more of what is being looked for. |
Update; Added Viablue spikes and TriBase to plinith (found them in my closet). Gain another 3dB in volume without further introducing any vibrations. I am now at volume where I can comfortably listen to the record’s. Now the big question, invest further in a SRA type platform or pursue one of SMD Acoustics Bespoke Plinth‘s https://www.peakhifi.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecom.cgi?Command=ShowProduct&db_pid=882 And bite the bullet also upgrade the bearing, https://www.peakhifi.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecom.cgi?Command=ShowProduct&db_pid=718 |
- 197 posts total