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Help me buy a Garrard

Friends,
I was almost about to pull the trigger on a EMT 948/950 from Mr.Dusch (EMT engineer). However I have never heard them so I was taking some time. In the mean time I heard a couple of other vintage turntables and among them the Garrard 301 sounded terrific to me. The Garrard I heard was installed in decent wooden plinth (probably ply), nothing exotic though. Now that I am thinking of getting one there seems to be various options to get a Garrard TT:

1. Buy a good 301 off ebay and get a decent birch ply plinth built and ready to go!

2. Same as option 1 but also do the kokomo bearing upgrade and the Loricraft PSU upgrade.

3. Get one of the current Garrard flag bearers (Loricraft, Audio grail, OMA etc) to build you a 301 based TT with the same mods as mentioned in option 2.

4. Finally get an exotic fully built, modded 301 from Steve Dobbins or Artisan Fidelity or may be Albert Porter. I see that they change even the platter and mods to the Garrard. Here I am concerned that it may ultimately alter the overall sound more towards the modern side. I am not really after that. Some improvements to the overall noise floor and soundstaging is fine but taking it too far may ultimately get me only half the Garrard sound and other half the modder's sound.

My question is, what is the right way of doing a Garrard for a first timer and non-diyer like me considering that I want my Garrard to sound like a very good Garrard in the first place ?

If I just do good birch ply plinth and get a clean 301 to go with it, how far am I done ? Will a Dobbins plinth be a much higher grade of an upgrade ?

I currently use an Immedia RPM2 turntable which is already very good so with the Garrard I want to start at a certain acceptable level.
pani
pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Guys, I am looking at the Audio Grail restored Garards, the only doubt I have is, after they done all the restoration will it sound like an original Garrard ? When they restore they will be changing parts, polishing some parts and other such stuff. Will they have original parts to replace ? If not then they will be using parts that are re-manufactured. Ultimately after all the work will there be any change in the signature sound ?

After all I can always find a good cond nicely running Garrard sold by one of the local audiophiles, with the same good old predictable Garrard sound. Will there be any deviation with Grail units ?
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,862 posts
 
No. Adding a non standard platter mat could change the sound more than what they do.
rugyboogie
199 posts
 
Very happy with my Steve Dobbins Garrard 301.
Have his custom 301 copper top platter that takes the performance to another level.
Good luck in your quest.
dkarmeli
334 posts
 
This is a rare thread on Audiogon where almost all everyone is in
agreement. Seeing the no. of mods available for Garrards I thought that I'd
be alone in not liking any of them.

Pani, it depends on the condition of the unit being restored, some need
more work than others and some original parts are impossible come by, tell
Grail or whoever you decide to purchase from what you want and they
should accommodate you.

david
pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Thanks every one for your free flowing comments.

Now the million dollar question, which version is safe buy for a first timer garrard user like me, grease bearing or oil bearing ?
I have heard couple of garrards but do not know which versions were they. My question is purely from the sonic point of view and not from the collectors view. Which version is easier to buy blind and be happy considering that I am not exactly coming from a vintage system ?

My current system is based on a pair of Tannoy turnberry SE speakers and Wavac amplification. It is revealing yet with a certain natural warmth.

Please suggest.
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