Garrard 301 - Project

In retrospect, I think my advice was rash, as I have no experience with Garrard or with the plinth you did acquire. I can only claim intimate knowledge with Lenco GL75. ( And for the Lenco I made the ridiculous choice of slate for the plinth.) Several others who have contributed to this thread can offer better Garrard advice than I. One point that may be cogent: I believe you’re not using an outboard PS at present. Even if speed is constant under load, a good outboard PS can reduce noise by permitting the TT to maintain speed at lower voltage. Beyond that, the Phoenix Engineering gear offers a feedback mechanism that also helps, albeit the PE stuff may not be compatible with your induction type motor. It works superbly with the Lenco motor, I can attest.

@lewm

I hear you..sourcing a good plinth wouldn’t be easy as the two outlets I know of wouldn’t sell plinth by itself. I may have to look for alternative TT while I work towards perfecting the 301.

Put plinth first on your list that includes platter, bearing, and idler wheel, and I think you’re on the right track.

@noromance @jperry @mdalton @fsonicsmith 

301 is up and running for past 6 days. It does sound pretty darn good with $15K tonearm/cart combo. Love the classic industrial appearance. I am still getting acclimated with its strengths and flaws in stock form and maybe jumping the gun here but I feel this is not a TT that sounds best in its stock form. The inherent vibration or energy from motor and plinth was out of control. I got it tamed for most part by isolating the plinth with IsoAcoustics mini pucks. I realize, a better isolation solution is probably the next step but what can or should do next to eliminate or reduce inherent vibrations. Perhaps, a aftermarket bearing, platter, idler wheel or even a better, denser plinth. 

Appreciate your input. 

“350 LPs is roughly 10% of my LP collection”

@lewm

Thanks for sharing your story and I am sorry to hear about your friend.
40+ years; I can only imagine many sought after jewels and personal favorites in your prized collection. You obviously have been at this much longer than that I have…I do not intend to buying every new record even though it’s very hard to resist at times. I’ve been there with cassette’s , CD’s, DVD, Blu-ray’s and 4K discs. For past few years, I’ve been very selective with physical media. Thanks to my streaming system, which is pretty darn good and helps me tremendously to not open my wallet for every new record being released.

Streaming has open doors to so many incredible musicians and their music. Wish there was enough hours in a day to enjoy more music regardless of how we choose to play or listen.

BTW, yesterday was a fun day setting up my new TT. Still long ways to go as far fine-tuning, new challenges as far TT isolation (getting some feedback from subs) but I’m off to good start…Garrard 301, Reed 3P, Etsuro Bordeaux, and Allnic H-6500 appears to have good synergy and potential. 

@tomic601 Received the photos. Thank you. Audiogon can wait until the fishing season is over. All in good time. 

Lalitk, That does look MUCH more stable. Good choice. 350 LPs is roughly 10% of my LP collection (though I estimate 3000 LPs, not 3500). I’ve got LPs stored in 3 locations on the first floor of our house in two antique cabinets and on some bookshelves in a corner of our library, with LPs displayed on edge, and the bulk are in the basement, in two big cabinets, one of which is the flip type and the other of which displays (about 900) LPs on edge. I found that once the flip type cabinet is nearly full, it is not so easy to "flip" LPs to find what I am looking for (jazz vocal LPs stored in alphabetical order according to artist, flip style). I have come to prefer storing on edge; I sometimes use a LED flashlight to find what I am looking for in the rather dim ambient light, but once you know you are in the right place in the alphabet, it is not so hard to find what you’re after. It took 40+ years and the death of my closest audiophile friend from whom I inherited about 800 LPs I selected from his collection of 6000, to get to ~3000.

We are in business….301 motor is ON and platter is spinning. And is dead quiet!!!!

@noromance Brian - Tried sending update video… some thing about enabling imessage …. 

I will see about updating my system photos on audiogon…. not much appetite given it’s still fishing season…

@lewm 

Matt at WickerWoodWorks offers unlimited customizations. The Tallboy serves dual purpose for me, record storage and RCM station. I am placing my Project RCM on top shelf of Tallboy. And I did not order hairpin legs, instead I went with Lowboy option with two additional record drawers (click on link below),

https://wickerwoodworks.com/products/the-lowboy-turntable-station?_pos=1&_sid=f4252a2a2&_ss=r

TallBoy + LowBoy with 6” wood legs for much sturdier storage solution. 

That thing (Tallboy) holds 350 LPs? Can you optionally configure it so the center section holds additional LPs, instead of a TT plus electronics? I assume you will not mount your Garrard on it; I hope. It does not look sturdy enough for a TT or even possibly for 3 racks full of LPs, I apologize for saying.

@lalitk @tomic601 Yay for "flip!" Jim - need more photos of your recent updates!

You were of course the source of inspiration behind my switch.

“I much, MUCH prefer flip”
@tomic601

Likewise! Now that I recall, we did chat about the record storage. Prather wood works is very high quality. I wanted to maximize storage capacity within in my limited space and retain total flexibility for future expansions. So I choose WickerWoodWorks. Lot of his pieces can be added at later time as your collection grows.

I ordered the Irving Tallboy with 3 12” Cubes, giving me 350 records storage. The Tallboy serves dual purpose for me, record storage plus Record Cleaning Machine work station :-)

https://wickerwoodworks.com/products/the-irving-tallboy?variant=43209131589870

3/4 of my collection in Prather now doing business as Divider… lovely wood library or flip style…. at my advance age…. I much, MUCH prefer flip….. im lacking in any organizational system….

Congrats on the TT project…. i get imense joy from a great thread such as this…

@noromance

I had library style store all along, switching to Flip’ style display bins made life bit easier to store and find a record. You were of course the source of inspiration behind my switch.

I searched a lot and finally found a reseller on Etsy that sells flip style record storage + space for RCM at reasonable price. 

@pindac Indeed. I search or sort my collection in the Discogs database. This always turns up some nuggets. Note that I have my collection stored record store style, not library book style.

exposing Albums in the collection that are easily overlooked

Thank you @noromance and @pindac. 

In the days of the system being in the main living space of the home and there were not too many concerns for the systems security in that set up, (Grandchildren Arrived)

At this time, when myself and wife, were making a time for dedicated listening session. We would on regular occasion, select the whole collection from one of the 26 Letters in the Alphabetically Stored Album Collection.

This selection type, proved good for exposing Albums in the collection that are easily overlooked and encourages a time for the Albums replay to occur. There is always a Gem or Two going to resurface in a Album that has become unfamiliar as a replay.

@lalitk Like the person who can find everything among a seemingly chaotic mess, I know where most albums reside. Seriously, I group jazz, blues, male vocal, female vocal, rock, folk, theatrical, and classical. All artists are grouped together no matter what category they’re in. I don’t use dividers or formal delineation.

Update: Spent last couple of days unboxing / learning about Reed 3P tonearm. It’s a beautiful piece of artwork, well engineered and if I may say so; compliments the iconic Garrard 301 handsomely. The Reed 3P paired with the Garrard 301 is a perfect blend of classic and modern craftsmanship, IMHO.

And, there is Etsuro Bordeaux, EXQUISITE in every conceivable way.

Can’t wait to see how sum of all the pieces above translates transforms my listening experience!

@noromance

How did you catalog your vinyl collection? I just ordered a flip style bin storage and record dividers for my modest collection. I haven’t quite figured out yet if i should organize records alphabetically by artist, categories or by genre. Dividers have blank tabs and I easily print labels and affix on divider tabs 😊

@noromance

Of course I am psyched about adding TT back into my existing rig. Stay tuned for further updates and thanks for joining me on my journey :-)

@lalitk Have you listened to the rig yet, or are you psyching yourself (and us) up for the big reveal?

@gladmo All good. 

Update: The last missing piece of the puzzle is sorted out. Just ordered Etsuro Urushi Bordeaux cart. I will be comparing this cart with Fuuga. Rest of the chain, 

Garrard 301 ➡️ Reed 3P ➡️ Bordeaux / Fuuga ➡️ Allnic H-6500 ➡️ Accuphase E-650 ➡️  Tannoy’s Canterbury. 

Can’t wait to start spinning records again :-) 

Lol! @noromance Okay wiseguy, I gotta admit that was a good one 😁. I hadn't read any of the preceding conversation here to understand what was going on, plus my comment does look way more aggressive than I meant it to be. Promise I won't be "taking care of" anybody over this.

@noromance…you nailed it! 

Thank you both for clarifying. I am kinda stuck with FI-03 IEC as other IEC will not fit. Am empty fuse box feels strange, may be I can use one of those Graphene Sluggo’s @gladmo been raving about…lol! 

Don’t think mine has a fuse.  Starting to feel gypped. lol!  Pix look great!

No fuse on any of mine. I can’t imagine any benefit from adding one. I wire mine directly to the motor make-off block—no IEC etc. connectors—using a vintage flexible tinned copper cable.

@noromance @mdalton @jperry @fsonicsmith 

I have received my plinth and it came with a generic IEC with an integrated 5X20mm fuse holder. I look around and didn’t find any fuse value on Garrard’s. Are you using a fuse with your Garrard? If yes, may I know the fuse value? I am going to replace the cheap IEC with Furutech FI-03 Gold IEC.

@lalitk Indeed. I may have even advised that at one stage! 

@noromance

Good observation! It appears so…my thought process with 301 rebuilt was to keep the tweaks for later stage. I want to hear 301 in its very basic built before tweaking or upgrading to available premium parts like idler, spindle or platter etc etc. I should have everything up and running by Labor Day weekend.

@lalitk Checked out the new 301 and plinth. Looks great. I see Matthew went with the standard rubber idler and not the Audiosilente one.

@lewm 

Appreciate your kind words. Here is rest of the system. I will post new pics once TT setup is completed with all the pieces. 
https://www.audiogon.com/systems/9445

Where is the completed Garrard TT going to go, in the context of the overall system photo? Also, I don't see amplifiers or speakers in your equipment list. Everything you own is pristine and a treat to the eye, including the room itself. You're obviously a man with taste.

Update: Plinth finally shipped after a long 3 months wait. Pics are uploaded in my virtual system. 
https://www.audiogon.com/systems/11092

Update: Herbie’s Matt is here. I am impressed by high quality finish and quick delivery. And 295mm turned out to be perfect size (pics posted on my virtual system). 

@mdalton 

Thanks for catching my mis-calculation. I went ahead and placed an order - 4mm /  thick, 295mm full-size. 

@dover

yeah, I get that, but 11 3/4” is still 298.4mm.  I was responding to the OP’s prior post to make sure he didn’t miscalculate the diameter of his platter.

@mdalton -  @lalitk has a 301, not a 401 - it is a different platter and the 301 strobe platter does not have a lip.

btw, 11 3/4” converts to 298.4mm, not 279.4mm…

@mdalton 

Thank you for the clarification. I think I know where to go from here. 

Just measured everything.  Inside the lip, my platter measures betw 288 and 289mm (so 292, lip included, seems right).  The mat I purchased from Herbie's measures about 288, and fits inside the lip perfectly.  Having said that, my email records show that I asked what size to order and they said 285.  I can't find an invoice, but I don't believe I did anything different from what they suggested, so that tells me that their 285 may actually be a little bigger.  Sorry for confusion.  

@mdalton 

Thanks for sharing. I was considering Herbie’s Way Excellent II 4mm thick, 280mm (diameter). The 301 strobe platter is 11-3/4” which roughly translates to 279.4mm. Does your matt over hangs the platter? This is bit confusing as Herbie’s recommends the following, 

• 292mm (11.5") diameter. For tables using an 11.5" mat like Technics SP10, SL-1300, and bevelled-platter Garrard turntables.Great for Luxman PD–series turntables.

I used 285mm, 4mm thick, recommended by Herbie’s.

@mdalton 

Thank you for the endorsement on Herbie’s mat. I received a bare platter so I need to start somewhere; given reasonable cost of the Herbie’s mat, I said why not. I have bought Herbie’s products in the past and they offer good value and performance.  I will read up on the review! 

@lalitk 

I have the Herbie’s mat on my 401.  Honestly, didn’t do A/B with stock mat, but I love overall balance of my setup.  The Audiophile Man just did a review of the new Origin Live Stratas mat - - compares it to at least 6 other mats. Worth checking out.

@mdalton 

Thank you. I have used Gaia’s under my B&W 800D2..good stuff. 

@dover 

Thank you for chiming in….you have given me lot of insight to digest and I really appreciate it. For starters, I am considering a mat from Herbie’s that is made from open-cell silicone foam so I should be ok with slightly concave platter. The other mat under consideration is Stein Music Carbon Signature. 

The 3mm CTC platter is what I had in mind along with their updated Brass Spindle. And thank you for sharing your experience on replacing the spindle…I thought it would be bit cumbersome to tackle this job once motor and tonearm is mounted so I wanted to see if I should do this upgrade now and be done with it 😊