Dear Jonathan, The Lenco is a "great sounding classic" too. There are those (not me, necessarily, because I haven't done the experiment) who would argue that there is not much difference between a well tuned Garrard 301 and a Lenco L75 in stock form (except you have to throw out the Lenco tonearm and use the same tonearm and cartridge on both tables). But you raise an interesting semantic issue as regards when do you stop calling your turntable a Garrard OR a Lenco, if either have been subjected to extensive parts replacements. It's not something I would lose sleep over, as long as the upgrades actually do improve performance.
Mcmprov, In addition to the Steve Dobbins and Shindo products, there is or was also a machinist in Australia who makes (or made) replacement (solid aluminum) platters and bearing assemblies for the 301. I've seen photos and the workmanship looks excellent. Total cost was under $2000. He sent me an e-mail last year but seems to have disappeared thereafter, and I've seen no mention of his product since then on any threads. I can probably dig up his old e-mail, if you're interested in following up. |
Not sure why you would think of the "new top of the line" Thorens (whatever that table may be), over all the other myriad of possibilities, in lieu of the Garrard 301. Perhaps I and others shouldn't have distracted you from what was a good idea of yours in the first place. The Shindo and Steve Dobbins platters must be very expensive, and so is the Australian product, if it's still available. I would suggest you forget all about platters and just get yourself an idler (preferably Garrard or Lenco) before you spend a great deal of money on another belt drive. If you are not happy with a well tuned Garrard or Lenco in a decent plinth, you can probably get your money back out of it and go forward with another belt drive at a later time. If the cost of a professionally made plinth for an idler is also daunting, then perhaps you'd want to build one for yourself, for starters. If you are partial to Thorens products, then go for a TD124. In any case, I encourage you to take the leap. BTW, a basic used Lenco is considerably cheaper than a Garrard 301/401 OR a TD124. |
Logenn, I have to ask, but you don't really have to answer - which plinth did you ultimately buy, the one from Porter or the one from Dobbins? You cleverly omitted to mention that, and I can understand why you might not want to offend either party or appear to boost one vs the other. I quite agree that they are both worthy in all ways.
My favorite name for a law firm, their sign seen by me personally, in London: Reason and Doolittle. |
I feel the same way as Mike. This is a fun adventure that does not really cost much in the long run. Of course, I don't have a Rockport or anything comparable to fall back on. What got me going was the surprising sonics of my Lenco L75 in a custom designed CLD plinth. Holy cow! I figured if the Lenco, my first sample of a vintage tt, sounds so good, I ought to do some further investigation. Nandric, if you can bring yourself to make a dispassionate assessment, you too will be surprised at the music that can be made by these nostalgia-provoking pieces of gear. (I think all this is off-topic; sorry.) Two years ago, I thought those who tinkered with idlers and DD tables were interesting troglodytes. |
Nandric, I get it (finally), you are a big fan of Pierre Lurne' (hope I've spelled it correctly) and his turntable designs, which I think are suspended, belt-drive types. That's fine. In this case, the question of what upgrades work best for the Garrard 301/401 probably does not really interest you. As for me, I hope you will forgive me for saying so, but I heard some of his very early commercial products (probably 10 to 20 years ago) and did not like them at all, as compared to the belt-driven competition at that time. His products are probably a lot better developed by now, so my memory of their sonics is probably irrelevant. But in this thread we are talking about Garrard idler drives. |
I would agree that the Kuzma Stabi Reference is a superb choice. Don't recall the model name of the Lurne' that I once auditioned, but I do think it was an early effort. Anyway, peace be with you. |
Nandric, Great post. You've added a little high class culture to my day. That Richelieu was a card. (Means "comedian" in English slang.) But don't worry about Mike; he knows very well what he is doing and why. |
In other words, Nandric, messing about with platters is good, clean fun. Plus, having two turntables that both sound great but are qualitatively different from each other, is also fun. |
Kozzmo, so whose platter and bearing are you using, or is it a secret? |
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