Best idler drive I owned was a Dual 1219. Used for years, then served duty with my son A great table in its day and have fond memories of this venerable performer.
The Hub: Want a Garrard idler-drive?
In my Lenco entry, I mentioned the trickle-down effect that occurs when an object of desire becomes too dear. 301s and TD-124s become too costly, folks start looking at alternative idler-wheel tables, like Lenco...or the Garrard seen here.
The builder/seller started with what he calls a "Lab A II" changer; I'm familiar with the early '60's Type A and the later Lab 80 and 95, so I'm not sure what this thing was. FWIW, the Type A sold for $79.50 back in 1964, while the competing Dual 1008 was $94.50; believe it or not, 2009 dollar-equivalents are $572 and $680, respectively.
The "A" was a familiar sight worldwide, made in the zillions by Garrard, and memorable for its white-plastic "claw" changer mechanism and headshell. All that cheesy stuff was removed from this project, which is a good thing.
Member "Ekpaphp" has gone the high-mass route with the base, using solid poplar topped with a "dense epoxy ground stone plate", which sounds rather like a Kenwood KD-500. He's added a Sugden Connoisseur SAU2 arm, which was a decent arm, although I haven't seen one since I visited Frank Van Alstine's basement in 1978. Throw in a B&O cart, and you've got a unique package ready to go for only $169. Quite a deal, which is why it sold almost instantly.
I'm often impressed by the vision and dedication shown by our member-builders, and I certainly am by this effort. Ekpaphp, ol' buddy, I think you could've sold it for double what you did. Nice work.
That's all from your tryptophan-addled blogger. Think of it as "Blog Light".
The builder/seller started with what he calls a "Lab A II" changer; I'm familiar with the early '60's Type A and the later Lab 80 and 95, so I'm not sure what this thing was. FWIW, the Type A sold for $79.50 back in 1964, while the competing Dual 1008 was $94.50; believe it or not, 2009 dollar-equivalents are $572 and $680, respectively.
The "A" was a familiar sight worldwide, made in the zillions by Garrard, and memorable for its white-plastic "claw" changer mechanism and headshell. All that cheesy stuff was removed from this project, which is a good thing.
Member "Ekpaphp" has gone the high-mass route with the base, using solid poplar topped with a "dense epoxy ground stone plate", which sounds rather like a Kenwood KD-500. He's added a Sugden Connoisseur SAU2 arm, which was a decent arm, although I haven't seen one since I visited Frank Van Alstine's basement in 1978. Throw in a B&O cart, and you've got a unique package ready to go for only $169. Quite a deal, which is why it sold almost instantly.
I'm often impressed by the vision and dedication shown by our member-builders, and I certainly am by this effort. Ekpaphp, ol' buddy, I think you could've sold it for double what you did. Nice work.
That's all from your tryptophan-addled blogger. Think of it as "Blog Light".