Garrard 301

I can't speak to the restoration firm and I have never personally owned a Garrard. That said, I have heard them in many systems and love their sound -- big, open, dynamic -- really a giant killer. They usually need a good restorer and definitely require an excellent plinth.

David Beatles at Hammertone Audio (Allnic) like Garrard 301 & 401 a lot and I had personally listened to a few of them at his place, with different tonearm/cart combos and several plinth designs.

I had a 301 for a short time, and currently living happily with a like new 401 I bought from a guy in England. I built the plinth and arm pod myself, not as beautiful as the ones posted above, but I am happy with it.

The 401 is very similar to the 301, here's mine

thanks Gavin. mine did not require any restoration because everything was like new condition when I got it, but I upgraded to ceramic bearing.

other companies known to make nice plinths for 301 are Oswald Mills Audio


and of course Shindo


I think Shindo charge similar $$$ to what Artisan Fidelity charge, $20k for full system including arm/cart.

Ding, you should introduce Gavin to Setup2, Joe3rp and Dante.

yes Jack...

Gavin, don't be surprised if one day you find out that half of G301's still in existance belong to Jack's buddies in the Phils. audiophile community... they make very beautiful plinths out there too.

go to the house of the three gentlemen mentioned by Jack and you will find at least 2

Here you go. These are Dante's. The plinths were built and finished by Joey. Joey milled the brass arm boards as well. Nowhere near 20 grand either. Not even half of that for a grease bearing with a plinth but no arm.



These pics were taken some years ago when they were delivered. The portable Costco table has since been replaced with something sturdier. LOL!

I think this one is more recent, but with the TD124


here's another work by Joey

If I did not build one myself, I would probably order one from Joey, or Larry.

They use really exotic wood there, I once tried to source same wood here, from a dealer who buys exotic wood from all over the world, and was shocked to find out how much those Narra and Kamagong cost per lb here.

Yeah, I'd do Joey for lacquer and Larry for stains.

David B. once told me that Garrard 301, 401 and other well engineered tonearms are among your best investments in this hobby, as their value will tend to appreciate... not many other audio toys can claim the same... and once they are properly setup/tweaked, they can sound pretty good, not as good as your 5 digit rigs, but can satisfy most.

Idlers have this thing with big tone. I kinda think of them, with exception to perhaps the TD124 which actually has a belt, as the turntable equivalent of Octal tubes. While not necessarily my cup of tea, I can definitely see the attraction given thaeir sense of propulsive-ness and solidity. All the 301s and 401s I've heard have a "fun factor".

I was able to source a rare tonearm in excellent condition from a HiFi-dealer and restorer in the Philippines (Renato Rivo), and in the process discovered the fantastic work carried out in the community on tube amp's and classic turntables, simply incredible work.

This link is turntable eye-candy if you have the vintage bug that provides me with endless enthusiasm for HiFi, starts off slow, and then just gets better and better. There are some master-plinths there, and quite a few by Joey, who has been mentioned in the thread.

http://www.wiredstate.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=14637

Hi Soundproof, glad to know you are a fellow Wiredstater. That's where me, Jack, Phil, Mullard & a few othes meet as well.

Rene Rivo is a legend there. The effort he put in every restoration job is simply incredible, the beauty of his point to point wiring jobs are among the best I'd seen.

Regarding Joey's Garrard plinths - they are relatively inexpensive compared to the other international alternatives, even if you factor in the freight factor.

Rivo's thread of the tube-amp's he builds is incredible. I'm thinking of ordering a full set from him for my new listening room, for the sheer pleasure of owning something that this much craftsmanship and know-how has gone into.

What a small world! I just got off the phone with Rene before logging on. He's built quite a few things for me, the most recent a SEP 300B using Audionote OPTs and V-Cap Copper Foils.

http://www.wiredstate.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8384&start=380

In audio shows we are always neighbors with Joey of Harana (with Eric (ambel), Tonyboy (detubo) and Ayie (gaucho))and the Setup crew (Joseph Esmilla of JELabs, Joel Villanueva(Setup1 and 2)) because we constantly drink each other's booze and eat each other's food. LOL.

JackD201 said:

What a small world! I just got off the phone with Rene before logging on. He's built quite a few things for me, the most recent a SEP 300B using Audionote OPTs and V-Cap Copper Foils.

http://www.wiredstate.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8384&start=380

In audio shows we are always neighbors with Joey of Harana (with Eric (ambel), Tonyboy (detubo) and Ayie (gaucho))and the Setup crew (Joseph Esmilla of JELabs, Joel Villanueva(Setup1 and 2)) because we constantly drink each other's booze and eat each other's food. LOL.

Click to expand...

The world is definitely a small one. I came across Rivo during an internet search for a particular tonearm, and quickly found wiredstate, and got immersed in the quality of the audiophile circles in the Philippines. Acquaintances have made subsequent orders, and I'll be getting in touch with Rivo later this year, in connection with some plans I have for bespoke tube amp's. Would be most keen to hear more of your experiences in that respect.

And we're still on topic, I'd think, as it would be possible to get Garrard 301s with perfect plinths from the Philippines!

I'm sure Gavin aka es347 won't mind

Rene uses classic circuits and will use whatever parts you will provide or ask him to source for you. What I love Rene for is, as dimfer pointed out, is his fanatical attention to his point to point work. The man won't stop until his builds are dead quiet, at least to the point where practically only unavoidable thermionic noise is left.



For this build I provided the caps, AN OPTs, internal wiring and binding posts. Power Ts are Tamuras. Circuit is AN. The tubes shown are his own used for testing. My tubes are WE reissues since my 1950's WEs measure all over the place and finding a matched quad of these is impossible these days. I use these amps with 96db sensitive Ribbon Hybrids from Tony Moore in Australia. Biased a bit conservatively the 15 watts in practical use is more than enough for relaxed listening with lots of inner detail and textural layering. The whole project cost me about 3 thousand dollars. I'm not saying it sounds as good as or the same as a real AN at 10 times the price but I will say it's good enough for me not to want one.

Another builder of note is Rod Teope aka Mang Rod whose products go under the brand name TrodT. Rod cooks up his own circuits and hand winds his own transformers. His only issue has been with hum. Past customers never really demanded less noise. These days however his customers have become more and more demanding (can you say Dimfer? LOL) and he now puts lots more energy in that department. The prototypes of dimfer's parallel GM70s were tested in my main system. It was very good but noisy. By the time Dimfer got his production version you had to put your ear to the speakers to hear the noise. I'll give him a few more months and he should hopefully be down to thermionics and RFi.

Joey's plinths are based on the Shindos. Joey is another guy who is fanatical about detail. Joey is a businessman and woodworking is just his passion. He is however a Mechanical Engineer as well so he definitely knows his power tools. He makes some very good bass enclosures of his own designs as well as plinths. It's a good thing he does TRX like a madman because he hand polishes his lacquers and we know what kind of elbow grease that entails.