Garrard 401 9" tonearm

[hifi_dave]

if you can find a Technoarm then that could be considered. In saying that I have just looked on ebay and there is a new one for sale at almost a grand which sounds a bit pricey for what is basically a moditied RB 250.




Andy

A brand spanking new Tecnoarm is only £705, so I can't see one on E-Bay selling for "a grand".

The Tecnoarm is excellent by any measure and reasonably priced.

[ovlov854]

Audiomods Classic or Series 5
Also Audio Note 1 V2

[montesquieu]

Personally I wouldn't use a modern-looking arm (such as one derived from the RB250) on a classic deck like a 401.

I use an AT-1503 MkI on mine and it's superb as well as in-keeping with the look of the thing. Other older ATs like the AT12P and 1005 and 1009 are are good options as well.

The PU7 previously suggested, especially in chrome finish is a modern arm with a classic look and also well worth considering if funds allow. The new Jelco TK-850S is another sharp looker with excellent performance.

[Ali Tait]

A brand spanking new Tecnoarm is only £705, so I can't see one on E-Bay selling for "a grand".

The Tecnoarm is excellent by any measure and reasonably priced.

The Mission blew away the Tecnoarm I was using before it to my ears. The Tecnoarm sounded tonally grey and lifeless compared to the 774.

Considering you can pick up a good 774 for about £300 makes it a stonking bargain IMO.

[da2222]

Very useful and informative answers, many thanks to you all. The Mission tonearm is pretty tough to come by it appears but sounds like a bit of a bargain...

[da2222]

Well done on landing a 401 Drew even though you really wanted a 301, I don't think you will be disappointed, I honestly find it difficult to choose between them in terms of SQ.


Be nice to see some pics when you finally get it up and running.

Andy

Cheers Andy....Currently having a full service with Ray at Classic. Original finish was excellent but I've plumped for a full stripping with hammertone finish. Fingers crossed!

[Andy831]

Ray will do a storming job, he did my 301 last year and its fantastic now and his place is only 10 miles away which makes it even better.

[Andy831]

A brand spanking new Tecnoarm is only £705, so I can't see one on E-Bay selling for "a grand".

The Tecnoarm is excellent by any measure and reasonably priced.

I had to do a double take myself Dave as I thought it was a bit pricey but the proof is in the pudding as they say

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Michell-T...4AAOSwhdZadioz

I did not read the advert so maybe its coming with a cartridge or an armboard?

Andy

[Ammonite Audio]

Tecnoarms are indeed grey, lifeless and dismal sounding things - I bought two on separate occasions before learning that the expensive way.

I’ll reinforce what Tom said earlier - the choice of arm depends very much on what sort of ‘look’ Drew wants, but also the cartridges he is planning to use, and also whether he wants the convenience of swappable headshells. Within reason you can get away with using an arm having a bit too much mass with most cartridges (excepting very high compliance MMs), but use an arm that has very low effective mass like the Mission 774 and most MC cartridges will be fairly unhappy because they usually have stiffer suspension. An analogy here is a small and light car (the tonearm) sitting on stiff springs (the cartridge suspension) - the car will buck around all over the place and not follow the bumps in the road (the groove modulations) securely. In this analogy we are after a combination that lets the wheels move freely up and down over the bumps while keeping the car body still and stable, like a Citroen DS. Concerns about record warps aside, a heavier arm will in contrast mostly let the cartridge track the record securely. I would personally always go for an arm of at least medium effective mass, eg 15g or more, because that opens up a much wider range of nice sounding cartridges.

Of course, higher mass arm tubes can be bought for the Mission 774, but the standard article is very low mass, and will therefore only favour very high compliance cartridges, and that pretty much excludes most quality MCs.

I hope that helps rather than confuses!

The Mission blew away the Tecnoarm I was using before it to my ears. The Tecnoarm sounded tonally grey and lifeless compared to the 774.

Considering you can pick up a good 774 for about £300 makes it a stonking bargain IMO.

[Barry]

Tecnoarms are indeed grey, lifeless and dismal sounding things - I bought two on separate occasions before learning that the expensive way.

I’ll reinforce what Tom said earlier - the choice of arm depends very much on what sort of ‘look’ Drew wants, but also the cartridges he is planning to use, and also whether he wants the convenience of swappable headshells. Within reason you can get away with using an arm having a bit too much mass with most cartridges (excepting very high compliance MMs), but use an arm that has very low effective mass like the Mission 774 and most MC cartridges will be fairly unhappy because they usually have stiffer suspension. An analogy here is a small and light car (the tonearm) sitting on stiff springs (the cartridge suspension) - the car will buck around all over the place and not follow the bumps in the road (the groove modulations) securely. In this analogy we are after a combination that lets the wheels move freely up and down over the bumps while keeping the car body still and stable, like a Citroen DS. Concerns about record warps aside, a heavier arm will in contrast mostly let the cartridge track the record securely. I would personally always go for an arm of at least medium effective mass, eg 15g or more, because that opens up a much wider range of nice sounding cartridges.

Of course, higher mass arm tubes can be bought for the Mission 774, but the standard article is very low mass, and will therefore only favour very high compliance cartridges, and that pretty much excludes most quality MCs.

I hope that helps rather than confuses!

You can always add mass to a low-mass arm, whereas you can't remove mass from a high-mass arm.