Garrard 401 now completed! ... and most of the bits for it off the forum :)

[montesquieu]

Got a Garrard 401 motor unit from Ali Tait a few weeks back .. finally as of today it's now in its plinth :)

Arm is an AT-1010 sourced from Jerry (originally from phonomac I believe), with an AT-7V cartridge (superb low compliance MM) from mad-moon. Fitted in the original heavy AT headshell this is an utterly perfect match for this arm - synergy indeed. Tonearm cable is one I had kicking around from Audio Origami. The plinth came from Austria/eBay, very modestly priced for the quality.

Motor unit needs a bit of TLC, it lost some bearing oil on the way down from the Auld Country, I've topped it up but will give it all a good clean out when a new gasket arrives in a day or so - I think it needs a good bit of running, the wheel is a bit noisy/uneven but I suspect that will settle down with a bit of play as the rubber seems OK (not hardened or anything) - maybe just needs to spin for a while after a period of not being used.

The sound has been getting better and better even in the couple of hours of play that it's had - reminds me of everything I like about Garrards, full in the bass, very musical, enjoyable. The big surprise has been the arm. It never seemed that happy on the Technics it arrived on but it's just right here, it's a really lovely, high quality thing, beautifully made and engineered. A real sleeper I think - at 16g mass it must have been a bit of an anomaly in its era, coming out just as super-lightweight arms and high compliance cartridges were all the rage, it must have been hard at the time to partner it optimally as all the big name 'favourites' were high compliance, this needs something in the medium-low compliance area.

Garrard bolts came from eBay, and from the local hardware store a hole cutter to do the armboard, and a tubular spanner to do up the nuts ... I don't know if this minimal bit of effort really qualifies it as a DIY project as all I've done is assemble it, wire it up, and set it up. Nice bit of fun though and an interesting contrast to the TD124 MkII.

http://i.imgur.com/t8kBRtp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XEqPzA3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/afbu1g6.jpg

[Bigman80]

That look the business, mate. Im really taken with that. Well done!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Ali Tait]

Nice Tom, glad it's doing the business.

[montesquieu]

Spoke too soon. Left it running when I went out to the supermarket. Not running when I got back :( Now to diagnose .... didn't seem to have overheated .... wiring looks ok ... bit puzzled actually.

[Roy S]

Check the speed adjustment magnet isn't fouling the flywheel, that's what happened with mine.


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[montesquieu]

Check the speed adjustment magnet isn't fouling the flywheel, that's what happened with mine.


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Unfortuantely no .... seems free enough.. also just been through all the wiring but all seems fine. Nothing burnt either that I can see. It's a mystery!

[Bigman80]

Unfortuantely no .... seems free enough.. also just been through all the wiring but all seems fine. Nothing burnt either that I can see. It's a mystery!
Fuse? I spent hours testing mine ages ago and it was the fuse lol

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[montesquieu]

I tried a different mains cable already ... is there an onboard fuse somewhere?

[montesquieu]

Fuse? I spent hours testing mine ages ago and it was the fuse lol

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Genius - yes it was a fuse - there was one fitted in the plinth IEC socket. Huge thanks.

Why it blew I don't know but at least I can watch out for any issues now.

Cheers Oliver!

[Ali Tait]

Good to hear Tom, would have been surprised if there was a problem with the unit, it's never given me any problems.

[montesquieu]

Good to hear Tom, would have been surprised if there was a problem with the unit, it's never given me any problems.

Been delighted with it Ali, quick rub with a damp cloth you'd never imagine it was 40+ years old. Sounding fab earlier on as well.

[Ali Tait]

Yeah, never would have sold it if I didn't have a NOS one.

[Bigman80]

Genius - yes it was a fuse - there was one fitted in the plinth IEC socket. Huge thanks.

Why it blew I don't know but at least I can watch out for any issues now.

Cheers Oliver!
😀

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[Bigman80]

Genius - yes it was a fuse - there was one fitted in the plinth IEC socket. Huge thanks.

Why it blew I don't know but at least I can watch out for any issues now.

Cheers Oliver!
I had the same issue. Absolutely no reason to blow at all

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[julesd68]

I think the whole combo of deck, plinth and arm looks very handsome indeed ...

How would you describe the difference in presentation between that and the 124?

[montesquieu]

I think the whole combo of deck, plinth and arm looks very handsome indeed ...

How would you describe the difference in presentation between that and the 124?

The difference is less than I expected from memory but I haven't owned a Garrard since about 2009 and I'm probably a lot better at setup and matching these days.. Both have that marvellous sense of drive and rhythm you get with an idler ... at the absolute margins the Thorens is a shade more articulated in the bass, the Garrard fuller and more robust, but really what they have in common is far more than divides.

That AT tonearm is doing fabulously well with my stable of low compliance MC cartridges, SPU Royal N is very happy on this deck (with Angus's sleeve on the counterweight), the Miyajima Madake likewise.

[Spectral Morn]

Got a Garrard 401 motor unit from Ali Tait a few weeks back .. finally as of today it's now in its plinth :)

Arm is an AT-1010 sourced from Jerry (originally from phonomac I believe), with an AT-7V cartridge (superb low compliance MM) from mad-moon. Fitted in the original heavy AT headshell this is an utterly perfect match for this arm - synergy indeed. Tonearm cable is one I had kicking around from Audio Origami. The plinth came from Austria/eBay, very modestly priced for the quality.

Motor unit needs a bit of TLC, it lost some bearing oil on the way down from the Auld Country, I've topped it up but will give it all a good clean out when a new gasket arrives in a day or so - I think it needs a good bit of running, the wheel is a bit noisy/uneven but I suspect that will settle down with a bit of play as the rubber seems OK (not hardened or anything) - maybe just needs to spin for a while after a period of not being used.

The sound has been getting better and better even in the couple of hours of play that it's had - reminds me of everything I like about Garrards, full in the bass, very musical, enjoyable. The big surprise has been the arm. It never seemed that happy on the Technics it arrived on but it's just right here, it's a really lovely, high quality thing, beautifully made and engineered. A real sleeper I think - at 16g mass it must have been a bit of an anomaly in its era, coming out just as super-lightweight arms and high compliance cartridges were all the rage, it must have been hard at the time to partner it optimally as all the big name 'favourites' were high compliance, this needs something in the medium-low compliance area.

Garrard bolts came from eBay, and from the local hardware store a hole cutter to do the armboard, and a tubular spanner to do up the nuts ... I don't know if this minimal bit of effort really qualifies it as a DIY project as all I've done is assemble it, wire it up, and set it up. Nice bit of fun though and an interesting contrast to the TD124 MkII.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/Garrard401-AT1010-AT7V_zpstzhthsur.jpg

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/garrard2_zpsmnhqig6e.jpg

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/garrard3_zpsjvpndgxk.jpg

Is that a DAS Acoustics plinth ?

[montesquieu]

Is that a DAS Acoustics plinth ?

Yup. Superb VFM.

I asked for one of the armboards to be SME-cut but forgot to tell them that the AT arm is 225 mounting distance, not 214 of a regular SME ... so I had to go cut a hole myself in one of the spare ones. Remarkably I didn't bugger it up :) not my strong suit it has to be said. Was well chuffed with myself.

If I were to have any criticism, it's that the paint is a bit soft and marks easily if you aren't careful. But you can't fault the value at all.

[Spectral Morn]

Yup. Superb VFM.

I asked for one of the armboards to be SME-cut but forgot to tell them that the AT arm is 225 mounting distance, not 214 of a regular SME ... so I had to go cut a hole myself in one of the spare ones. Remarkably I didn't bugger it up :) not my strong suit it has to be said. Was well chuffed with myself.

If I were to have any criticism, it's that the paint is a bit soft and marks easily if you aren't careful. But you can't fault the value at all.

Useful to know regarding the softness of the paint finish.

[User211]

My god Tom you have achieved the impossible!

I usually look at 401s in various plinths and the mismatch between the plinth styling and the deck makes them look goddam awful. However, piano black actually looks great:) Well discovered.

[Firebottle]

+1 to that Justin.

Looks fabulous.

[HackneyRF]

I'd concur with the last two posts Tom, the deck and plinth looks a well thought out and perfect match. Very complementary. Lovely!

[montesquieu]

My god Tom you have achieved the impossible!

I usually look at 401s in various plinths and the mismatch between the plinth styling and the deck makes them look goddam awful. However, piano black actually looks great:) Well discovered.

Thanks Justin!


Useful to know regarding the softness of the paint finish.

To be fair it only arrived on Friday so it's barely dry I would guess, it may harden in the coming days.

[Spectral Morn]

Thanks Justin!



To be fair it only arrived on Friday so it's barely dry I would guess, it may harden in the coming days.

Keep us posted regarding that.

[rigger67]

Beautiful finish. Looks really classy.

If I could, I think I'd coat my entire flat in piano black :D

[ovlov854]

Fabulous looking piece of kit Tom
Sexy 912 in the background!!

[julesd68]

That AT tonearm is doing fabulously well with my stable of low compliance MC cartridges, SPU Royal N is very happy on this deck (with Angus's sleeve on the counterweight), the Miyajima Madake likewise. Yes it is a fine piece of engineering - I remember being very impressed when Angus had it on his Technics ...

[montesquieu]

I've just replaced the photobucket images with imgur ones - Photobucket has pulled the plug on free pic hosting, all my pics everywhere have simultaneously vanished.

Well they aren't getting any money from me - been getting worse and worse in recent months anyway with popups and malware and requiring adblocker to be disabled before access is granted. I guess all good things come to an end and there's nothing free any more .. if they'd done it in a different way they might have got some cash off me but active wind-up followed by extortion is simply not on.

[User211]

Try Microsoft OneDrive Tom. 5GB free and it works really quickly.

To plant pictures in here you need to generate an embed code but that is easy enough to find and do. But it is still light years better than Photobucket.

[petrat]

Lovely looking 401, Tom.
I messed around with platter mats on mine ... glass, cork, tenuto gunmetal, foam, neoprene, etc ... and eventually found I was actually quite content with the original hard rubber jobbie :rolleyes:
OTOH, something that did seem to make a significant improvement was not tightening up the mounting nuts on the deck ... just 'resting' it on the plinth, if you see what I mean.

[Qwin]

Very nice, the whole combination just looks so right.