Garrard 301 bearing upgrades??

[Bigbird]

Hi all, im going to be putting together a 301 for my next project . Its going to be a bells and whistles jobby, complete refurb with all the best bits i can find to compliment my Reed tonearm.

Theres lots of stuff out there about the benefits of changing some of the stock parts like the idler, eddy brake , oversized platters etc for modern equivalents that make it run smoother and quieter, but im wondering if anybody has any recommendations or knowledge on bearing upgrades?? Which are the best ones and who makes them as i can only find the SMD bearing on Peak hifi which at 600 notes seems expensive for a machined case and spindle and a couple of bushes?? All the others i can find info on are no longer being made

Thanks

Karl


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[Wakefield Turntables]

Karl, I'm at work right now. I've tried 4 garrard bearings. I will write some comments tonight.

[Bigbird]

Karl, I'm at work right now. I've tried 4 garrard bearings. I will write some comments tonight.

Thanks buddy, look forward to it


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[Beobloke]

I’m not sure if he’s still doing them, but by far the best bearing upgrade I’ve come across is the Martin Bastin option. He rescued mine after I was foolish enough to upgrade my perfectly good bearing with the original Analog Tube Audio Kokomo bearing which all but drilled a hole in the thrust plate.

I understand they’ve fixed this issue now but I wouldn’t try it again, personally.

Not tried the SMD one.



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[Vrajbasi]

I’m not sure if he’s still doing them, but by far the best bearing upgrade I’ve come across is the Martin Bastin option. He rescued mine after I was foolish enough to upgrade my perfectly good bearing with the original Analog Tube Audio Kokomo bearing which all but drilled a hole in the thrust plate.

I understand they’ve fixed this issue now but I wouldn’t try it again, personally.

Not tried the SMD one.



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I totally agree I have had lots of bearing upgrades, I dont want to name names of the ones I never got on with but the Bastin upgrade was one of the best just so musical Bastin offered true value and made perfect sense. The only other one is the crazy priced Shindo Bearing and Platter now this is a serious upgrade that really works.

To my ears you could do alot worse than a well sorted out original apart from above mentioned.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Right a few words. I have tried the Garrard 301, Garrard 401, Bastin Modified 301, and SPH bearing. I'm currently awaiting a Bastin modified 401. To my ears the SPH bearing was the best but it had problems with a scraping noise which I sorted out. The 301 and 401 bearings are excellent and should really be the only bearing that you should ever need. I've spoken to Terry at Loricraft, Matt at Audiograil and Martin Bastin and all say that Garrard bearings are excellent. I think the stock 401 bearing sounds better than stock 301 bearing, but the Bastin modded 301 bearing sounded better than the standard 301 bearing but not as good as the stock 401 bearing. I'm hoping the Bastin modded 401 bearing sounds better than stock 401 bearing. I currently run a stock 401 bearing in my Garrard 301. I'm currently waiting a fully serviced and modded Bastin Garrard 401 turntable so that should give me something else to experiment with!!! I've not heard any other bearings, Artisan Fidelity, Shindo, Peak Hifi and Classic Turntable all produce their own but I have not heard any of these. For what it's worth I would simply send your bearing to Martin Bastin and let him mod and service it. You can spend a lot of money on something that might not actually produce anything of any benefit. The Kokomo bearing upgrades are a no-no, I've seen a few bearings knackered, Audiosilente produce great 301 products and excellent thrust plates, you might want to do some research. So, to conclude I think a well serviced, Bastin modded bearing is probably as good as you'll get unless you want a massive platter. I have no knowledge or experience with oversized platters so you might need to do your own research with respects to bearings designed for this purpose. I hope these ramblings help a little.!!!

[sph]

I

Right a few words. I have tried the Garrard 301, Garrard 401, Bastin Modified 301, and SPH bearing. I'm currently awaiting a Bastin modified 401. To my ears the SPH bearing was the best but it had problems with a scraping noise which I sorted out........

The scraping noise was due to the use a thinner thrust pad. The issue has been addressed. It happened only on the last batch of bearings.

[Bigbird]

The scraping noise was due to the use a thinner thrust pad. The issue has been addressed. It happened only on the last batch of bearings.

The new batch of bearings for the Garrard and Lenco will be ready by early September. Both bearing types will come with the latest tweak which will see another level of sonic improvement to a already good bearing.

Do you have any technical info and pics that you could DM me please regarding the new bearings


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[Patrick Dixon]

Do you have any technical info and pics that you could DM me please regarding the new bearings

There is a load of info on the sph bearings on the Lenco Heaven forum. Might be worth trawling through that, although technical specifications and other people's opinions are never a substitute for trying it yourself.

[Bigbird]

There is a load of info on the sph bearings on the Lenco Heaven forum. Might be worth trawling through that, although technical specifications and other people's opinions are never a substitute for trying it yourself.

Agreed but it can point you in the right direction. Will be interesting to see what improvements have been made

Cheers


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