The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT LXXIII - Three's not a crowd.


No pictures tonight, just some thoughts. I've not recieved my 3009 back yet but my thoughts have already started to think about upgrades and possiblt a third tonearm for the 3001. I'm thinking maybe a dedicated valve mono phonostage and possibly a SUT for the MONO cartridges. I'd possibly go for a MONO 12" Bockrand tonearm but this is a big NO-NO for me due to the problems and amount of time it seems to purchase and deliver one of these tonearms. I also started to look at dedicated MONO phonostages and have probably opened a real can of worms. I don't know if I'm ever going to upgrade from Ortofon MONO as I think this seems to be the sweetspot for me, so potentially I might try another 3012 or even go for another tonearm altogether, maybe a different brand! I know that Ortofon produce a MONO SUT for the current MONO SPU's, so this might be worth a try as well. I will have to make a mountable outrigger for my latest plinth design, again, a bit of fun should I decide to go down the three arm route. Going down the three arm route means my 3009 could just be used for vintage MM's and this would also stop me having to faff around changing headshells. Expensive but you only live once! Another option is to forsake the option of a specific MONO only phonostage and just simply use the second input into my EAR 834 clone and a "Y" spliiter to create MONO. I have a MONO switch installed on the EAR834 so this could be a cheaper alternative. Decisions, decisions!

I'm thinking that there is probably (for the time being) not really a great deal left that I can do to this 301. A new idler wheel for the far east is a possibility. A new plinth design which will incorperate the decoupled motor design and maybe three tonearms. Each tonearm does something different, one for SPU'S, one for MONO duties and one for vintage MM experimentation. Plinth material is always a comical debate, I have considered by some Cherry wood and maybe trying something like a Shindo build but then you would also need the modded platter, bearing, tonearm and SPU for it to sound anything like a Shindo . IPE is probably going to be the way ahead should I undertake such a task. Working with IPE or Panzerholz isn't difficult but you do need specific tools which can handle the hardness of these materials, so you have to factor in the expense associated with this task. Such a task may results in a plinth which could be enstage with respects to material selection.

Stay tuned!