Garrard 301 restoration project

[Barry]

The oil bearing version has less vertical rumble. The change from the grease lubricated bearing to an oil lubricated bearing was promoted by the BBC who noticed the increased rumble of the grease bearing version when they played the, then, newly introduced stereo recordings. With monophonic recordings the stylus moves horizontally, so any vertical rumble is not important, whereas with stereo recordings there is both horizontal and vertical movement of the stylus.

Regarding appearence, the grey hammertone finish of the 301 you show looks far better IMO than the more usual cream finish.

[Tim]

Regarding appearence, the grey hammertone finish of the 301 you show looks far better IMO than the more usual cream finish.

I have it in my minds eye the vision of John Peel or Tommy Vance sitting over a hammertone 301. If they ever did I've no idea, but that's what a grey hammertone 301 conjures up

[Barry]

The Garrard decks used by the BBC were part of a record player system known as DRD/5. All the 301s used had a grey hammertone finish. I'll try and post some images.

www.orbem.co.uk

[Barry]

The DRD/5 was introduced to supplement the TD/7s by providing facilities for playing 33 and 45 rpm discs. The turntable was a modified Garrard 301 with the 78 speed disabled. An Acos crystal pick-up (type HGP 39/2, also used on domestic equipment) was mounted on a BBC designed arm.

These machines had an optical groove location system. The small screen on the left behind the turntable displayed a scale indicating the position of the arm.

The turntable plate rested on felt pads and the start/stop lever caused the rotating turntable to rise or fall beneath it. This used a mechanical link and gear system and the lever had to be operated gently to avoid making the stylus jump out of the groove. As the turntable rose the motor volts were boosted to increase the starting torque. Initially the machines were fitted with a muting control to prevent wowed starts, these were later disabled. Set-up was easy, of course, as the disc could be wound back without causing damage.

[Tim]

Excellent, many thanks Barry

[Wakefield Turntables]

The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT XCVI - Better than it was, but still not perfect....yet!!

Hello blog readers. I'm sitting in Wakefield supping a cup of tea and listening to a very nice 45rpm press of Miles Smiles (Miles Davis) on the 301. OK, some news, my Sondex S100 blew up! I'm hoping it's only a valve that's gone to the great valve resting place in the sky, so I have had all my KT88's sent away to be tested to see if we can find the culprit, presently the Sondex has had it's fuse replaced and now awaits the return of the KT88's to see if we can get a matched Quad up and running again. The Sondex blowing up was just the excuse I needed to buy a ChiFi Burmester 909 clone. I plumped for the Transaudio T9.4 Master edition. This things is massive, weighs over 40Kg's and sounds amazing. I have it currently mated with the Croft Epoch preamp and it's a match the works beyond all my expectations. I would heartily recommend one, mine's still burning in, I've had about 20 hours on it, ideally 100 is needed.

The Transaudio T9.4 Master edition



The Sondex S100 is not exactly tiny and can easily produce a hernia, have a look at these two sitting side by side.



Here's a quick photo of the innards of the Sondex S100 whilst I was replacing the fuse.



The 301 had a third toneaerm fitted several weeks ago which to be honest has not seen much usage. I have been messing around with various RCA cables to see which would be best. I'm still messing about to be honest and haven't quite made my mind up with respects to what I'll be using. I have decided that I will be using the MM phonostage section of my Sugden PA4 phonostage, this produced virtually no hum, I could still hear a small amount but it was heavily reduced compared to the EAR 834 clone that I have been using. The 834 clones have been known to hum, mine dosen't but for some reason I'm having trouble with the latest SME 3009 that I fitted. So, the Sugden wins and the the 834 clone will go into storage or maybe even used in another system. I do have one problem with the Sugden, I can't change capacitance loading and my Shure carts are a tad quiet. I could send the Sugden away to be modded but I think a better solution might be to use a M44 or M55 with specific high-output stylus, I have always loved these carts and still own a modded M55e. I'm hoping a higher mV output will offset the quiet output I'm currently hearing. My EAR 834 clone had RCA plug loading so I could change capacitance. Here's a photo of some Mark Grant and Yannis Tome silver cables I used on the 3009.



Now the ever on going MONO bit of the 301. Well I might be swapping over to this.



and it's mounted on this. It's my Garrard 401 / SME V-12 combo in Martin Bastin plinth.



So, my 301 has a MONO SPU fitted and it sound very good indeed but I think the SME V-12 and the lovely silver coils of the Cadenza MONO sound amazing. I have had this setup playing through my Falcon LS3/5a's and it sounds amazing. I have not heard the SME V-12 / Cadenza MONO combo through my Tannoys, maybe that's a match made in heaven. I'll have to see one of these days. The 301 will always have the SPU Mono fitted but this hobby is all about trying to get the best sound from your kit, experimentation is fun. MONO playback may be better on another deck but at least I have the flexibility on the 301 should things go wrong on the 401. Finally I will also be changing speaker cable on the 301 system. The Tannoy's currently have SAEC 850 Tripple PC cable, this will replaced with solid 2mm 99.99% pure silver which will be soldered directly onto the XO so avoiding speaker terminals on the XO's but still attach to terminals on the Sondex or T9.4 amp.

So, big update, lot's of messing around. Stay tuned...

[Jimbo]

Some big changes there Andy. Amp looks huge!

[Barry]

Are you still having earthing problems with your new SME 3009 arm?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Are you still having earthing problems with your new SME 3009 arm?

I think it was the EAR 834 clone phonostage, they have a history of humming. I've tried the Sugden and things improved massively. I'm still not 100% hum free but no far off. I can't really do anymore testing at the moment as I'm waiting for a few bits and then I'm having a big revamp of my room. More adventures!

[Wakefield Turntables]

The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT XCVII - A Wee update over a cup of tea...

I've noticed that the thread has quietly passed 305,000 views, and 304,000 are directly attributed to me, ! The 301 and it's infrastructure have had some major work done over the last several weeks and many of the components which make up the system are strewn across the UK and scotland. My new (to me) SME 3009 has been sent to Audio Origami for a complete overhaul we a request to make sure the arm as it good as it can be, I wamt to make sure my MM playback system for 70's MM carts is as good as it can be. My 3009 has had a RCA conversion which means I can use interconnects instead of a tonearm cable. I was very, very lucky and recently picked up x2 pairs of Mark Grant Oyaide FTVS-510 / WBT RCA cables. These cables were 60% cheaper than listed price and it appears that these cables are no longer in stock from Mark. The purchase of these cables now means that my entire 301 system has a full loom of these Mark Grant cables including the new 3009 for MM playback.

The 3009 also had another wee upgrade in the form of an after market 3D printed fluid damper trough for the grand total of £26 which was considerably cheaper than the originals which are up for sale on eBay. It fitted very easily. I still need to buy some damper fluid. My Croft Preamp is currently at Radford Revival, it's being checked over to make sure that all is OK. The Sondex will probably end up going down to Radford Revival as well at some point but that's a story for another day. As ever stay tuned....