Garrard 301 restoration project

[Barry]

Thanks for the explanation - it's more or less what I thought it was. The tachometer feedback is a nice touch.

[Wakefield Turntables]

The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT XCIX - Calibrating the Calibrating thingy and other things....

Hello and welcome again, don't get used to a fresh update every week, it's just how things have dropped. So, the 301 moves up another gear and I'm very near to finishing off the final tweeks to the third arm mounted to the deck.
After a few checks it looks like I have had to say goodbye to my faithful V15 mk3, it was knackered and at probably over 50 years old it gave faithful service but all things have to come to an end. As a replacement I bought a JICO J44 cartridge for the grand total of $135 or £101.36ish. Now I tried a M44 years ago and could not get on with the 9mV output at the time, I have decided upon one of these




I now have 7mV output. I have tried the M44 previously with 9mV and found it far too much, in the past I have had output from the Shure carts fixed at 6.0-6.5mV and everything sounded great. OK, I'm a little over with 7mV but that's fine. I love the idea of having variable options of mV output with the J44 and this is of course dependent upon stylii used with the cart. This is a new cart so I have no worries with respects to age or a faulty coil. I've done some reading around these carts and most people seem to say that they are very very faithful to the sound of the original. I have included a link to the cartridge that I have ordered. https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/...artridge-only/ I'm still waiting for delivery.

My Croft EPOCH came back from Radford Revival and sounds amazing, it makes a fantastic partner with the T9.4 Master clone that is presently doing power amp duties. I have organised for my Sondex S100 to be sent down to Radford Revival for a full overhaul, cost no expense, they have authorisation to do anything they see fit to the amp. I'm very, very surprised by this Transaudio T9.4 Clone it sounds amazing, very close to the Sondex but not quite as good. The Sondex has slightly more detail and has more authority, I would say soundstage width is probably the same. I could quite easily use this clone forever more. The Croft EPOCH is now only running on two very closely matched RCA 5691 valves and have removed the 3 5691's which powered the phonostage.

My SME3012 which houses my Silver Meister II SPU has also had some more fine tweaks and this time from a freshly calibrated Fozgometer. I find using the Fozgometer a lot easier than using an Oscilloscope. It's always worthwhile checking to make sure that it's calibrated. Turn's out mine was slightly out of kilter . It's very easy to calibrate the Fozgometer, a quick hookup to my laptop, some a fiddle with some trim pots and your sorted.







And then with the thing calibrated, we do this...






The 301 sounds AMAZING! It's always sounded good but the last few weeks work have reaped rewards. I still have some tweaking to do with the EAR 834 clone phonostage that I'm using with my third SME 3009 arm, mainly some experimentation to optimise the loading plugs and maybe some new WBT RCA's. I can see that we are getting to Part C (100) in this thread so I have something special planned, so I guess as ever, stay tuned......

[Barry]

It's all looking good Andrew.

Regarding azimuth set up, I have always found using a mirror to be sufficient. But if in doubt, I will pull out a mono LP (or a single), to make sure the image is exactly in the middle between the two speakers.

Also, why are you going for an M44-7, with a 0.7mil spherical tip? Shure designed the M44-7 for use by DJs; it was never supposed to be a high quality audio cartridge: that was the M44E (or even better the M55E).

[Wakefield Turntables]

Also, why are you going for an M44-7, with a 0.7mil spherical tip? Shure designed the M44-7 for use by DJs; it was never supposed to be a high quality audio cartridge: that was the M44E (or even better the M55E).

I have several reasons. Firstly it's a new take on a old cartridge, I have very good knowledge of how the M44-7 sounds, so it's a useful exercise in comparing how accurate new cartridge versus old cartridge sounds. Should results be good I'll more inclined to buy a new V15mk3 when they finally pull their finger out. Secondly you can use multiple stylii on the new J44 with a myriad of options, your not limited to 0.7mil. More importantly I like the sound of the old M44, my all time favourite is the M55E. I still own one!

[Wakefield Turntables]

The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT C - A clear road forwards.

As always with these posts they never follow a clear path and that's fine by me as I now can see how I would like the progression of the 301 to continue. I made my first bamboo plinth several years and it replaced a plywood plinth that I purchased from one of the old Eastern block countries. The sonic improvements were massive even the aesthetics of the replacement plinth were a little brutal in comparison. Several years of development led to a three arm plinth which looks something like this.



Everything works but some of the distances have been bodged a little and you have to make certain adjustments to play certain records, it's not ideal but it has led to a clear pathway of how not to do things, so as a consequence I will learn from my mistakes and improve on my plinth design. Cosmetically it will look a little different, be less mass and have improved cable management which will mean a nicer looking equipment rack. I'm not that bothered about loosing a little mass. It will be nice to have a plinth that works properly with all the arms full aligned. My current plinth design enables huge flexibility by being able to play MONO and stereo records with a dedicated cartridge/tonearm combination. The third arm was installed to take advantage of the excellent MM cartridges from the 1970's, especially the Shure, Grace and Stantons of this world, of which I own several.
I have done much soul searching and have come to the conclusion that the Shure V15 mk3 and the M55e and my all time favourite Shure's. I have tried the SC35C and some of the other V15 models but have always found myself coming back to the M55/V15 mk 3. I especially love the V15 mk3 for my classical DECCA's. I did flirt with the M44 but this will now be banished onto my Heybrook TT2.

The selection of a flexible phonostage is next on my agenda. My EAR 834 does amazing duty and shall remain a integral part of my 301 infra structure. I have two tonearm inputs, a MONO/Stereo switch and the ability to load capacitance on either input. I will at some point start looking for a replacement but things sound mighty fine at the moment. I will need to do some very fine tuning with the Capacitance loading and I ultimately intend to produce some very nice loading plugs with some very tight tolerance resistors. That is probably going to happen next year when this new plinth design is finished. I have also ordered the JICO SAS/B stylus for the V15 mk3. So, you can see I'm dedicated to listening with the old MM's.

Occasionally from time to time I review the current raft of new upgrades that pop up for the 301. I did consider a classic turntable shindo clone platter. Anything Shindo costs an absolute arm and leg so that's out of the question. The Shindo platter works on extra mass and additional inertia to try and improve rotational speed stability. My present setup which consists of Garrard 301 platter, Tenuto mat, Copper record weight and Wayne's Audio outer platter ring weigh in at 7.35 Kg, which is approx. 1Kg more than your standard Shindo and with the added ability to flatten out warped records (Shindo / CTC platters) can't do that! I also have a very accurate system which controls platter rotational speed to within 0.001 RPM, so I think the need for Classic Turntables/Shindo Platter is a none-starter. I may try the Classic turntables improved bearing, but that's probably a 2027 project.

So, to finish Part C of this blog I have included a picture of the beginnings of a new chapter on my Garrard 301 adventure.



So, as ever stay tuned.....

[Barry]

The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT C - A clear road forwards.

Love the use of three SME series 3000 arms mounted on your 301 turntable and plinth. The use of an Ortofon SPU on a 3012 arm is a favourite combination of mine. Well done!

(You need to use the bias compensator on all of the arms; even the 12" arm; although I find that the corresponding marks on the weigh rod are only appropriate for cartridges fitted with spherical tipped stylii, for elliptical stylii you only need to use half the amount.)