Garrard 401 Vs Technics 1210

[Tripmaster]

Nononono... it's old scrap. Fortunately I specialise in the safe disposal of such and I wouldn't charge a penny.

Im sure you could

[i_should_coco]

Im sure you could

In all seriousness, some of these are going for serious money, as Mike said. Get it out of the loft and see what sort of shape it's in.

[Peter Stockwell]

Just faced off a Slatedeck restored 401 in a bastin plinth and a KAB'd SL1210. Depends on what you like; 401 more forceful, teccie more nuanced. Heavy weight vs middleweight kind of thing.

[Ali Tait]

From what I've heard,the slatedeck plinth gives a huge boost to the performance of Garrards.I've heard both a 401 and an sp10 before and after fitting slate,and the difference is scary.

[Tripmaster]

I hope it still works

[Marco]

I agree about the slate thing, Ali, although excellent as it is, it didn't seem to give Nick's SP10 much of an advantage against my KAB 1210 at the Chester fest, and that was without the Jelco (with Nick's Hadcock) and using the same cartridge and system

Interesting thoughts there, Peter! Having heard a few different Garrards in suitable plinths recently I would concur with you observations. I've also heard Steve Sheils' excellent TD124 in my system side-by-side with the Techy and it certainly didn't disgrace itself there either, again that was without the Jelco or my new 103SA. That's most of the 'classic references' I've heard now against the 1210 and it's passed the test with flying colours, which I guess gives us a good indicator of its true pedigree...

Any chance of a more detailed review in a separate thread (Strokes of Genius section)? It would act as a good reference for members

Marco.

[Ali Tait]

Perhaps so Marco,but were you using your mana table? I suspect this would narrow the gap considerably.

[Marco]

Indeed, which shows that it works! Just think what 40+ of the f*ckers do at home

Oh, and I've still to get a Slatedeck plinth yet for the 1210...

Marco.

[Clive]

In my view the 2 most important things that lift a Garrard that's in decent nick are:

1) Slate plinth, ideally from Slatedeck

2) 2 or 3 O-rings around the platter (non-strobe platter takes 3)

I did the O-ring thing a couple of weeks ago. I was gobsmacked by the improvement. Without it the sound seems slightly murky, rather like a slightly cloudy beer that still tastes fine. Sounds with the o-rings are more distinct, less cluttered and more liable to "come from nowhere". The sound is tight & "in control". There seems greater stability, the sort of thing you'd expect from a direct drive. These Garrard platters must ring, ring, ring. Some others have reported only subtle improvements with the O-rings, either my platter rings especially badly or the slate plinth and OBs in my system make this improvement really obvious.

[SPS]

. These Garrard platters must ring, ring, ring. Some others have reported only subtle improvements with the O-rings, either my platter rings especially badly or the slate plinth and OBs in my system make this improvement really obvious.

i have a garard grease 301 set up a ply plinth, and had my 124 on a nearly identical plinth, different tone arm same cart.. there was so much of a cloudy confusion in the 301 sound ...
but i'm sure with more work it would equal the 124..
levels of bass where identical
but i think you have a point, about speakers (and amps for that matter) showing up the finer good and bad points of a set up more readily
for me the 124 has the advantage that it performs well on a lesser ( cheaper) plinth than the 301/401. There is no(?) platter ring, and changing records is a doodle with the clutch system..
i like them.... so much.. i now have 3 ..
i'm just finishing a second plinth so i can do some armboard/ tonearm comparisons