Dinosaur Pics

Peter

Nice 401 but treat yourself to a Loricraft Plinth.

It will transform the sound and visually it will look a million dollars.

Any other 301's / 401's out there.

Regards

Mick

good god.

get a linn quick.

Oh man. There I was expecting this to be a thread about jurassic prog-rock bands.

Man was I disappointed.

BTW, I agree with Garyi - get an LP12.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Yea, buy mine. Its on E-Bay right now.

Regards,
Marc

But once you've tried the real thing, i.e. a vintage Garrard or Thorens TD 124, nobody would want a weenie boy LP12 . Mick, yes a Loricraft plinth is an option, but my preferred choice is a Bastin plinth, I have one on order but delivery times are, let's say, elaaaaaaaaaaaaaastic. I made the plinth myself, and my skills in that department are at least post jurassic, but still neanderthal.

Peter

garyi,

Can you teach me how to keep the beautiful look of the Lp12 ?

Arye

Do you mean in terms of the picture or the actual LP12?

If you mean picture then get and olypus E10, I would give you some bull about my ex[ertise in phtography but really its the camera and photoshop.

If you mean the LP12, mine appears to be as well looked after as every one elses.

Peter's ol' Garrard does sound better than most LP12s I've heard.

Regards,

Steve.

It's just a pleasure to hear music as it was intended to be heard.

Steven

If Peter were to fit a SME 1V arm and a Loricraft plinth, it will trash any LP12 under the sun.

Why everyone goes for a LP12 is one of lifes mysteries.

Regards

Mick

No mystery Mick.

Its just a quality item that also looks good. I believe something you are always trying to instill in mana owners.

A bit like briks, if you will or indeed nice wall paper, theres ugly and theres other options.

Type in stand at the bottom of hifi corner page for a vertable feast of crap ranging from the god like effects of mana to the disasters of glass in any other format.

Really it is such fun

Gary my little beefburger griller

A Mana stand is simply not large enough to accomodate a Garrard, espescially if one fits a Loricraft or Slate Audio plinth.

That is one advantage of the Hutter, it is big enough to take it.

With a Fraim, you need an extra large pane of glass, but you need a custom made job for Mana.

Regards

Mick

Paul

I have heard both the Thorens and the 301 and it is no contest.......go for the 301.

If you use the 3012, you will need a large plinth and your Mana wall rack will be far to small to accomodate it.

Terry Sullivan prefers the 301, whilst Nigel (his sidekick) prefers the 401.

If you do buy a 301, you MUST use a heavy plinth for it to sound good. The Loricraft plinth is very good but I cannot comment on the Marble plinth because I have never heard it. I must admit that it looks stunning.

Regards

Mick

Paul

There are loads of 301's around, so picking one up is fairly straight forward.

The only major worry with 301's is the main bearing, so make sure your see it running.

If it runs smooth and if there is no play, its ok, simple as that.

Loricraft do a full blown service for about £70.00 which is probably worthwhile.

You WILL need a good heavy plinth. You can DIY if you are good with your hands.

One guy made his own based on my Plinth, and disguised his lack of finnishing skills by painting the plinth semi gloss black and that looked and sounded good.

The white 301 looked rather tasty on the black plinth.

Regards

Mick

I think this thread neatly answers the question, posed recently in the scary 'Discipline' topic, 'what of any value has come out of Swindon?'.

The old Garrard factory site is now home to a B&Q, sadly.

Personally I tried both a 301 and a couple of TD124s in the mid-80s, and still preferred the LP12. The only deck I've heard recently which has made me think of changing it is the SME 10 - surely the modern equivalent to those classics.

Chris

I think that when you heard the 301, it was housed in a cheap plinth which was par for the course in those days. My 401 sounded dire when it was in its oringinal stained plywood plinth.

If a 301 is housed in a Loricraft plinth, it becomes a different animal altogether.

If you want to hear mine, you have only to ask.

Regards

Mick

I'll try and get hold of an SME 10/IV, that would be an interesting comparison!

Chris

My 401 has only a RB 300 fitted but it is still worth listening to.

Regards

Mick

Paul et al.

Sorry didn't get back to this thread before. I was on hols while most of you cared. To answer Pauls first query, about slate or marble. There are two contemprary solutions to the 301/401 motor vibration problem. The Loricaft split plinth whih uses squash balls as a suspension, and the Bastin solid layers of plywood approach. The Bastin also includes a nifty idea pinched from JC Verdier where the motor suspension cradle is supported on pylons to effectively decouple it from the platter support plate, and hence the platter.

The speed on a 301/401 is regulated by a magnetic brake, so the more brake you have to use to get the speed right, the higher the level of motor vibration. Ideally, the motor voltage needs to be reduced to the minimum that will still keep the platter running at the right speed. This way the brake can be disengaged completely. an external power supply works wonders here.

I've heard a TD124 and it's a nice deck, and probably is just that touch more 'elegant' to the Garrards unflappable 'grunt'. It's also a physically smaller deck and can be fitted to a plinth of LP12 type dimensions. Of course if the 3012 is in the picture a big plinth is de rigeur.

An aside, the 3012 along the the Denon 103D are held in awe by some of the phreakiest audiophiles on the planet, such as those that favour the legendary platine verdier and wierd ass, but BAD! tube powered speaker cupboards, à la maison de l'audiophile in Paris.

I never heard anything sound more real than a platine verdier with a Denon 103D and a SME 3012.

Anyway I digress, there's one more solution to the TD124/301/401 problem and that looks very handsome and that's a machined granite plinth from www.hne.co.uk This is lighter than most of the wooden solutions.

My next upgrade is the SME IV + a new plinth, but got to save up some after the CDX. The CDX has improved vinyl replay considerably over my previous CD player. I haven't found an explanation for that yet. I feel that the CDX and the 401 have a presentation that are cut from the same cloth.

Finally, I have to wonder as does Mr Parry how come the LP12 came to be so prevalent ... must be something to do with marketing ... or McDonalds (billions served )

Peter

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of it.

It is a Mark 1 from 1962 and was given to me about 1 year ago. Just a bit of cleaning and greasing and there it goes, running fine again

It's now sitting on a DIY heavy plinth and I have changed the mains cable.
I have fitted my Ittok + Benz Glider on it and I must admit it currently sounds better than my LP12 (circa 1988 vintage, valhalla)!
(I think the LP12 needs to be serviced...)
I have never heard a Garrard 301 (they are not so common here in France) so I can't say.

an interesting link for Thorens 124 devotees:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~rabruil/td124page.html

Regards
Jean-Marc

Kit

Naim will take orders for special sizes.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Finally, I have to wonder as does Mr Parry how come the LP12 came to be so prevalent ...

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Because it's better. As a demo would show.

And you don't need to worry about the vintage of the squash balls in your plinth.

Paul