10/30/06
Craig's Garrard 401
Craig's comments:
This is my new garrard 401 inset in a custom built ply plinth made by Neil Hollow from Ireland.
The set up consists of modified rb250 Denon DL103 cart c/w vinyl alignment cork mat& michell record clamp.
This plinth alone has made great improvements to overall performance and I would recommend his plinths to anyone
considering he now has the design for the 401 from my being the first 401 he has design a plinth for.
The motor itself has had upgrades by Martin Bastin. i.e. spindle rewire and complete service and is from 1964 era.
Please also take a look at my system set up on the systems gallery.
 |
Icon Audio Stereo 40 Valve Amp |
|
Garrard 401/rb250/Denon103 |
|
modified Project Tube Box upgraded valves |
|
AudioNote dac zero transport + dac |
|
Chord Company digital interconnect |
|
Cable Talk symphony cable |
|
JM Lab 906 Electra speakers |
|
Something solid 4 tier rack plus custom made stands. |
(old)Craig's Garrard 401
garrard 401 (1964) RB250/DENON 103/MICHELL TECNOWEIGHT+ VTA
This has been my first attempt at restoring a garrard and has been a pleasure from start to finish. I brought the motor off Ebay... a bit risky but I was lucky.
I found a local woodworker who kindly built this solid ash plinth for me to my specification. In the meantime I sent the motor to Martin Bastin who kindly upgraded the bearing to his specification plus a few other little tweaks including a total rewire.
He described this particular model as having one of the best bearing for wear that had seen in a long time suggesting that it had only been used on the 45 setting this was music to my ears. After a 2 month wait for the motor I continued with the project and
mounted the motor into 25mm mdf soaked in damar varnish which seals mdf making it more dense. I then placed this into the plinth mounted on carbon fibre pods from a company called something solid and these are used on the base of the plinth for isolation. The arm used is a modified rb250 with Michell Tecnoweight, vta & locking nut + denon 103 cartridge. For the budget I had for this project sound is very powerful & refined a sound that will never bore you. I will eventually experiment with arms & carts but that's part of the fun owning a Garrard.
My system is as follows:
| vinyl = Garrard 401 rb250+ denon 103 + FUNK FIRM ACROMAT |
| amplification = Icon stereo 40 valve amp |
| phono stage = Project tube box (mullard valve upgrade) |
| cd transport = Audionote cd zero + dac |
| speakers JM Labs Electra 906 fed with Cable Talk Signature cable |
CRAIG COX ENGLAND