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Look what the cat dragged in (two Garrards)

Rasher said:
I really wouldn't jump to any decisions about parting with any of it. It doesn't owe you anything, after all.

I'm sure that you may be excited by the Garrard/SME combos for now, but you don't know where that may lead you. It may be that you'll want to eventually reintroduce it back to it's life-partners once again, just because it feels the right thing to do. And if it was me I think that's what I would do most certainly. These guys have been holding hands for 50 years and it just doesn't seem right to not respect that. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be used with anything else, but they do belong together in some way.

Even the Leak speakers. They may be last on the list, but they deserve the same respect.

I wouldn't see this in terms of cost and worth. Something happened to make these items sit there forgotten avoiding the builder's skip until you came along to rescue them. Maybe I'm over-sentimental about these sorts of things, but they waited until they could be found by someone who could give them life again, and against all the odds they managed to find you. You have to accept that responsibility and parting with any of it, at least until it's future is assured, would be tragic. It shouldn't have anything to do with money/assets/cost. They are your children now.
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Rasher,

I got tingles down my spine when I read this. Would be a shame to split the kit up wouldn't it.

Nice thread this. I've been getting similar vintage 'feelings' about my Leak Troughline this evening after plugging it in my 3X/Xpac1 to have a listen...
 
sonddek said:
Plinth one is nearing completion so I took some snaps:

The piano gloss finish is coming on nicely but it has been a huge amount of hard work. Bearing in mind the probable resale value, I'm getting far less than minimum wage. Still, a couple more coats and it's polishing time, at which point I'm hoping it will start to look like real plinth porn. The paint colour comes from a "heritage 1950's" range. It's an eggshell blue. I've tried to be as sympathetic as possible to the original design, shape, style and era.
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Very very nice. Put some Rollerblock Jr footers on it - you can surely afford them now with the JS sale. They really are the best thing for the Garrards, and I have tried a few.
 
I don't think I'm that much older than most around here, but I think the tin is a tobacco tin. They were favourites for storing things in my youth - men had sheds and garages full of them housing nails and the likes, women adopted them for pins, buttons, and so on, and I and the rest of my 1970s schoolboy contemporaries adopted them for bike repair kits, survival kits (every self respecting 12 year old needs to carry the means of skinning and gutting a rabbit, and lighting a fire to cook it on, at all times, even if he is going home for his tea).

Tobacco tins are a rare thing these days, now fewer people smoke. Those that do carry a pouch. Gone are the days when a ratty pair of jeans with holes in the back pocket where "the fag tin" lived were a badge of honour and displayed that even as an 18 year old you were a man of the world. I'll have to find one and use it to carry my bike repair kit.
 
gortnipper said:
Very very nice. Put some Rollerblock Jr footers on it - you can surely afford them now with the JS sale. They really are the best thing for the Garrards, and I have tried a few.
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Had a look at them. They seem to provide no vertical isolation. As such, a stiff platform suspended by three elastic bands would probably be more effective at isolation.

My improvised squash ball feet provide good absorption and isolation in three axes, not just two. They also exhibit something close to critical damping, whereas the Rollerblocks look underdamped and inclined to horizontal resonance.
 
jonnoshore said:
Rasher,

I got tingles down my spine when I read this. Would be a shame to split the kit up wouldn't it.
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Look, I hear you, but bear this in mind: any part sold will very likely go to a loving home and meet lots of other interesting equipment. None of this kit, perhaps with the exception of the transformers, is particularly rare, so there's no harm in any of it starting a new life in a new system which may continue to give daily pleasure for another fifty years. It's better that the kit is restored, maintained and used regularly by enthusiasts rather than sitting there gathering dust in original but fossilised state. When I found it, the gear was together, but moribund and in some danger. It's best chance of survival is if each part goes where it is most valued.
 
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...or better still, one of these:

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And when I listen to the Beach Boys I dream of heading for the coast in one of these:

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Nooo.. it's british.. in '63 this would have been the thing..
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Fastest thing on the road at the time, and the prettiest car of all time
 
I've been listening to the pale blue 301 for several days now, and it absolutely rocks. Punchy driving bass is the key. I didn't think I would enjoy the deck this much. I've got a new Shure M97Xe on the SME 3009, which I've thoroughly cleaned and serviced. The SME looks almost brand new now, and there's no play, with all movements very smooth. In the balanced position it responds to the slightest puff of breath in all directions. In the morning I just can't wait to get back to the man cave and twist those great clunky levers to start a day of non-stop vinyl bliss.

The other Jorgen Schous are up on a well-known auction site in case anyone is interested. I expect they'll go for less than the last pair.

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