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Garrard 301 plinth design

Some more pics while I give my back another rest:

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I much prefer this position for the arm to where I had it before with the headshell hanging over the speed knob. It feels more like the Spacedeck to cue now.

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A less flattering view! I'm still not a fan of the decks giblets being on display, but it's 'form dictated by function' rather than window dressing so I'll get used to it. I'll try and think of a neater way to decouple the power wire at some point - I'm running it so long to ensure no motor vibration gets back to the deck up the cable (made a big difference in the last plinth).

3832823191_5dbc6a2f21_o.jpg


Another less flattering view, but it shows how I've got the feet at present (skateboard wheels and little adjustable cones at the top so I can level it). I'm happy with this for the time being. It also shows how I've done the motor wiring, the power is cable-tied firmly to a bracket thingy I've fitted to the back mounting bolt. All nice and secure if not especially pretty. I used wing-nuts as it is so much easier to adjust them with everything in place.

Tony.

PS colour still way out, the cream obviously freaks my Ricoh GR Digital camera out completely.
 
If you are not hung up on the correct colour for the motor cables you could try silicone rubber test lead wire. It's the stuff with gazillions of strands of very thin conductor and really floppy silicone outer. Its VERY flexible and can carry 10 amps no problem but only comes in red and black.

if you want to try some let me know how long they are and I'll have a rake around in the workshop.
 
Thanks for the offer, I guess that would involve rigging up some kind of junction box from the mains lead to the thinner wires which sounds like hassle - I've currently got the proper mains lead rigidly clamped and then stripped after that point, i.e. it's still a single run. I also suspect the situation is now different as the slate is so much heavier / more inert than the previous 18mm MDF top-plate. My audio memory is not good enough to describe the differences as it sounded really nice before, it's certainly sounding superb, and that's before I've really dialled in the arm settings. A very solid, effortless and assured sound.

Tony.
 
With giblets like that you should be proud to show them off! In all seriousness I think it is looking fantastic and it has made me even more impatient to complete my 401 re-plinthing. Were the adjustable feet from? How thick is your slate?
Looking forward to the reports on the sound front, well done.

Ed
 
I've tidied the wiring a bit by cable tying the wires to the grey motor cage at the front, i.e. the cable only loops right underneath the deck now, it's all neat at the side and all of a suddent it looks intentional / designed! No issues with vibration getting through, it looks like I'd over-done the amount of free wire needed, it only seems to need a few inches to loose the energy.

The "adjustable feet" are entirely improvised, they are upturned polyurethane skateboard wheels (vintage 1970s ones, hence the size of them, modern ones are far smaller / slimmer). The skateboard wheels have an indentation in the centre where the bearings clip in, into this I've just sat an up-turned Chinese adjustable hi-fi cone foot thingy I got off ebay for a few quid, I'm sure I link to it a few pages back. They seem to work a treat. Adjusting is a little fiddly as you have to take the 'foot' out and adjust the cone and then replace it again, but not a great hassle and they stay put. I think they may have good properties too, certainly they absorb a hell of a lot of energy from the table, tapping the plinth with the stylus on a stationary record produces a clear thump through the speaker, tapping the table just as hard and it is very dramatically reduced. These polyurethane wheels do have a noticeable compliance, and given the weight of the slate (40mm) and Garrard there is clearly a bit of damping / decoupling going on. I guess there is a slight similarity to using squash balls, just firmer, but there is a lot more weight here so probably pretty similar.

My first impressions of the sound are that it is just superb. I was up late last night listening to it and it really is bloody good. This deck just doesn't do anything wrong at all that I can notice, it's an ideal balance of flat / round earth etc; big, ballsy, powerful and wonderfully unflustered and clear plus informative, tight, funky and fun. Surface / background noise is just not noticeable and it tracks everything really securely. It's a seriously good turntable.

Tony.

PS I notice the first post on this thread was 18/03/2008, so this deck has taken me 17 months to complete! I'm clearly not a fast worker, but I got there in the end. Job done.
 
It looks great and i'm glad it's keeping you up listening.
And I like your improvised feet a lot. Might try similar thing on one of mine.

This long thread has certainly benefited many along the way, including me.
 
Tony L said:
Thanks for the offer, I guess that would involve rigging up some kind of junction box from the mains lead to the thinner wires which sounds like hassle - I've currently got the proper mains lead rigidly clamped and then stripped after that point, i.e. it's still a single run. I also suspect the situation is now different as the slate is so much heavier / more inert than the previous 18mm MDF top-plate. My audio memory is not good enough to describe the differences as it sounded really nice before, it's certainly sounding superb, and that's before I've really dialled in the arm settings. A very solid, effortless and assured sound.

Tony.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it needs leaving alone :)
 
It looks absolutely fantastic Tony very nice job ;).
I also found that putting lots of tie wraps on the harness to tidy the wiring up kills the sound of the deck so I took them all back off again. Now I just use a loose ring of blue tack around the harness where it touches anything else

Alan
 
Something that I can recommend is to upgrade the power cord, I used a 2.5mm2 shielded lead stripped back to the first layer of insulation where it enters under the plinth, it certainly has made for an improvement sound wise over the original. Quite surprising really, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. And agree with Alan on leaving the leads underneath loose, it just looks a bit messy.
Errol.
 
337alant said:
It looks absolutely fantastic Tony very nice job ;).
I also found that putting lots of tie wraps on the harness to tidy the wiring up kills the sound of the deck so I took them all back off again. Now I just use a loose ring of blue tack around the harness where it touches anything else
Click to expand...

I just used one tie on the motor frame:

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The mains lead first goes to my clamp arrangement on the back-left mounting bolt, you can see it above the wing-nut. Beyond this point the cable is stripped and there is just a single cable tie on the front of the motor cage. Perspective effects in the picture indicate the free cable beyond this point is shorter than it actually is, in reality it loops back behind the main bearing so there is at least 6-8" of free hanging wire beyond that clip. I heard no ill effects in fitting it, I guess the wire hitting the table first dumps any energy before it gets back into the deck, I can feel no transmission at all. Looks so much neater (especially from the side) that it stays!

Errol said:
Something that I can recommend is to upgrade the power cord, I used a 2.5mm2 shielded lead stripped back to the first layer of insulation where it enters under the plinth, it certainly has made for an improvement sound wise over the original. Quite surprising really, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, something to ponder for the future, though I suspect I'll run it as is for a good while as it seems quite happy.

Tony.
 
It has been suggested that removing the entire transport bracket is worthwhile, i.e. the bolts, springs, spacers and bottom plate.

This was very worthwhile doing on my L75 - haven't tried it on the 401 yet but intend to.

JK
 
Yes, I might do that at some point. I've made sure it's locked down as far as it will go and it doesn't foul anything or ring that I can tell so I don't think it's doing a lot of harm.

I've very slightly rejigged the motor wiring in light of earlier comments. I noticed I had the mains cable / improvised clamp thing that's attached to the rear chassis bolt aligned so the unstripped section of the mains cable was pressing quite firmly against the grey motor frame. I've twisted it slightly so it is now no longer in contact and also dressed the cable so it is free from the frame from that point until it goes through the cable tie, i.e. it's anchored very firmly at the rear bolt, floats free until the cable tie, and then free again until the motor itself. This means nothing is firmly coupling the bottom of the deck to the bottom of the plinth. I'm not sure if doing this has improved anything, but it certainly hasn't broken anything either and I think it's neater logically, i.e. probably less potential for energy transfer to places one doesn't want it. It's certainly very quiet indeed and sounds great.

Tony.
 
I am an expert in these Garrard 401 thingeys and think the absolute best thing you can do really is give it to me to evaluate for you over, say the next 10 or so years, and then I will give it you back with a full report....
 
I'm pleased I used wing-nuts to mount the 301 to the plinth as I'm learning this is a critical aspect of setup. Too loose and things can get a little vague and ill-defined, too tight and the magic just goes out of the window, it all kind of shuts down and loses the scale, ebb and flow /ease of following the tune. I've settled 'Nottingham Analogue tight' (i.e. tight enough to stop it falling apart!), gently spin the nuts up until they stop then say between an eighth and quarter turn, that works out at enough to secure it but not enough to squash the original Garrard washers. Once in the zone it sounds both effortless / huge and tight / agile at the same time.

Tony.
 
thats interesting, I can't say that I hear the same thing on my 401, I am using the original nuts, but then the 401 is a different table. I will buy some wingnuts today and try them out, they should give more accurate and even control over the tightness. Has anyone else noticed the differences on a 401?
Errol.
 
None at all for me. I've just done them up by hand and then nipped lightly with a spanner. It did occur to me recently whether each one is at the same torque and whether that makes any difference. I suspect it would if they were grossly different to each other, if only because it might cause the top plate to be tilted relative to the plinth top, i.e. lower on one corner say.

What I have found is that getting the plinth really level makes a large difference. I reckon it's because the motor then hangs perfectly true and addresses the idler properly. When it's really level my speed adjuster is bang in the middle. It then sounds calmer and less flustered.

JK
 
Hi Jim, I agree on keeping the deck level however with the 4 squash balls (yellow dot) I find that the level can "drift" I think it may be to do with temperature, I also need to find a better level, mind you I also need to finish the table, get it painted put on the new faceplate etc, etc, it's not just my levels that can "drift"
So much good music, so little time.
Errol
 
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