Did Ray strip and rebuilt the motor for you ? This seems strange if he was supposed to do that. Mine runs perfectly.
Has anyone moved on from idlers, Garrards??
- Thread starter kozzmo
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He took my 301 in trade, and instead of rebuilding it he instead issued me another that he had already rebuilt and mounted with non-cadmium-coated control linkage onto the solid brass chassis with one of his adjustable (height) bearings and gold-plated solid brass platter (and power supply). I have never had a problem of any sort with it, but tend to run it without the power supply because I am too lazy to plug it in before use and unpluging it after use.
when I experience stuff like this, there´s no second chance;
I´m done with people like that
and later on I sold the 301 and got the Melco, which stays
like other things I keep like Airtangent Reference and my Day Sequerra Anniversary
I´m done with people like that
and later on I sold the 301 and got the Melco, which stays
like other things I keep like Airtangent Reference and my Day Sequerra Anniversary
You never gave Ray a chance to look at it, never even told him there was a problem. And you believe a second party found and fixed a problem. Maybe, maybe not, you don’t know for sure but you are convinced enough to trash the reputation of Ray and his company here all the same. Ever heard about lawsuits for slander and libel?
I was in dialogue with him, but he was so busy and wasn´t particularly easy to deal with, so why bother...you have any particular interest in this, since you get so worked up
I´m not the only one in Norway with similar experience with him...wanted payment for return shipment for repair of shitty job....
this case is closed for me...rant on if you´re bothered
btw checked correspondance with various parties and the idler wheel I got from R wasnt even round!
I´m not the only one in Norway with similar experience with him...wanted payment for return shipment for repair of shitty job....
this case is closed for me...rant on if you´re bothered
btw checked correspondance with various parties and the idler wheel I got from R wasnt even round!
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That’s too bad and I am truly sorry for you. Mine is the nicest turntable I have ever heard, possibly because of how I set it up. Kedar had a listen, ask him what he thought of it.
good for you
Ked heard mine too with Groovemaster 12" banana and Rowland Complement
nothing wrong with the overall sound
Ked heard mine too with Groovemaster 12" banana and Rowland Complement
nothing wrong with the overall sound
Hi Mark,
I really liked your Altec A7s, rarely have I heard speakers set back to the wall in a normal room sound so musical, and I would recommend it to most over many other speakers.
Part of the system was the 301 with Reed 5a and the phasemation 2000 cart and step ups and the Ypsilon phono. It is difficult to isolate the TT for me in this regard, or any of the variables, except for the amps where we did some compares. Also you have gone all out on the phonostage+step up, and the combination of an LT or a pivoted LT on a Garrard is not common, so that is a smart set up
Leif’s system is one of the best I have heard, it is a an all out assault system in a big room, and he also had an all out Garrard next to his Studer. I haven’t heard his Melco yet. Leif is a very good at DIY and deep into the DIY community, so I wouldn’t query his judgement on the restores. He is more knowledgable there than most.
Overall, personally having heard many Garrards and compared, I think a well restored 301 and TD 124 is extremely musical and very good value, mostly sufficient for most people to have a very good sounding system. If given the money, while there are many belts I would choose not to have over a Garrard or 124, there are some. And in idlers, the Commonwealth is known to do what a Garrard does but better.
Funnily enough, after admiring the 301 for years and being recommended to Classic by the chap who sold me a Reed 3P (Hugo Cass / Ammonite Audio), I contacted Ray this evening. He emails past midnight UK time. My sort of guy, and I may have a unit for him. I think he does the swap with a finished unit, we'll speak in the morning.
Hugo provided me my Reed 5A, Phasemation PP2000 MC cartridge and Phasemation T2000 SUT’s. A friend now, he comes over and listens every time I do something to my system.
Hugo is a gent. I’d bought a Jelco from him in the past and he was very good with the Reed, buying some stock to insulate against a big price increase. He was selling the virtues of Phasemotion. I have a Koetsu that was in a bad way and then got damaged during building works. I sent it to Dominic Harper at Northwest Audio for parts, and he advised that the insides were perfectly fine for a complete rebuild, which he did at a not crazy price. He uses a cantilever stylus assembly that should be long lasting. I will get around to a phasemation sooner or later.
So if I get an opportunity to do a 301 with Ray, do you think I should go for it? My colour scheme would be gray Because my music room theme is mostly silver and grey. i’m pretty sure I have some leftover grey striped eucalyptus veneer from a bedroom. I would need a tall stand and put a piece of slate on top of it. There’s a chap in Hungary who sells raw plinths. My carpenter guy can do the veneering and the stand, he did one for me a couple of years ago.
That was all very easy.
I spoke to Nic at Emporium in Sussex who has a stock of 301's that he regularly sends to Ray in Wakefield. Did a part exchange deal with Nic for some things I need to offload, which he collects in a couple of weeks. He then sends the 301 to Ray with my p/x money. My mate Paul sends some veneer to Ray's mate Carl in Manchester to do the plinth. I may go up to Wakefield when the time comes. All took about an hour. Who said hifi was complicated?
In a nod to high mass turntable design, I had my plinth made from a UK variant of Panzerholz to deaden macro and micro resonances. I found a video on YouTube of a carpenter building a plinth with ply that looks identical to mine so I thought I might try and attach it here for your view.
This one has a stock Garrard 301 with aluminium strobe platter and different tonearm and feet.
p.s. A word to the wise, be careful to write up exactly what each party is providing when dealing with Nick at Emporium.
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I saw that some years ago. Impressive video. It was a chap called Russ Collinson, apparently no longer active.
There are two regular fabricators here, Carl Ellis and Acoustand. I did see a chap selling finished and blanks from Hungary. My mate Paul can do pretty much anything with wood. He's made most of the furniture and kitchen in our house.
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Yes, it was Russell who built mine. Please show us photos of the buildI saw that some years ago. Impressive video. It was a chap called Russ Collinson, apparently no longer active.
There are two regular fabricators here, Carl Ellis and Acoustand. I did see a chap selling finished and blanks from Hungary. My mate Paul can do pretty much anything with wood. He's made most of the furniture and kitchen in our house.
Rick Baker Ltd (@rickbakerfurniture) • Instagram photos and videos
571 Followers, 193 Following, 158 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Rick Baker Ltd (@rickbakerfurniture)
The initial scheme is a combination of this deck, plinth and veneer. I currently have a 2-arm deck, I may go for another one.
The arm is a regular 12" Reed 3P like this.
The second arm is an Origin Live Illustrious Mk3 that is pretty good, but not very pretty. Aesthetically and budget-wise, a Schroder Model 2 would probably be a nice fit.
An arm I was interested in before I bought a Reed are the Wand units from New Zealand. They were impossible to fit to my existing turntable. They are giant killers and the styling is a nice match - possibly. I have a local dealer.
The Wand — Shop — VAL HiFi
valhifi.co.uk
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Just added a Thorens TD-124 to the collection. I’m convinced that idlers get you closer to live music than any other turntable platform.
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Have always wanted to try one of those....seem like a great combo of belt and idler...
It's a pain to set up that arm in the back on a two arm table...drives me nuts...The initial scheme is a combination of this deck, plinth and veneer. I currently have a 2-arm deck, I may go for another one.
View attachment 118460View attachment 118461
View attachment 118459
The arm is a regular 12" Reed 3P like this.
View attachment 118462
The second arm is an Origin Live Illustrious Mk3 that is pretty good, but not very pretty. Aesthetically and budget-wise, a Schroder Model 2 would probably be a nice fit.
An arm I was interested in before I bought a Reed are the Wand units from New Zealand. They were impossible to fit to my existing turntable. They are giant killers and the styling is a nice match - possibly. I have a local dealer.
The Wand — Shop — VAL HiFi
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