Garrard 301 restore

The unit is super clean but clearly needs work that I would prefer to leave to the pros.

Please see my profile and system for confirmation that I have experience with restoration of the 301. My recommendation is to send the 301 to Greg Metz of STS/Classic Thorens just outside of Nashville for meticulous restoration. Greg is a perfectionist. His prices are just a tad on the high side but you get what you pay for.

Now this is going to perhaps offend you or some others but without knowing what you do for a living and/or what your financial responsibilities are, it is a complete shame, imho, to limit the potential of a "super clean" 301 with your budget. $4500 is a much more reasonable budget. Wait, save, re-allocate, do whatever you need to do but restore the 301 with an adequate budget for restoration, tonearm, and plinth. Please :-).

Also, someone above mentioned that there is a school of thought that super-dense plinths such as slate deaden the sound. I agree. The sound with a slate plinth and top end tonearm and cartridge will sound more precise but sterile. The liveliness is gone. But on the other hand the 301 has a somewhat noisy motor/idler drive such that a mid-weight plinth with good footers will help. So don’t expect perfection and instead accept the inherent compromises. I happen to have one of the Muldovian plinths linked above just sitting around collecting dust. PM me and if you want it, you can have it at a price that will be bound to make you happy. But-I warn you in advance-while it looks very nice and seems to be built well-it is still rather cheaply made.

And last, while there are tons of great tonearm choices out there and no single best-for-the-money choice, you might add these to your consideration; https://purefidelity.ca/product-category/tonearms/

These tables do have a touch of rumble, but, they are lively and fun to hear.  

Thanks! Yes, but a good idler like the legendary 301 has a sense of drive and liveliness that few if any belt drive tt's can provide. My 301 has no audible rumble that I have ever been able to detect. I owned five belt drive decks before deciding that a pimped out TD124 and 301 were my final turntables. Barring Armageddon they will be still playing great music a few generations from now. You can not say that about most other tables. Art Dudley's articles on the TD124 and 301 are must-reads. Perhaps the best articles on audio ever written. 

I'm not sure that is true. Although, I'm speaking for 401, I have one in a full ply plinth and one in 50mm slate. The slate one is the more lively and detailed of the two.

I mentioned the "school of thought". We can call it a "school of opinion". I it is my opinion too but I don't claim to be right! That said, there may be other variables at play with your two 401's. 

I do believe that choice of plinth does not have as much effect as choice of platter. The OEM platter is relatively light and results in an incredible sense of liveliness. The Dobbins platter which I have on my deck now looks much nicer but results in a more "hi-fi" sound with all the various hi-fi adjectives. And then I have a Shindo style solid brass platter that I ought to sell.