Garrard 301-Worth the effort?


A friend very generously gave me his Grandfather's Garrard 301 to restore or sell. It's not in bad shape, but won't play yet as it looks like it needs a new idler wheel and spindle (so far). I'm not crazy about the tonearm (Garrard with unknown Shure Cartridge) or plinth (plywood box). My dilemma is whether it's worth the effort and money to fix or would I be better off selling it and putting the money towards something new, possibly a VPI classic with a better tonearm? I currently use a Harman Kardon T-65C with a Grado Statement Sonata II and am very happy. But maybe I don't know any better. I've read great things about the 301, but I'm more into the music than collecting antique pieces.
Any opinions would be appreciated.
heyraz

Showing 1 response by rahman

Don't feel too bad, Lewm.

If the username's anything to go by, then Jeremy72 is not a neutral enthusiast but, rather, an employee of Artisan Audio. Indeed, based on the investigations on another site (Lenco Heaven) where a "jeremy72" was also active (in promoting the artisan fidelity lenco), it was discovered that he was already registered as Chris74, the owner of Artisan. Needless to say, Jeremy72/Chris74 was subsequently banned from that site.

Anyways, back on topic, I think the 301 is a wonderful machine and, with respect to Thuchan (and Heiner Jacobi from whom Thuchan gets the mini cooper comment), i find that the 301 (suitably serviced, plinthed and armed) can sit comfortably next to an EMT (930st in my case). Of course, at this point you're not really comparing motor unit with motor unit but, rather, one TT system with another.