Woodsong Garrard 301, Artisan Fidelity 301, Shindo 301, SME 301, or etc.?


I feel fortunate to own a beautiful Woodsong 301. Chris Harban is great to work with and has an incredible amount of knowledge. I believe he is among a handful of the best restorers. Artisan Fidelity seems to also do a great job and may even surpass Woodsong. And there are others in the cottage industry doing restorations.
Then there is the venerable Shindo version and, now, SME bought the original Garrard name and design and has come out with version using mostly original parts but saying that they aim to manufacture new. But the general view says that the SME one doesn’t compare to the great restorers. Has anyone bought any of these or others?
mglik

Showing 3 responses by scar972

Congrats on your new turntable, OP!
The beautiful pictures on Woodsong and Artisan Fidelity's website were certainly inspiration for me to build my 401. When SME released the new 301 with M2-12R tonearm and a 20K price tag, I had to build a 301 as well but with a nicer plinth. There are so many plinth maker and aftermarket parts that you can custom one to your exact liking and makes a vintage turntable project fun if you're into that kinda thing.
I've always wondered how well the permanent Stillpoint and Track Audio feet that these professional builders use work. I always thought different flooring calls for different feet when dealing with idler tables, similar to the Shindo Garrard.
@jperry Thank you. I really like your Garrard 301, your Ikeda tonearm is a beauty and on my list when the time comes.
@dover My 401 sits in a 6-layer ply Macassar Ebony gloss plinth. The platter is a machined finish version from Peak Hifi and I use an Audio Silente idler wheel. I’m very satisfied with the performance I’m getting and the 6 layer plinth is the perfect thickness to damp vibrations without deadening the sound. I don’t feel the need to tweak it any further at the moment which is good for me. I’m using a similar plinth for the 301.
Earlier this year, I got your opinion on the Morch DP-8 tonearm and ended up not getting the Morch after hearing your experiences. I ended up going in a whole different direction.