Pauls 301

[Ant]

our own mr barker very kindly lent me one of his 301's almost 12 months ago so i could build a prototype plinth for one incorporating some ideas i had, with a view to adding to my range of stuff. Most of the turntable stuff that you lot are sick of seeing is lenco stuff, the garrard is a logical addition.

I tried to keep the dimensions fairly small, i prefer the proportions of my stuff to be compact rather than obscenely large, not everyone can accommodate an enormous turntable and alot of the 301 plinths ive seen are alot larger than i could accommodate myself.

id like abit of feedback even if it is that im on the wrong track, that would be helpful to know. dimensions are 458mm wide, so slightly over 18", 402mm deep so slightly less than 16" and 115mm tall not including feet so 4 1/2" tall.

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

arm is an audiomods classic

pic 2

2019-02-23_05-30-01 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

here can see the prototype arm board, this sits on an internal tower so that motor unit vibration has to go through much more of the plinth than usual to get into the arm base.

pic 3

Audiomods classic by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

can see here that it needs making again so that the flange sits flush with the top

pic 4.

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

as you can see its a big bugger, has to be though as the motor depth is large. feet will not be the ones on it when its done

pic 5.

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

i think the plinth looks reasonably elegant for something that is inherently ugly....

I was thinking about making plinths like these part of my range, any feedback appreciated, even if it is to say its pig ugly, at least id have an idea what folks wanted

obviously its not done yet, so i can alter things a little before it is........

[Ali Tait]

Looks good Ant. Harder to do I know, but I’d like the corners rounded at the same radius as the front edges of the 301.

Or maybe it’s just my OCD.

[Greg]

Ant, your plinth looks good and I have no doubt they would satisfy many a 301 owner. I use a similar design for my Denon DP-80 made for me by Nigel (vinylspinner) which Toppsy veneered and finished for me.

However, it’s worth having a look at the competition both for what competes with you and for ideas. This company (one man band) is stylish and affordable. I’ve linked to the 301 page, but his website is well worth an overall scan.

https://www.acoustand.co.uk/search?term=Garrard+301

I hope I am not suggesting egg sucking, but you have mounted the counter weight on your Audiomods Classic incorrectly. You should rotate the main counter weight 180 degrees so the secondary weight is at the bottom. That is Jeff Spall’s design intention.

[Ant]

Ta folks, good to know I'm on the right lines
Rounded corners are easy enough ali, just needs one long piece of veneer to go all way around the vertical faces

I've seen the acoustand stuff Greg, a good site overall not sure about the skeletal stuff personally but other people seem to like it so it's an approach to look at. The rough skeletal acrylic and beech plinth I did years ago for the 401 I had was OK but I've heard better

Re the arm, yes I know the subweight should be at the bottom, I just put it on for the pictures. Haven't used it yet because I was saving it for something special. I acquired it with the full box of gubbins and instructions. Build quality is as good as the at arm I have which means it's exceptional

The denon looks very nice Greg, and neatly illustrates what I mean about the size. I couldn't fit a plinth that wide in, it looks like it could easily be 4" less wide. It looks like it was made to be able to fit a 12" arm or anything smaller, a more universal size which is fair enough. For some reason a lot of the plinths I've seen, for 301s especially, take that approach, which I did with the deck I built for Ali but that was how it was specced rather than being one size fits all in the first place

Plinths are a bloody minefield, everyone wants something slightly different

[Mike H]

that you lot are sick of seeing

Neffer!

Fab as usual Ant.

[Paul Barker]

It’s my only 301 not one of my 301’s The first slate plinth I bought for it didn’t fit, it had gaps around the edge. The explanation given was there must have been two castings and the one used as a template for first plinth wasn’t for the casting I have. A new plinth was sent doc which fitted perfectly .

Just make sure you insist on having the turntable you’re making a plinth for in you’re hands, or at least go to it and make a imprint to work from.

Who knows, maybe the grease baring is different casting?

[Ant]

Hi Paul, long time no see! Hope you're well

Thank you very much for lending it to me in the first place, I thought there would be variations on the chassis, there has been to varying degrees on all the 88s and 99s I've done too

I always ask for the deck when I do a plinth because there too much degree for a cockup without it

Should be done soon, once it is I'd be interested in your thoughts on it Paul

Cheers ant

[izzy wizzy]

can see here that it needs making again so that the flange sits flush with the top

This is something I hope to do one day with my 401 but requires an accurate template which will be tricky. I've read about it on router forums but still haven't plucked up the courage to do it.

Have you got ideas as to how you would do it?

Cheers,
Stephen

[simon]

I once drew up a 401 template in AutoCAD Stephen which was use for a twin slate plinth. If you have a means of printing larger than A4/A3 (or want to mess about taping a number of sheets together) I could probably find the PDF if that's any use?

[Ant]

If you mean a template to recess the entire motor unit into the top of the plinth I'd be tempted to hand make a template by dropping the motor unit into a piece of 9 or 12mm sheet material then tracing the outline, hand cutting and fettling it so it's bang on then cutting the actual plinth rebate with a 1/2" wide 1/4" shank cutter with a 1/2" dia top bearing. These look like an inverted laminate trimming bit. Alternatively use a 1/4" straight flute cutter and set the height so that the cutter shank sticks down below the router base. The shank will follow the template. But this is procarious as it means not as much if the shank is up inside the collet......The top bearing will follow the template and as the cutter is the same diameter is the bearing it should follow it exactly.
Then knock out the corners with a corner chisel.
Alot of setup checking needs to be done when using templates and it needs to be in exactly the right place.
So abit of a pig but perfectly doable if time is taken

[Paul Barker]

Yes Anthony will be able to call in.

[Ant]

some more work done on it this evening.
I got some new legs and a new arm mounting turned for it yesterday, I went with a taller leg than i would normally so theres plenty of airflow underneath to get to that ooooge motor

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

the finish has become a lot richer with the polish applied. feet are turned from some very old oak and the darker dolour is natural

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

the arm mounting is solid walnut and now sits flush with the top

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

the richer finish seems to give more contrast, making the motor unit (and arm) stand out more

Garrard 301 by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

and just because i can, a gratuitous shot of the 301, lenco, jvc ql-y5f, obscene fane 15"er, and a mess.........

301, QL-Y5F, type 2 lenco and enormous speaker by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

its only had one coat of briwax so far, i'll let it cure overnight then so another one tomorrow.
nearly there

[IslandPink]

All I can say is great work as usual, Ant, and god those 301's are so cool !

[Ant]

Got the deck up and running this afternoon
I've fitted a captive lead to this one to avoid messing with Paul's original wiring ect, other than to attach a new earth to the motor. This is then run to a block connector on the captive lead. Obviously an iec could be fitted, I would usually, but it's got to go back to Paul exactly as it arrived so soldering up sockets is out.
I'm running an the at440mlb in the audiomods arm as its a cart I know well and it's close to to 150s in the lenco and the jvc so I have a fairly solid baseline to asses the sound quality
I've tried Paul's original Garrard mat and a Cork and nitrile mat, the Garrard one is better.
I'm rather pleased with the sound, it sounds like a really nice 301. Which it is.
What I mean is that the plinth doesn't seem to be causing any ill effects.
The famous Garrard expressive bottom end is all there and is nice and tight not on the cusp of getting out of control. My 401 in the acrylic skeletal plinth always had a barely surpressed quality to it which this doesn't. It has control.
It's also nice and quiet, bugger all rumble is getting through, probably more than Paul's slate plinth, but it's quiet enough for me not to be focused on it.
It seems pretty good top to bottom, I'm not familiar with the audiomods arm yet, but It seems pretty blameless in all respects, I can't hear anything that is bugging me.

Of course, Paul may hear things artifacts that aren't there with his slate plinth, its very unlikely to be on the same level as that is.

OH and this thing is very very dynamic.... Forgot how good the Garrards are in this respect

I'll add some pics shortly, it's pretty promising so far

pics

Garrard 301, audiomods classic 2 and at440mlb by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

Garrard 301, audiomods classic 2 and at440mlb byanthony cresswell, on Flickr

Garrard 301, audiomods classic 2 and at440mlb by anthony cresswell, on Flickr

[Ant]

Decided to fit my at150 sa on the Garrard today
While I should have been working.
I have just finished the work, eyes are now on stalks....

It was bugging me, because I want to see how my lenco and the 301 compare and the 150s are so close that it seemed silly not to swap the 150 sa over. I very marginally prefer the mlx which is on the lenco, I find it to be better at the very top than the sa is.

I found the one thing about the audiomods arm that I don't like, the lack of an arm clip that locks. It sits in the rest but it doesn't clip in like the at1100 arm does or a standard Rega arm does. Makes adjusting it a little disconcerting when there's nothing to stop it moving.

Better overall than with the 440 in it