new guy with a question

[201michaelv]

Hi
I've been watching from the shadows for awhile now and thought I'd actually say hello. Hello. I'll have a lot of things to be asking about as time goes by...I have alot of "vintage" (meaning old, not necessarily valuable) equipment. Mostly Turntables that play 78rpm. I'm watchiing the Direct Drive vs Belt Drive debates going on here with much interest, as well as the Technics MK back and forth between the two camps. So maybe someone could help me understand something:

I've seen for quite a while on ebay and other services, that people are buying up OLD Garrard 'tables (Thorens and Dual too, but mainly Garrards) and putting them in Million dollar polished granite plyths and adding solid gold tonearms and building outboard power supplies. Is this just because they look so cool cosmetcally (retro) or is it an insistence on belt technology, or is it just a lot of fun? On the best day, could one of those old 301s sound good enough to justify the cost or is it just the retro thrill.?

Thanks
201

[jrhymeammo]

I can't help you with that topic, but Welcome to AR.

[royphil345]

"On the best day, could one of those old 301s sound good enough to justify the cost...?"


It's greatly a matter of opinion... but I would say no.

The 301 isn't even a belt drive. It's a rim drive that uses an idler wheel between the motor shaft and platter. Transmits noise almost like direct drive, and the motor is not as advanced as something you'd find in a direct drive table. Definitely the best tables of their time (which explains why they've become so collectable) and capable of very good performance mostly due to their heavy build... But I think that at the end of the day the rim drive and the fact that the motor is attached to the metal plinth limits what they're capable of. They are built heavy, keep a steady speed, can sound fantastic.... but in my opinion just aren't capable of truly high-end performance due to noise introduced by the motor / drive system. Their automatic turntables also put alot of drag on the tonearm.

[JohnMichael]

In the April 2006 issue of Stereophile Art Dudley has written a review on a classic Thorens turntable. Their technique was to use a belt between the motor and the idler wheel. I think that with any type of equipment the results vary by the quality of components. There are several companies rebuilding this type of turntable and they have quite a following. I think they would be worth checking out if classic gear is an interest. I would avoid the ones that are adding the overly expensive tonearms and plinths.