The Garrard 301 was produced from 1954 to 1964, so I think that classifies as vintage.
I remember it. It took the world by storm. It was head and shoulders above anything else. It was the very first turntable to not have any audible rumble. The Thorens of the day, did have audible rumble.
The achievement of the first transcription turntable has to go to A.R. Sugden who produced the Connoisseur turntable. My father bought one for the OP, and I remember it well. You could just hear the rumble, and I remember you had to let it run for a while before it achieved speed stability. After my mother died I found that turntable clearing out the house.
The BBC bought a lot of these and it was their go to turntable for playing records on air, until the 301.
Garrard were the Queens jewellers. But from the earliest days of recordings at the beginning of the twentieth century, the family had an interest in sound reproduction.
They based their turntable business in Swindon Wiltshire. This was the town that was the base of Isombard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway. So they could hire and have the services of some of the best engineers in the world at the time. In Swindon they built and serviced the steam engines. This association continued right up to the development of the 301 which started after the introduction of the LP.
When the Garrard 301 appeared it swept all before it, and achieved immediate prominence. It was superior to any other at the time, and actually still remains superior to the majority. It was, and is, an outstanding engineering achievement.
So, I can understand why this turntable has become iconic. I acquired mine long before these turntables achieved their revered status in the history of audio.
Lastly I have to emphasise even at their age they give nothing up to the best of today.
This is an iconic picture, a Decca ffss PU head and arm, on a Garrard 301, connected to a Quad 22 tube preamp. That represents the best of over half a century ago.
You can also see a rare Auriol lift that I restored.
If you walked into this room with this playing and driving the system, you would have no idea that this was being driven by equipment over half a century old, and be absolutely flabbergasted when you found out.
