Garrard Transcription Turntable

The Garrard Transcription Turntable was the first transcription turntable from the Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company that supported all extant commercial playback formats - the 33, 45 and 78 rpm records of the time. The first model was called the Garrard 301. The later 401 was nearly identical mechanically, but with a redesigned exterior. Both models were utilized by the BBC and in commercial radio stations, mostly in Europe; the 301 and to a lesser extent the 401 were also exported around the world. Production in of the 301 started in 1953; the 401 was produced until 1976.

In an unlikely exchange of technologies, by the early eighties notions of 'modern' and 'antiquated' were both being revisited-- as the Compact Disc was being introduced in the West by the consortium of Sony and Philips, small groups of audio enthusiasts in Japan and also in France were narrowing their sights to investigate what might be called the ‘overlooked’ technologies of the fifties. These were notably vacuum-tube amplification and idler-drive LP playback, amongst others.

Before there were workhorse direct-drive turntables in clubs, and belt-drive turntables on audiophile racks, the standard mechanism for playing LP records was the 'idler drive', a system utilizing an intermediate wheel in a capstan arrangement, in closely-coupled contact with the edge of the platter.

Unlike the beltdrive, which separates motor and platter via a compliant belt, and direct-drive, which uses a low-speed direct-current motor, idler drives most often used a high speed (circa 1600 rpm) alternating-current motor engaged to an intermediate, or 'idler' wheel, which physically rotated the platter.

Transcription turntables must have speed accuracy and wow and flutter specifications that meet professional broadcasting standards.

Content to forego Compact Disc marketing's "perfect sound forever" scheme, these groups were by any measure a contrarian micro-movement, even in audiophile circles, but they kept acquiring new members. They would maintain they were after a more purist sound, untouched by what they saw the as the market’s misleading advertising. In this view there was seen to be an over-reliance on impressive but ever-more-unrealistic performance specifications, and needless, flashy features. Analog sound, unaltered by digital sampling & reconstruction on the source side, and rendered without the shifted harmonics inherent in much transistor amplification of the time, would suit their goals. As reliable, well-built idler machines, the Garrard 301/401 models became the source component of choice for what was loosely labelled the ‘Ultra-Fi’ resurgence, guided by audio writers and do-it-yourselfers in Europe and Japan.

Long out of production, Garrard 301 and 401 model turntables today are sold on the used market for as much as ten to twenty times their original cost. Even though LP records are themselves several bygone formats away as of now, they too are still produced in late 2008. The emerging view seems to hold that there are separate and distinct qualities to analog methods and product that are not yet eclipsed by digital. In spite of solid advances in digital, Analog LP playback continues to be viable with new generations.

References

*wikicite|id=idMortimer1967|reference=Mortimer, E.W. (1967). "Design Of Transcription Turntables", Component Technology, Plessey Group.
*wikicite|id=idBoardman1994|reference=Boardman, Haden (1994). "Turning The Tables: Garrard Model 301 and 401 Transcription Motor Units ", Sound Practices.
*wikicite|id=idKessler2005|reference=Kessler, Ken (2005). "Table Talk", Garrard 301/401, Hifi News & Record Review.
*wikicite|id=idOlson2005|reference=Olson, Lynn (2005). "A Tiny History of High Fidelity", The Soul Of Sound.

External links

* [http://home.earthlink.net/~transcrubbers/id18.html E.W. Mortimer, Transcription Turntable Design article.]
* [http://www.classicaudio.ru/static.php?type=articles_garrard Haden Boardman, Sound Practices article.]
* [http://nutshellhifi.com/library/tinyhistory1.html Lynn Olson, Tiny History Of High Fidelity article, part one.]
* [http://nutshellhifi.com/library/tinyhistory2.html Lynn Olson, Tiny History Of High Fidelity article, part two.]
* [http://www.smartdev.com/pdf/Garrard301article.pdf Ken Kessler, Hifi News & Record Review article.]
* [http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/featureshtml/garrardhistory.html Roy Poulton, Hi-Fi World article.]
* [http://www.swindonweb.com/?m=8&s=116&ss=394&c=1324&t=Garrard%20in%20Swindon Garrard History article, Swindon Web.]