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Audio Grail Garrard 301 Turntable and Tonearm Package Hi StereonetTime to upgrade my Technics 1200GR. Preference is for an Audio Grail Garrard 301, but conscious there aren’t many around. Open to other 301 or SP10 turntable/tonearm packages. Get in touch if you’re looking to move something on.AD Condition: Excellent Payment Method: Region/State: (ACT) Australian Capital Territory/Australia By After_Dark 0 Comments Secure Ad AUD $5,000 Date: January 20Jan 20
Excellent buy on condition alone: at A$5,000, it’s sitting above your A$4,725 75th percentile, so this is an ambitious ask versus the recent used AUD comps. It’s not absurd for a desirable vintage package, but it’s priced for a motivated collector who really wants this setup rather than a bargain hunter.
The upside is the appeal of a Garrard 301 package in excellent shape: these are prized for their idler-drive character, strong build quality, and long-term collectability, and a complete, well-kept example can justify a premium. If the tonearm, plinth, and service history are genuinely clean and complete, that matters more here than a generic market average.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
Garrard Turntables trace their origins to the Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company, established in 1915 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, as a division of the renowned jeweler Garrard & Co., founded in 1735. Initially tasked with producing motors and range finders for World War I, the firm pivoted post-war to consumer audio, crafting silent spring-wound motors for gramophones supplied to brands like Columbia and Decca. By 1930, it unveiled its first complete gramophone turntable, building a legacy in precision engineering amid the vinyl era's dawn.
The brand's product focus centered squarely on high-quality gramophone turntables, with iconic idler-wheel models like the 301 (launched 1954) and 401 (1965) standing out for their robust four-pole induction motors, aluminum chassis, and support for 33, 45, and 78 rpm speeds. These transcription turntables, favored by the BBC and European broadcasters, eschewed modern direct-drive or belt systems in favor of grease-bearing designs and eddy-current braking, often sold without plinths for custom integration. Garrard innovated in record changers and autochangers but never diversified into amplifiers, speakers, DACs, headphones, or cables.
Garrard occupies a revered niche as a vintage collector's cornerstone in the high-end hi-fi market, synonymous with the golden age of analog playback. Sold to Plessey in 1960 and ceasing production by the late 1970s, its decks remain prized today for their torque, build quality, and musicality among audiophiles restoring "Swindon iron" script-logo classics. No active modern entity perpetuates the original line, cementing its status as a benchmark for idler-drive excellence.
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