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Can anyone tell me about the Garrard 25 tt? A local shop wants about $75 for one that looks in pretty good condition.Thanks
David
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75 USD is indeed a bit stiff for an SP25 but. A while ago i got an SP25mk4 from a thriftstore for 5 euro with an Ortofon F15 cart. I'm a sucker for 70s gear and i've been fooling around with Lenco and Dual idler wheel drive TT. The build quality of the SP25 is nowhere near a Lenco, more like a Dual 1214 or 1226. The arm has to be good though, it sounds excellent.
I fooled around with it (do not try this at home..) to get rid of the rumble. I took off all the mechanics i could do without, just manual and 331/3 RPM please. I damped the chassis and removed the plastic bottom plate. You could go all the way and build a heavy plinth around it, put it on spikes/cones. The one big drawback of the SP25 is the 10 inch platter, i could hear it in the bass, at the start of the record it's a bit woolly, it tightens up as the stylus gets to the part of the record which is supported by the platter.
"The torture never stops"Greetings Freek.
Thanks for the advice about the Garrard. My son (17, just discovering LPs) saw aone for sale and asked about it. (He remarked, listening to the Starker Bach Cello Suites that I bought some 30 years ago that compared to his Cds you could HEAR the horsehair on the string!) So I was asking on his behalf. I'm running a modified Thorens 125 with a Hadcock 242 arm and a Dynavector Karat 17D which replaced my LP12 about six months ago. I'm currently rebuilding a Thorens 160 which I think I'll pass on to him...
The SP25 was Garrard's budget single-play deck back in the 60s/70s. My first stereo 'table was a Mk III, little different from the unit in the photo above. It lasted just over a year with me - a crude device, nothing like the better Garrard players of the time, let alone the 301/401 transcription decks.I think the deck was originally a single play version of an auto-changer design. There was a later, Mk V, unit, which was belt-driven but otherwise similar. By that time, Garrard were going down the pan.
Apart from the fact that they are all idler-drive, there is no similarity between a 301 or 401 and the SP25! If you can't stomach the prices the top decks go for these days, there seem to be other idler-drive units around that would be a much better bet than this one.
HTH,
If so, I'd pass. For $75, you could do MUCH better.
Yes, it is. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep my $75 for something better, then. As a matter of interest, do you know anything about the history and specifications of the SP-25? A massive come-down after the 301?
Hey, David.It's a bit better than the BSR changers you see in the all-in-one stereos of the day, but not by much.
I don't know any of the specs or anything about it though.
If $75 is your price ceiling. I'd be on the lookout for a nice Dual turntable, a Pioneer PL-12, a Pioneer PL-518 direct drive, or one of the better direct drives from JVC or Kenwood. Any one of which would be light years ahead of the Garrard.
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